Ever wanted to easily recycle your excess of soda cans into something fun and easy? Meet the pinwheel!

I would also advise anyone following this guide to be careful with the aluminum after/during cutting, as it gets very sharp which makes it easy to accidentally cut yourself on.

Supplies

For this project, you will need the following.

- an aluminum can

- scissors/a knife/ something to cut with

- a wooden dowel

- two straws

- two paper clips

- tape

- a hole puncher

Step 1: Can Prep

Cut the top and bottom parts of the can off cleanly, so that you have a tube-like cylinder.

Step 2: Can Prep Contd.

Cut the cylinder from the top to the bottom to create a flat strip of aluminum.

Step 3: Squaring and Centering Aluminum

Cut the rectangular piece of aluminum into an even square. Mark the center out.

Step 4: More Cutting!

From each corner, cut towards the center with about an inch of room from the actual middle point.

Step 5: Hole Punching

Looking from the center outwards, punch a hole on the left of each corner, for 4 in total. Also punch a hole through the previously marked out center.

Step 6: Pinwheel Formation

Stick a lengthened paper clip through the center hole, then pull each corner with the punched hole towards it and over top it, holding them in place. Then bend the excess part of the paper clip over and under to secure the shape.

Step 7: Soda Tab Acquiring

From the previously discarded top of the can, carefully remove the tab. Make sure the small circle that held it in place stays intact.

Step 8: Stick Prep

Tape, glue, or really by any means fasten the tab to your dowel, with the end that has the small circle at the top and not covered by tape. I had to snap my dowel to a smaller size for the next step, but that is not fully necessary.

Step 9: Stick Reinforcement

Place the dowel within one of the straws, and fasten together with tape or an alternative.

Step 10: More Straws

Cut a small portion out of your second straw. This should be about half of the length that the paper clip holding the pinwheel together sticks out from the back or so. It can be adjusted to be smaller later, so be generous with the size at first.

Step 11: Stick Prep (again)

Tape or otherwise fasten the small piece of straw to the previously made stick, so that the small circle on the tab line up with the hole through the straw.

Step 12: Combination

Thread the remaining paperclip length at the back of the pinwheel through the straw first, then the small hole at the back of the tab. Use a good amount of tape on the excess paperclip length to create a buffer so that the pinwheel cannot fall out from the holder from the front, but make sure it can still spin.

Step 13: Done!

And there you have it! Your very own pinwheel to blow or stick in the dirt of a garden for the wind to take its course on. You've just (slightly) saved the environment with this great recycling project, and hopefully not been injured by the aluminum on the way! Congrats!!