How to Make Arch Blinds

Measure the horizontal width of the arch from one side to the other. Divide this number by two to determine the height of the paper you should use. Multiply the height of the paper by three to calculate the paper's width.

Obtain a piece of acid-free, heavyweight 60-pound drawing paper, matching the dimensions from Step 1.

Position the paper horizontally in front of you, and place your ruler at the bottom of the page. Mark the bottom edge of the art paper with faint pencil marks at even intervals across the width of the page, going from left to right. These will be the fold lines for the page. The closer you place the lines together, the more folds will be in your shades. In general, you should not make your fold lines closer together than 1/2 inch, and not farther away than 1 1/2 inches. Mark the top edge with corresponding lines.

Trim off the edge of the page at the last line on the right side if the distance between lines is greater than the distance of the last line from the edge of the page. Use a paper cutter so the cut will be perfectly straight.

Fold the paper forward at the first mark you made on the edge of the page. For example, if your marks were spaced at 1-inch intervals, you'll fold over one edge of the page by 1 inch.

Fold the paper back at the second mark you made on the edge of the page. Fold the paper forward at the next mark, then continue folding backward then forward, creating an accordion effect. Do this until the entire paper has been folded into an accordion-like strip.

Hold the accordion-folded strip at one end, which will become the bottom. Allow the other end to open up like a fan.

Tape the paper together at the end where you're holding it, so the paper retains its fan shape even when you let go. Use invisible adhesive tape. This will make what looks like a small "tail" in the center of your fan, at the bottom.

Hold the fan-shape up to the arch on top of the window. Check that the dimensions of the fan match the dimensions of the window.

Measure the width and length of the base of the fan-shape. Cut a piece of card stock to this length. Apply a bead of glue to the card stock base and press the bottom of the fan into the base. Clip the fan to the base with two or more binder clips while the glue dries. Fold the tail of the fan to one side so it's not easily visible.

Cut a 2-inch piece of invisible adhesive tape. Attach 1 inch of the tape to the top of the fan in the center, on the side of the blinds that will face the window.

Attach the base of the shade to the strip of wood stretching across the bottom of the arch. Attach the base with tacks installed every 5 inches.

Curl over the the extra inch of adhesive tape at the top of the blinds into the window and press the tape onto the surface so the tape holds the blinds to the window.