I have had a few emails asking me to share, or write up a tutorial on the butterfly mobile. I am sad to say that I did not take any pictures while making it. Pardon the pun I just kind of winged it after reading several different tutorials on making them (which I link below). Mr. Project and I normally like to try to make things with what we have around the house so that dictated a lot of the supplies that we used.
Supplies Needed:
100 Butterflies (made from cardstock paper). I bought mine from The Pretty Paper Shop. It was 5 dollars total for 100 butterflies plus shipping.
Embroidery hoop- the inside ring only, or the ring without the metal clasp. It will come with two hoops from the store that you will need to take apart first. Any craft store should sell these in the needlework section- you want a wooden one in the size of your choice.
Spray Paint- Ballet Slipper Pink color (Krylon- Wal-Mart)
Fishing Wire
Hot Glue and Hot Glue Gun
**We also used a drill to make holes along the embroidery hoop in which to tie the fishing wire.
Steps:
1. Spray paint the embroidery hoop the color of your choice. We had the Ballet Slipper Pink on hand so went with that.
2. After hoop dries, we then drilled four evenly spaced holes (with itty bitty drill bit) around the hoop.
3. Affix fishing wire in holes. This is tricky to describe without photos. But you are going to create a cross, or axle with the two strings of fishing wire. Attach one side of the fishing wire to one of the holes then attach it to the hole directly across the hoop. Repeat for the other side- if you don't feel comfortable drilling I don't see why you can't just tie the wire around the hoop. You will see how your wires will cross right in the middle.
4. Then, cut out varying lengths of fishing wire. I wanted a more organic look so mine are similar in length but not the same. I worked one length of fishing wire at a time for the next steps.
5. Hot glue butterflies to wire. I hot glued them willy nilly to get a look I liked more. I did anywhere from 3-5 butterflies per wire.
6. Then, either hot glue the wire on the inside rim of the hoop, or tie it tightly onto one of the wires that are strung in the middle of the hoop. For reference I tied 4 wires with butterflies onto each of the two wires. 2 on each side of the wire from the middle point. 8 wires around the rim (I used the strings in the middle as my guide and spaced them evenly between those).
7. Next, I hot glued extra butterflies I had randomly around the outer rim of the hoop.
8. Using the wires I had already affixed on the inside of the rim as my guide, I tied two pieces of fishing wire around the hoop and had them cross above the rim- this will be what helps you hang your mobile. These two wires do need to be the same exact length to get them to cross right in the middle. We then added a tiny s hook where the wires meet in the middle.
9. We then looped on more straight wire-cut the length from the ceiling to where we wanted the mobile to dangle-onto the s hook.
10. Then we affixed this wire to the ceiling.
Again I apologize about the fact that there are zero pictures and it is probably hard to imagine. But hopefully it will answer some questions and help you get started. Here are some other sources that I read about to get the jist of the concept:
One more resource as always is etsy. There are sellers who offer them already made for a price (ours total was 5 plus shipping since we already had everything) and also offer a kit for a reduced price. Please let me know if you have any questions. One day hopefully I can make another to show the concept better :)!
this is so cute! I love how it dances!
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