DIY Fidget Spinners without Skate Bearings

Learn how to make the coolest toy for kids right now, a Fidget Spinner, at home easily and without skate bearings!

I only learned what a fidget spinner was a few days before I tried to make one. Amy, knowing what’s cool with the kids in a way I do not, asked if I could make one, and since I thought I could make anything, I was all, “Sure!” I first did a quick Google search to see what I had gotten myself into. As it turns out, I’d seen these things for sale but hadn’t seen one work.

So, with just a small amount of knowledge of what I was doing, I hit the craft store and came home with many items from the paper crafting section. Sitting down with my tools, I worked up about five rough drafts before I finally got one that worked. It was ugly, but it worked—huzzah!

DIY Fidget Spinners Without Skate Bearings

Only after I made these guys did I research how others made them, so I learned about skate bearings. Skate bearings can make fidget spinners that spin a bit more loosely, freely, and quickly, but they’re a special-order kind of job. You can get them at Amazon, but they’re about $8. But if you don’t want to wait or purchase something you might never have any other use for, this particular DIY Fidget Spinner tutorial is for you!

What You Need to Make Fidget Spinners

• Popsicle sticks (I used wavy edge sticks)
• Strong scissors
• Strong glue (I used crazy glue)
• Craft foam
• Round epoxy stickers
• Hot glue gun
• Toothpicks
• Drill & small drill bits
• Paint, pretty paper, embellishments, washi tape, glitter, etc.

How to Make Fidget Spinners

Trim your popsicle sticks down to about 1.5 inches apiece. Cut your first, use it as a pattern, and then cut 3 for each spinner. Strong scissors work best; I used tin snips.

Glue your cut sticks together to make the fidget spinner shape. If you already have a fidget spinner at home (I bought one to see how in the heck one works :), trace it on a piece of paper and use it to help create the “right” shape. Allow the glue to dry completely.

Using a drill bit larger than the width of your toothpick, create a hole in the center of your spinners.

These are clear epoxy stickers I got in the paper crafting section at Hobby Lobby. My original thought was to use glass bezels from the jewelry section, but I worried about the potential for the glass to break and the kids to get hurt. When I was looking for embellishments for my spinners, I just happened to find these in the same section. They are self-adhesive and won’t break like glass—cool, right?

You’ll need 4 epoxy stickers for each fidget spinner. Decorate 2 with pretty paper and 2 with craft foam, trimming away the excess.

Drill a hole through the craft foam sticker, choosing a bit that is about the same size, perhaps just a teensy bit larger, than your toothpicks. Getting a drill bit that works well might take a bit of trial and error, FYI.

Push your first foam-covered sticker onto a toothpick, foam side out.

Thread on your wooden spinner and the other foam-covered sticker, foam side out. Work with the distance between the wood spinner part and the two stickers, making sure the entire piece can rotate easily but not so loosely that it wobbles.

Trim the excess toothpick. Flush-cutting snips are super helpful but not completely necessary.

Apply a dot of hot glue to the toothpick and around the foam edge. Then, apply your pretty papered epoxy sticker on top.

Repeat for the other side, taking care not to squeeze the fidget spinner together as you work, as this might prevent the spinner from rotating properly.

Embellish as you see fit at any point in the process. At the end, you can add stickers to weigh down one side of the spinners. This seems to make them spin much more quickly!

Once completed, you’ve got a handy, dandy DIY fidget spinner without special-order skate bearings. All it takes is a trip to the craft store, or if you’re particularly crafty, maybe even just a visit to your craft stash!

Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.