Butterfly Mobile Tutorial Part II

10. Punch a small hole just above or just below the stick.


11. Insert second stick as shown (make sure your hole is centered, notice I had to repunch :) but that's OK, it will be covered up in a minute...)


12. Tie two more lengths of string to each side of the the stick. Make sure they are equidistant from what would be the center string (on the other stick). And make sure they don't go all the way to the edge!


13. Cut another strip of paper, then cut in half and fold the end edges over, applying a bunch of glue to the WRONG side of the paper.



14. Sandwich the stick between the two strips, making sure the stick is straight. You may want to lay the paper flat, like in the second photo. Either way is acceptable.



15. Once both pieces of paper are attached, you may have to add a bit more glue just to close the edges tight, you can trim everything at this point, just remember to leave a good 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch on the ends--for hanging purposes.


16. Here's where the gaffer tape comes in handy. You'll want to finish adding the butterflies to the empty strings. This is no easy task, unless you can convince someone to hold it for you :) The gaffer tape is low tack so it won't ruin your paper if you use it to hold the mobile to a surface while gluing butterflies on. Do one side, then turn to do the other. I've done this a number of ways, find what works best for you!


17. Once you've finished with all the strings of butterflies, add a bead to the end of each string, it will help them to not get all caught up and tangled, and adds a pretty little touch.


18. Punch a hole in each edge and add an eyelet, string more sting through and balance to make a holder. This part, I'd love you give you more direction, but you just have to go for it, play with it. The first one I did, I had to try a few different ways, it's a learn by doing thing...



And there you have it. Now I don't know if this would work without the stick, the paper might be strong enough to support the butterflies on its own, but my first thought was to use a stick. I hope to see lots of these beauties in the gallery over the next month or two! Honestly, this will take you a good 3-4 hours, but it's worth it, don't you think?



I think this would be super cute with other punched or die cut shapes, so don't feel tied to the butterfly theme!