DIY Candy Wheel of Fortune!

Make a spinning candy wheel for trick-or-treaters! Also great as a mini carnival game :-).

I spent weeks trying to come up with an easy way to make a treat wheel. I wanted something substantial-looking that could be used from year to year, not flimsy cardboard or poster board. 

After looking at lazy Susans and turn-table bearings, I woke up in the middle of the night with a super idea! Use a spinning desk chair!

After you're done using this as a spinning wheel, just put the chair back together :-).

Supplies:

• Spinning Desk chair
• Round table top
• 9 3-inch Screws
• 4 Large-head Screws
• Screwdriver / Electric Drill
• Wrench
• Chalkboard Paint
• 120 or 220 grit Sand Paper
• Scissors
• Yarn or String
• Painter's Tape
• Chalk
• Long Stick / Weed grabber
• Clear Packing tape
• Cereal Box

Find an old desk chair. You want a chair that spins freely. I bought this one at Goodwill for $7!

Buy an unfinished table top at your local hardware store OR find a round end table at a thrift store and cut off the legs. I bought a 28" wide table for $5 at Goodwill.

Remove the seat hardware. Put all the pieces in a bag so that you can put the chair back together again, if desired.

Cover the table top with three coats of Chalkboard Paint (I used Rustoleum). Lightly sand between coats.

Season the table top by rubbing it with chalk and an old t-shirt.

Secure the table top to the base with large-head screws. Make sure the large-head screws are no longer than the table thickness.

Cut four pieces of yarn. Tape them across the table top so you can see the sections. Tape the ends uner the table.

They don't need to be evenly spaced - you could make small slivers equal bigger prizes!

Make a chalk mark where the lines intersect. This should be the center of the table. Tape the string to the side, away from the mark. Place a screw on the mark.

Mark your yarn lines with chalk. Place screws on the marks.

Cut yarn pieces 6 or 7 feet LONGER than your table top. Place the center of the yarn around the center screw. 

Pull taut and wind the yarn around the screw, filling in the grooves. Wind it up and wind it down. Tie the end to the base of the screw. Wind the other end of the yarn around the opposite screw.

Covering the screws with yarn makes this easier for little hands to turn the wheel :-).

Repeat with the rest of the screws.

Use colored chalk to write prizes on the wheel. I used chalk / chalk paint instead of paint / markers so I could change the prizes if we started running low on candy!

Put the wheel in the grass. Cut a  long triangle out of the cereal box. Push a stick into the ground next to the wheel. Tape the triangle to the stick with clear packing tape. Make sure the triangle can hit the screws as the wheel turns!

I tried to use a wire sign post for this part of the project but the sign post wouldn't sink far enough into the ground. This red stick is actually a weed grabber. I just twisted it into the ground and it stayed there!

Spin!

** I ended up using a Christmas Tree base with a wood stick as the marker!