Merry Go Round Centerpiece Tutorial
How to Make a Merry Go Round?

Before you start please read this introduction. 

To make the base of the piece you will need a round board about 17” in diameter and 0.5” thick preferably ready made from MDF. 

To make the conical top you will need a round Styrofoam board of 17” diameter and 3/8 – 5/8 of an inch thick. Since this part is difficult to make, we enclosed PDF plans with accurate dimensions that you should follow carefully to get accurate results. 

If you prefer a smaller centerpiece of 15” diameter, please contact us.  We’ll send you the exact dimensions and a new PDF plan for the conical shaped section and the Christmas star.

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Materials

• Circle of MDF preferably readymade 17” in diameter and 0.5” thick
• Circle of Styrofoam preferably readymade 17” in diameter and 0.5” thick
• 1 sheet of metallic gold corrugated paper 
• 1 sheet of heavy dark red Canson paper 
• 1 sheet of heavy golden Canson paper 
• Thin glitter paper and beads 
• Tracing paper
• Circle of heavy cardboard or, an angel cake removable tube part 
• Tall drinking glass 
• Pencil 
• Glue 
• Double sided strong tape 
• Snap off utility knife
• Scissors
• Ruler

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Step 1  Place the MDF board on thick Canson paper, hold it firmly, and following the board edge cut the paper with a snap off utility knife. If preferred, you can draw a line on the paper around the board and cut with scissors.

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Step 2  Apply glue lightly to the edge and center of the board and attach the paper.

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Step 3  Cut 4 strips from metallic gold corrugated paper across its stripes about 0.5 inch wide to fit the thickness of your board and in the full length of the sheet. You will need 2 strips to cover it. Save the other two for stage 17.   

Apply glue to the back of the strips. 

Attach to board all the way around.     

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Step 4   To make the central Christmas star, copy the 5 shapes printed in the PDF, transfer to glitter paper, cut and glue lightly in the center.

Click on the photo to download the PDF

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Step 5 Place a tall, narrow and straight drinking glass on the table. Cut a rectangle from the corrugated paper about 10" x 12" . Your rectangle should cover the glass with 1 inch overlap, it will be higher than the glass by 4-5 inches to get a proper height to the column. 

Cover the glass with the paper and glue the edges tightly around it.

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Step 6 If you have an angel cake baking pan with a removable central part, insert that part upside down into the glass, this will make an excellent support to the top. 

If you don’t have one, before you glue the rectangle around the glass make small cuts around the top of the paper and fold them outwards in a 90 degree angle (See Pic).

Tip: to make the cuts, place the rectangle of corrugated paper upside down and with a pen and ruler, draw a line across the stripes pressing firmly, then make the cuts up to the line and fold.

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Step 7     Cut an 8” circle from hard cardboard and glue it to the paper column.

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Step 8    To make the top, draw a circle, 19”.1 in diameter, on heavy golden Canson paper. Print the PDF drawing of the circle divided to 9 sections and place it accurately in the circle’s center. With a pencil and ruler, continue the lines up to the circle's edge. You will get 9 accurate sections. 

Click on the photo to download the PDF

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Step 9 Cut the circle and then cut a slit along the dashed line up to the center.  

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Step 10 Print the PDF of the single section and using tracing paper, copy the edge only. Turn the tracing paper upside down onto the back side of the corrugated paper making sure that it sits symmetrically and is upright along the stripes of the paper as illustrated in the left pic below. Transfer the pattern onto the back side of the corrugated paper by going firmly over the outline with a pencil.

Cut the shape with a knife and use it as a pattern for cutting three more sections.

If preferred, you can copy the section directly from your drawing (step 8) by using the same method. Your section may not be as accurate as the one you transfer from the PDF, but it is not crucial.

Click on the right photo to download the PDF

Note- choose Actual Size in the option sizes when printing

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Step 11  Cut 4 strips of paper, 6” x 1” each and glue to the four sections as shown in the photo. Make sure that at least 3 inches of each strip stick out from the circle. 

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Step 12  Glue three of the sections you cut from the corrugated paper onto the circle in place as shown in the photo below.

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Step 13  Apply a thin layer of glue to section B.

Lift the circle with your right hand and with your left hand bring section A to overlap section B. Secure with a staple. 

Step 14    Glue the fourth section in its place over A. 

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Step 15    You will need a circular base of 17" in diameter and 0.5" thick to support the conical part. If you can't find a ready made one, draw a circle, 17" in diameter on a 0.5" thick Styrofoam board and cut with knife.

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Step 16 Attach the conical part to the circle by folding and gluing the four strips to its underside. 

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Step 17   Cut triangle shaped banners. Place the corrugated paper strips (step 3) upside down on a working table and attach the edges to the table with tape to prevent them from moving. Apply glue to the strips and arrange the triangles upside down as shown in the photo. Apply more glue to the strips. 

Attach to the circle all the way around.

Tip: Use plastic pins to hold the strips in place until the glue dries.

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Step 18 Use some kind of finial to decorate the top and to conceal obvious inaccuracy. We used a tiny red silicone baking cup. Plastic or metallic caps of cosmetic bottles can be nice.

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Step 19 Attach the bottom of the glass to the base with a strong double sided tape and then attach the conical top to the column with a strong glue making sure that it sits in the center and is well balanced. If you use the angel cake’s part, use heavy duty double sided tape to hold it in place securely.

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Step 20  Decorate the top of the Merry Go Round with your favorite items. Decorate the column with Christmas wreath made of fresh tiny leaves tied with a ribbon. You can follow our decorations of either the birds or the deer.

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The process may look complicated but actually it is not if you follow the instructions. It is well worth the effort as you can use this piece again and again for many occasions, all you have to do is to take it apart and store. Use your imagination and create new decorations for each new event, it is easy and fun and will certainly add a lot of charm to your party. 

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Return from Merry Go Round Tutorial to DIY Merry Go Round Centerpiece

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