How to Make Custom Palm Frond Fan

Yea!  Tutorial time!!!

What you will need: 

Dollhouse ceiling fan (if yours already lights up, skip down to the fan blade part)

Wired dollhouse light-LED or screw in bulb or something along those lines

Pliers

Super glue.

Wood glue

Card stock

Pencil

Cover for light

First thing you are going to do is disassemble your fan.  Gently wiggle the GLASS ball off of the brasss connector.  The glue isn't great and with a little bit of effort, it will come loose.  Remember, it is glass, so be careful.  

My fan here, is an already lighted fan, but someone cut the wire off at the very edge... making it useless, so I am replacing the light.

Here is what your fan should look like when all the parts come off.  You should have the glass ball, the fan blades, the wire shaft, the brass cover tube and the attachment for the glass ball.

First, you are going to take the fan blades and use them to measure the new fan blades (covers)

I just put the edge of the paper up against the fan blade center and then sketched a leaf shape around it. 

The next step is to draw the vein lines on.  Cut this one out and trace 7 more, for a total of 8.  Cut all of them out.

Now, here is the part that I don't have any pictures of (of course) but it should be pretty easy to understand.  After cutting the 8 leaves out, you are going to pair them up, both leaf sides out. Glue them together but ONLY on the rounded edges.  It needs to be left as a pocket.  When the glue dries, place on top of some foam and use a stylus to score the "v's" but not the main center vein.  You can then paint the leaves.  I used water color and acrylic.

Set them aside.

Take the light that you are planning on using and if it needs any soldering or you need to twist in the bulb, do it now.

Run the wire up through the pieces, starting with the connector piece.  If you want to change the color of the hardware, do it before you put it back together.  Spray paint can do wonders for miniature accessories.  :)

Continue through the pieces like this.  Don't forget to put the copper cover on over the wire shaft!  Glue the cover to the top piece only.  Do not glue to the fan blades, or they won't spin!

Here is the fan put back together, before the new blades are added.

Spinning fan blades!  With a RL fan in the background.  :)

The pocket blades that you made just slide right back on to the fan.  Secure them to the actual blades with a little bit of glue.

 Check to see that everything looks right! Then attach your light cover!

 Before the fan got a light cover....

 and with its light cover.

 To mount it to the ceiling, just drill a hole and pull the wires through.  Pull the fan tight against the ceiling and then tape wire down on roof to keep it there.

Happy making!!