How-To-Do-It Articles in Magazines

We sometimes receive questions through our Ask a Librarian service about finding patterns or instructions in older magazines. Today a customer asked how to make a folded paper fan with bamboo sticks. Instructions were finally found in a 1978 Better Homes & Gardens article. A useful tool for finding "how to" articles in magazine is the index to How-To-Do-It Information. Central has the printed volumes for the years 1963-1999. To see what magazines Central subscribes to and how long issues are kept, please see Periodicals under Research Tools.

If you would like to make a paper fan for your wall, please follow these instructions:

Cut a half-circle with a 27-inch radius from sturdy foldable or figured paper such as wallpaper.
Mark the curved edge, dividing it into 48 evenly spaced areas.
Draw spokes from the center point out to the edges.
Score and fold into accordion pleats.
For spokes, use 25 strips of 30-inch long, 1/2 inch wide split bamboo.
Lay the pleated paper facedown.
Glue one strip to every pleat.
Stack all strips at the center point and join with sturdy brass wire.