American Kitefliers Association

Thanks for the info. As I found out, a longer flying wand makes your miniature kite fly better.The bristles are a nice alternative to trying to consistently split bamboo to micro sizes.

AS&S - one of my favorite places to buy weird junk. (This includes YOUR 'just-what-I-needed', even if everyone else thinks it's junk.)

Agreed, those bristles are nice. And the long flying wands are also helpful!

Thanks Susie for reminding me about this source.  I placed an order.

Where have you been getting the floss bobbins you use for flying line winders?  I may make my own with a craft cutter but those sheets of bobbins you have may be a better deal than setting up the cutter.

Check out your local sewing/craft store in the needlework section. Michael's, JoAnn fabrics, Hobby Lobby are some of the major chains. Sometimes even WalMart has them.
If you want to get really fancy, Lindsay Johnson makes miniature wooden winders.

Suzie had them in full sheets to be punched out, I am hoping they might be even cheaper that way so I can reduce the cost of doing workshops.  The sheet also keeps them neat and organized until it is time to hand them out.

Hmmm, Joann has them online in 1000 count bulk bags for 19.99 - about 2 cents each.  It may be hard to find lower than that...

I use several different types of winders for mini kite making classes. 

As Barb said embroidery floss bobbins.  The ones I usually buy are four winders to a card that pop out. 

The winder I used this year in my workshop was simply printed on 110 lb tag / index paper from my ink-jet printer. They have to be cutout by hand; but the advantage of them was no clip is needed on the flying stick, instead the stick is pushed through the holes on each end of the winder. 

For last years workshops I used a "Tab Punch" on heavy paper to create winders.  There are other larger paper craft punches that would work as well such as Mini Round Petal punch which would make a fun winder

reynolds5520 wrote:

Suzie had them in full sheets to be punched out, I am hoping they might be even cheaper that way so I can reduce the cost of doing workshops.  The sheet also keeps them neat and organized until it is time to hand them out.

Hmmm, Joann has them online in 1000 count bulk bags for 19.99 - about 2 cents each.  It may be hard to find lower than that...

1000??? Whoa! That's a lot of kites.
Another concern is how to transport the finished kite safely. Some use ziplocks with a little air blown inside. Susie had a box to cut out and fold printed on a sheet of cardstock. Another option is small plastic cases. This is one source that I've used: http://www.calendar-case.com/

barbarameyer wrote:

1000??? Whoa! That's a lot of kites.

I don't think I would use that many in a VERY long time but I am thinking about the cocktail napkin kite as a project to do with school kids.  So you never know...
I will probably set up a pattern to cut my own with my Cricut.  That way I can make the quantity I need whenever I need them.

Thanks for the link to the source for the boxes.  I saw a lot of miniatures at convention in cases like that and I was wondering where they came from.