Japanese traditional fans are known for their beauty, elegance and of course, for their usage across the world. There are many variations in the fans, some are foldable and open up by making a full circle, while others open up as a semi-circle; some are hand-held, while some are meant for decoration purposes only.

Considering the uniqueness of the craft, we are making a miniature fan today, this miniature fan can be used as a mobile accessory by tucking it into the mobile cover, or by wrapping the string around the top of the pencil as a pencil topper.

Let’s start:

Things you need:

1. One black paper
2. One piece of patterned paper
3. Transparent wide scotch tape
4. Glue stick
5. A pin
6. Scissors
7. Ruler
8. One inch of a thin wire

Directions:

1. Cut two square pieces from black paper (4.5 inches on all sides), picture 2.

2. Paste both the pieces to one another with the glue stick; then cover it with transparent tape, see pictures 3 and 4.

3. Cut seven thin (0.5cm wide, 4-inch long) strips from this black-taped paper, picture 5.

4. Cut the top of the strips in arch shape, picture 6.

5. Poke a small hole with a pin on the curved side of strips, picture 7.

6. Insert the wire piece through all the strips and secure the ending by folding the wire inward, picture 8.

7. Arrange the strips in arch shape on the patterned piece of paper, mark with the pencil and cut out the arch, pictures 9 and 10.

8. Fold the fan in accordion shape, keeping the basic structure of the arch intact, picture 11.

9. The miniature fan is ready, make a tassel and insert it in the wire loop, at the bottom of the fan, picture 12.

The writer can be contacted at ithecraftman@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 29th, 2022