This is a perfect way to use up old sheets of good quality wrapping paper. Or decorate your own papers and make them into a paper fan.

The variations are endless. Make paper fans to make your bedroom look exotic. Make them for display, for gifts or just for keeping you cool on a hot day.

Paper fans are really quick and easy to make and an ideal crafting project for children of all ages.

And if you have a fan made of paper, you might as well make a mask, drape some fabric over you and do some dressing up.

First we need to get the paper ready and cut it to the correct size to make our fan. Find a nice piece of paper, not too thin, but not too thick also.

Measure and cut the paper to roughly 50cms x 25cms.

Now comes the fun bit. Place the sheet of paper on a flat surface. Make sure you have the short side facing you and long side going away from you. We are going to make a concertina folds. So we fold over the paper forward. Fold about a 2cm strip.

Then crease the paper flat. Take your time, try and make it neat. But don't worry too much is it is a little wobbly. You probably won't be able to notice the wobble at the end.

So fold over once and flatten. Then turn the whole sheet over and fold forward again and flatten. Then turn over again and fold forward again. Keep turning the whole sheet over after each fold.

This will make a sort of zig-zag, concertina fold. Just like a fan.

If your creases are not too sharp, use something hard to press down on them. Like a ruler or pen edge.

Now we can do some decorating. Once you have come to the end of your folding, pressing and flipping, we can start the decorating.

Lay the zig-zag folded fan paper down and gently open it out slightly. Decide which edge will be the top of the fan. Then use glue to create wavy patterns along the top side of the fan.

Your design doesn't have to be precise, it is all about having fun. If you like making fans you can make more and more and perfect your designs over time.

Shake some glitter over the wavy glue swirls. Shake and save the excess glitter and let the glue dry thoroughly.

To finish, gently squeeze the bottom side of the paper together. Slowly gather all the pleats together into a bunch. 

Once the bottom of the fan is all gathered, we can finish it off by securing it together. If you have a silk tassel you can insert into the pleats now. Then carefully put the gathered end into a sturdy stapler and ask an adult to staple the end closed. Two or three staples will help hold everything in place.

And there we have an absolutely beautiful paper fan project completed. What other designs can you make? Can you make mini paper fans to decorate your bedroom? What other colours or designs can you come up with?