GIANT Gear Decorations – Maker Fun Factory

I love decorating for a dollar!  My last decorating for a dollar project was the blue paper decorated as blueprints.  These giant gear decorations are even faster and easier… and each one is a whopping SEVEN FOOT gear! This is a great way to decorate large spaces without investing a lot of time or energy.  I’m planning to use these in our snack area and possibly crafts or bible verse stations.

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You can find round table covers at Dollar Tree ($1 each), but Walmart has them too (around $1.49 each).

Supplies
84″ Round Table Covers (If you’re like me, once you see how easy these are – you’ll want lots.)
Scissors
Ruler
Scrap Paper

Instructions
1. Cut a piece of scrap paper into an 9″ tall by 7.5″ wide rectangle.  Fold the rectangle in half (hot dog style).

2. Open your first table cover. Unfold it until it is only folded once (in half).  Fold it twice more so that it looks like a slice of pie and is 1/8 of the original (round) size.

3. Place your folded rectangle paper at either rounded edge of the table cover (remember: it should be folded in half so it’s tall and skinny).  Cut this section out of the table cover.

4. Move your paper guide to the other rounded corner of the table cover and cut out this section.

5. Unfold your paper guide, then center it along the rounded edge of the table cover and cut out this section.  You should end up with one skinnier cut out piece on both the left and right sides and one larger piece cut out of the middle (all cuts should be made along the round edge of the table cover).

6. OPTIONAL: If you want to cut a circle out in the middle of your giant gear decorations, just cut a round line close to the pointy edge of the folded up table cover.

That’s it. Seriously, so easy!  I also figured out (because I’m all about efficiency… and maybe a little short on time) that you can stack several table covers on top of each other (folded into 1/8 of the original size) and cut them at the same time.  The most I cut was 3 stacked together, but I bet you could do more if you wanted to.

*Keep in mind that when you hang these giant gear decorations, you’ll probably have to attach each notch of the gear to the wall or they’ll fall over.*

UPDATE: After seeing this, one of my awesome readers suggested that these large table cover gears could also be used on the floor for crews to sit on.  What a great idea!  Our crews don’t sit on the floor, but I’m definitely brainstorming having a few large gears in different areas to brighten things up (almost like stepping stones!).  Thanks for your input, Karen!

I am a long-time Vacation Bible School lover.  I’ve lead in several capacities throughout the VBS world and am currently our church’s VBS director.  It is a joy for me to be able to share VBS ideas and resources with others!  I will continue to share ideas here as we prepare for Maker Fun Factory VBS .  Follow the blog to see more of our ideas and planning!  Please let me know if there are any specific VBS items or ideas you need help with.