Even though I only recently posted the butterfly mobile idea on my blog
here, I have actually been working on it since this past winter, in anticipation of my little girl.
After typing up a tutorial, my post was somehow deleted. Much like a sock gets lost in the dryer, my post disappeared from my blog. I was so disappointed that it vanished after putting so much time into it. Has anyone else ever had this happen? Oh well, so goes life. Enough of my pity party...on with the new tutorial!
I have no idea if this is the "best" method, this is simply the method I used. If you know how to make it easier on yourself or others, please feel free to leave your wisdom in my comments. ;)
I started with a wooden embroidery hoop. I found a spool of metal twine in the bargain bin at Michael's for about .79. It very closely resembles twisty tie line. (Thin gauge wire encased in plastic), but any small wire or possibly even string would probably work. I tied my twine on in pie formation as seen below.
Next I spray painted the whole thing white (wires and all), but I don't have a picture of this step.
I purchased a butterfly punch tool by Martha Stewart, also at Michael's, and created what felt like 100's of butterflies, out of scrapbook paper.
Then, using a needle and clear fishing line, I createed 2 rows on each line of wire, evenly spaced, one center line and an additional 8 lines on the outer ring, centered between the wires, for a total of 25 strands of butterflies.
I secured the bottom of each line with a seed bead, both for weight and stability, and tied knots where I wanted the butterflies to "rest" on their lines. So, each butterfly has a knot just below it, holding it in place on its line.
I added one additional butterfly to each row going inward, so the longest row of butterflies, is the center line. Giving it a tiered effect. And, voila! The mobile is complete. Sorry for the shaky picture, but believe me, the finished result was beautiful!
My original plan was to secure this with some decorative ribbon to a hook in the ceiling of my daughter's room. The colors served as the inspiration for the quilt I had my Nana make for her.
When I showed my husband, I held it up under a lamp, and he commented about how it would be really interesting if I could somehow make it into a lamp. ....I loved the idea, but I will save that for another post!
