So we have all bought something that had lots of Styrofoam packaging. Unfortunately it many times gets thrown away. One of the most popular forms of Styrofoam packaging are the corner braces inside of a box. After staring at a rainbow whirligig my mom got us in Santa Barbara, I had to figure out how to make a whirligig wind spinner out of the corner pieces of Styrofoam. I figured that it would be the perfect material because they were light and could easily catch the wind and spin.
How to make a Whirligig
Round up your supplies! What you need: glue stick, Corsage Pins
You will want to put the four pieces together to make a square where each side is open, allowing it to catch wind to spin once complete. Take the corsage pins and insert them at about a 20 degree angle so that it goes through two pieces of styrofoam, holding it into place. (I did this at three points for all four pieces. (This process picture to the left).
Next you’re going to add your ribbon. I cut 8 strips of ribbon that were 3x the size of the Styrofoam. This allowed me to wrap the top around the wheel and the bottom to flap and spin in the wind.
The first color of ribbon (red) I wrapped around the flat sides of the whirligig. I put some glue on the small edge to keep it in place and then added a pin to ensure it stayed (plus it’s kind of a decorative touch since they’re not ugly pins). After I did that, I pulled all of the ribbon up to the top, putting a slit in the sides so that it would lay flat.
Then I did the same thing with the second color of ribbon (blue) on the corners of the styrofoam. However, the one difference is that instead of notching and laying flat, they were pulled together, twisted, and wrapped around a light-weight plastic wheel. (Pull through and then wrap around, pulling through again). This ensured stability of the whirligig as well as gave us an anchor point to hang it on the house that would not get tangled in the wind.
I tied a small ribbon through the wheel to hang it from that allowed it to spin and then brought the bottom ribbon together at the bottom with a rubber band. The rubber band wasn’t necessary, but I preferred the look and it made it look more like a store-bought whirligig.
This project was a part of Project Recycle and Create, a year-long initiative to showcase how to re-purpose what would otherwise be trash. This project is brought to you by these fabulous bloggers:
P is for Preschooler
Powerful Mothering
Afterschool for Smarty Pants
Still Playing School
Lemon Lime Adventures
Creative World of Varya
Mama Miss
There’s Just One Mommy
Little Bins for Little Hands
Peakle Pie
Sugar Aunts
Teach Me Mommy
Danya Banya
ALLterNATIVElearning
Widsom Knowledge Joy
Playtivities
Preschoolers Day by Day
Looking for some other great ideas? Check out the links below and the Project’s Pinterest board! If you are a blogger link up below.
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 4 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
Nadia
So cool!
Kara Carrero
Thanks Nadia! It was fun to make 🙂
Birute Efe
I love it Kara. So much better than those things that make noise. Great idea!~
Kara Carrero
Thanks Birute! It was a windy day here so it got a true test of how well it would hold up and spin!
Tracy @ Hall of Fame Moms
Thank you for the tip! Now I might have to turn some of our packaging scraps into some fun things to hang in our trees.
Kara Carrero
I think we are going to make bird feeders next. Our tress may be filled soon too 🙂
Lisa Nelson
Fabulous Kara. I love how you upcycled something that’s totally bad for the earth, and made it into something functional! Thanks so much for sharing and for participating in the blog challenge.
Kara Carrero
Thanks Lisa! It’s pretty windy here in Oklahoma so it’s even more functional than one might think 😉
Julie
What a clever idea! I wish I had read this 2 weeks ago. I had some available at that time. Now I’m wishing I had a package coming so I can use the packing. lol. I wonder if I could make do with box corners cut to size. I guess as long as it’s in a covered spot that would work. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?
Kara Carrero
Haha, yes! And I can totally relate. Sometimes I hold onto something FOREVER and finally recycle it… the next week I have a project where I need it 😉
Terri
I love this, so amazingly cool.
Thanks for sharing.
New follower from How to grow your blog in 100 days
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Kara Carrero
Thanks for stopping by!
Theres Just One Mommy
What a fun use for the styrofoam! Love this!
TaMara
What a great way to recycle those styrofoam pieces! Stopping by from Boost Your Blog.
Emma @ P is for Preschooler
This is a great way to turn Styrofoam into something fun – and pretty too! Great idea! (And I love the step-by-step instructions. Some people – ahem, me – really need those! lol!)
Kara Carrero
Thanks Emma! And I totally understand the step-by-step instructions. My husband always asks for even the tiniest details. e has trained me well 😉
selfbindingretrospect
What a great way to make use of something normally tossed away! Very creative!!
Tina
Super cool upcycle activity. My girls would love to do this. I enjoyed skimming through your blog as well. I loved looking at all your creative ideas and your daughter is beyond cute!
Blessings!!
~Tina
Kara Carrero
Thank you Tina for your sweet comments 🙂 Thanks for visiting, it means so much!
Debbie Borthwick
How fun this looks! I still have the box & packaging from my new sewing machine I received for Christmas, I think this will be a great idea for upcycling those pieces of styrofoam. Thank you for the inspiration! It will be a fun project to do with the grandkids.
Debbie 🙂
Diane (@MamalDiane)
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. We will love making this in the spring. I also shared a simple paper chain craft we had so much fun doing this past week. 🙂
Domestic Imp
Neat!
Holly
My grandparents had one of these made out of a 2-liter pop bottle. Perhaps another variation to try? 🙂
#BYB100
Danya Banya
Awesome! Pinned 🙂
Angie
My daughter will love doing this project. Now, I just have to figured out what I can order so we may have the Styrofoam. LOL
Blessings,
Angie
Tamara Wilson
This is such a fun idea I Love it. Thank you for the idea to do with the kiddos this weekend.