AuraVerdeCrafts: Summer Mobile

I love being outdoors. While working full time for the past 10 years I would catch myself gazing out my office window, especially late in the afternoon when that "down" time happens. I had a garden outside of my window and loved to watch the bees and butterflies flit around in the Russian Sage planted there. Since I couldn't be out there, I tried to decorate my office with a bit of the outdoors. I also figured that since I spent more than half of my waking hours there, it should not only be comfortable, but also reflect my personality. I fortunately worked in an office that allowed me to do so.

Every season I would change up the wreath I had on my door or the silk flowers I had in a vase on my bookcase or, and this was always my favorite, what I had hung from the ceiling tiles. Now, I didn't cause any damage to the tiles! (Just a hint: if your office has the large ceiling tiles you can insert the spiral binding from a report that has been pulled apart just under the lip of the support cross pieces and use it to hang light objects. A paper clip will also work.) This is one of those hanging decorations. I had it hanging in my office near the air conditioner vent and it would gently sway whenever the air kicked in. I want to hang this in my house, but will have to put a screw-in cup hook in the ceiling so I need to decide where I want it to hang.

Sorry I don't have pictures, yet again, of this project in the works, but it is very simple. I came up with it while wandering around a craft store...that simple! It took a small (10-inch) straw wreath, coordinating ribbon (3 yards for wrapping the wreath and making a hanger and another 3 for the streamers), silk flowers, and clip-on butterflies or flowers. The silk flowers I found were already together in a bouquet (I bought 2 - one for the wreath and one for the vase). I lucked out and found everything in matching colors in one aisle and added some ribbon that I had on hand. With all of the beautiful summery items out there in stores, I'm sure that it will be easy to coordinate for your project.

I started with a straw wreath and wrapped it with gold thread. Not sure why I did this. I think it was because the wreath was falling apart a bit after I removed the plastic wrapper and thought this would hold the loose pieces in better. Next I wrapped one of the ribbons around the wreath, securing it with straight pins. I removed the flowers from the stems and arranged them around the wreath, gluing them in place. I was working on this right-side up!

Next I cut the streamer ribbons about 1 yard each and pinned them in place using a straight pin. I added a bit of glue to both the ribbon and the end of the pin to ensure that it would hold in place when hung. The ribbons should be spaced evenly around the wreath in order to make the mobile hang properly. Holding the wreath with the flowers down, I brought the ribbons up and over the flowers and attached them to the interior of the wreath.

I clipped the butterflies to the ribbons, alternating colors and the edge of the ribbon that I clipped them to. I had three smaller butterflies and clipped these at the top, near the wreath. I used 12 butterflies in all, 4 for each ribbon. It gave the mobile a nice balance and length. Next I attached ribbons to hang the mobile from. You can see in the picture above that I started again on the inside of the wreath and brought the ribbons to the exterior through the flowers. These were also secured with glue and a pin. Holding the three ribbons together I tied a knot, trying to make sure the mobile hung straight. (Doesn't look very straight hanging from a tree though!)