Twirly Thingy Tutorial

I used a few of these twirly thingies in the March VT message and wanted to show you how I made them.

Start by cutting strips of paper.  The one below is about 2x12 inches wide.  I needed two 2x12 strips.  Then fold them like a fan.

Once you are done folding, stick them together.

Then connect the remaining sides.

Gather one of the ends into the middle and stick a dab of glue inside, holding it together till it dries.

If you want, stick something over the middle part, and you are done!

For the smaller ones, I used 1x12 strips and it only took one. 

I can think of a million things to use these for...have you ever made twirly thingies?  What did you use them for?  And does anyone know what they are really called?!