Hello fellow night owls (and early birds, too)! Jenn, here, with a project that started with just a little bit of wordplay.
We've all heard of sun catchers and dream catchers, right? But how many of us have ever heard of a moon catcher? I hadn't, and I decided that was a sad thing indeed. After all, I do my best work once the sun goes down and the moon rises high, so let's indulge in a bit of lunacy, shall we?
To make your own moon mobile (or any other theme–these steps will work for the motif of your choice), you only need a few things:
- Lightweight Paper Board
- Printed Images in 2 sizes
- String or fiber (~3 yards, divided)
- Ribbon
- Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
Plus scissors and, if you want, some beads.
Now, I'm using my own paintings for this project, photographed and resized for printing, but there are plenty of clip art options out there if you don't have moon paintings laying around. You could also collage or paper piece your images–really, get creative with it. That's part of the fun! You're going to want 2 images (these don't have to match) printed as 8" circles, and 3 (or more) copies of each of 3 smaller images, about 3" or so.
Trace one of your larger images onto the paper board and cut to size. Attach the paper board to the back of one image with a thin line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. The nature of this glue will keep this project trucking right along, leaving plenty of the night left to work on other projects!
Set the large images aside for now and fold each of the smaller images in half, right sides together.
Run a line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive down the center fold of the back of one of your smaller images. Lay the fiber or string along the adhesive with a few inches hanging free at the bottom.
Attach two of the folded circles together, with a thin line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, backs together. As in the picture, you only want to put half of the two circles together, leaving the other two halves open. Make sure your images are all pointing the same direction, too.
Glue the third circle onto the two open sides of the construct so far, enclosing the string or fiber where the folds all meet. Repeat with your other two sets of small images.
On the back of the reinforced larger image, at the top center of the image, use the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to attach a loop of ribbon to serve as a hanger.
Space out the long lead strings of the "satellites" along the back of the larger image. Let the center image hang lower than the ones on either side, and secure the strings with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Trim the excess fiber just inside the top edge of your larger circle.
Sandwich the strings and ribbon under your last large circle, making sure to secure not just the perimeter but also the tops of the strings with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. You may want to weigh this layer down with something heavy for a few hours just to make sure everything is connecting just right and that the ridges from the strings flatten out a bit.
Knot and trim the tail ends of the smaller moons. Slipping on a large, but lightweight bead is a nice touch that also helps the small moons hang correctly. And just to make sure your knots stay put, dot them with a bit more Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive for safekeeping.
Now you're biggest challenge is deciding where to hang it!
Wishing you creative days,
