Who says ceilings don’t deserve decoration? Forget about hanging stuff on your boring old walls – this month’s craft is a fancy mobile that will swing from your ceiling in style. If there’s a new baby in your house, a mobile is perfect for hanging over a crib, but this cool version will look great in the kitchen, the hallway, or anywhere else that could use a little fun decoration.
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Time: One hour
Materials:
6 sheets of cardstock paper in 6 different colors
4 meters of thin, transparent fishing line (diaòyú xiàn 钓鱼线)
2 circular objects of different sizes, one larger than the other – jars, lids or rolls of tape work well for this. One should be about 8cm wide, the other should be about 4.5cm wide
Ruler
Scissors
1 chopstick
2 popsicle sticks
Needle
90cm of ribbon or string (optional)
Assembling the Shapes
- Using your circle-shaped objects, trace six larger circles and six smaller circles, and then cut these out. Next, use your ruler to measure four rectangles (3x7cm) and four squares (4x4cm), then cut these out.
- Using your ruler, trace a line through the middle of each of the circles. Then, use scissors to cut halfway down the length of all the lines.
- Fit two of the big circles into each other so that you form a three-dimensional sphere. You may have to cut one of the grooves a bit longer to make the circles fit perfectly. Do the same for the rest of the big circles, and then repeat the process again for the small ones.
- Trace a line on each of the rectangles, dividing them in half the long way. Then, cut halfway down the length of all the lines. Fit two rectangles together using the grooves to form a big prism and repeat for the remaining pieces. Next, follow this process and do the same with your squares to form two smaller prisms. You should now have three large spheres, three small spheres, two big prisms and two small prisms!
- Using a needle, poke a hole through each shape close to an edge and then again on the opposite side near an edge. Slide the needle all the way through the paper to enlarge the holes.
Assembling the Mobile
- Cut a long piece of fishing line (about 8cm) and wrap it tightly around one end of a popsicle stick, tying it several times to secure. Trim the smaller piece of line that sticks out from the knot.
- Thread the other end of the fishing line through a hole in one of the big spheres and tie a knot.
- Cut another piece of line and thread it through the other hole in the same sphere and tie a knot. Next, thread the other end of this line through a small prism and tie securely.
- Repeat step one for the other side of the popsicle stick, and then thread the fishing line through a small sphere and tie a knot.
- Use another piece of line to connect the small sphere to a big prism.
- To see if your mobile is balanced so far, try balancing the popsicle stick on your hand. If it leans to one side, slide the fishing lines towards or away from the center to reestablish balance.
- On the next popsicle stick, hang one small sphere and one large one from one end. Hang one large prism and small sphere one on the other end. Adjust the balance.
- Cut two long pieces of fishing line. Tie one piece around around the center of balance of each popsicle stick and then tie both pieces to either end of the chopstick. It may take some time to figure out how to balance the whole mobile. Take your time sliding the fishing line back and forth to achieve the perfect balance.
- Cut a short length of line and tie it around the center of the chopstick. Then attach a big sphere, and a small prism.
- Make a loop by attaching the end of one length of fishing line (or ribbon or string) to each end of the chopstick. Then you can use this loop to hang your mobile from the ceiling using a thumbtack covered with masking tape or a piece of putty.
