Fidget Spinner

I recently got to hang out with my niece and nephews in Perth so when it came to making my nephew’s birthday card, I knew exactly what to make:

a fidget spinner card.

They all had one and I must admit they’re a lot of fun for just… fidgeting with!

 

I found a great video tutorial for this card by Carolyn Bennie. I used her card and tutorial as the foundation for mine, and made a few changes along the way, as I needed to post mine. For the fidget spinner itself, I punched these three “keyhole” shapes from the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch. I found the midpoint of each piece by lining them up on the grid paper and marking the midpoint on the bottom and top edges.

Since I didn’t have a fidget spinner to copy the shape from, the number nerd in me realised that the three equally spaced arms of the spinner would be at 120° from each other, so I used a protractor to mark three lines on the grid paper spaced at 120° apart – like the Mercedes logo! I lined up the first of my “keyhole” shaped pieces – lining up the midpoint on the bottom flat edge with the centre of the gridpaper, and the midpoint of the rounded edge along the black 120° line I’d drawn. I then put a little glue on the flat edge near the right, to secure down the next “keyhole” shaped piece.  The second and third “keyholes” were placed down in the same way by lining up the midpoints, gluing the edges as I went.

Once the basic shape was completed, I punched a hole in the middle using a 1/2″ circle punch. I also punched holes in the centre of each of the arms using a smaller circle punch which I had – it’s a 3/8″ punch which is now retired. The little “doughnut” piece to the right of the first picture below is a little piece I made to reinforce the back, since I’d punched out the centre. It’s made by punching a 1/2″ circle out of the middle of a 3/4″ circle. The right hand pic below shows the front of the fidget spinner to which I glued three silver foil pieces and a centre piece. The three silver foil “washer” pieces are 3/4″ circles with a 3/8″ circle punched from the middle. The centre piece is a 1″ circle with a 3/4″ circle punched from the middle.

For the base of the card I used circles of Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight. I loved the way the sentiment Look who’s turning from the Number of Years stamp set fits in perfectly with this card. After assembling the base, I placed the fidget spinner over the top so that it was centered on the Daffodil Delight layer – and then I put a dimensional in the middle of it. The last piece layered on top of the dimensional to keep it in place while it’s spinning is a 1″ circle (in the base colour of Island Indigo) with a black 3/4″ circle on top.

I also used the Number of Years stamp set to decorate the inside of the card.