Simple mobiles for everyone

This is a good time, ahead of Valentine's Day, which I hold this truth to be self evident, that it's a day for friendship, to hell with the Hallmark card assumptions about romantic relationships, you can enjoy it and so can your friends, all of them, single and otherwise.

And one thing you can make is your own decorations, at home, using what's there.

Sooooo, here's a nice thing to make, easy, and kids like doing this too, always a good point for grandparents wanting to occupy the little guys.  These are all mobiles which hang in a two dimensional plane.  Meaning, no balancing required as for "real" three dimensional ones which require a lot of skill and time to get the balance right.

 

 

They're all in my downstairs bathroom, hence the masses of other small artworks all round, mostly by me, some by artist friends who wanted to get in on the act.

The mobiles are simple: chopsticks or other long thin wood sticks, string, white glue, paper of any kind.  You cut shapes, two of each shape, however you like, and however you want to decorate them, or cut from origami paper or anything that can be glued easily.  

Then you create a hanging loop for the main stick, and tie strings of different lengths to hang down pleasingly in a design.  Then glue so that the string is captured within the two sides of each paper shape.  That's it.  And very pleasing they can be.  You can hang on a wall or suspend from a ceiling or shelf or anything you like, really.

And they are a bit addictive, I must admit.  I gave away some, at that time.  As you see, I used origami cranes, birds cut from a picture book, bits of my own prints leftover,  Arp- like shapes.  Whatever seemed like fun at the time.  Busted up unreadable old picture books can yield nice trees, houses, flowers, that sort of thing. And wrapping paper likewise. Colored newspaper sections about fruit and veggies. Watercolors that didn't make it.  Just look around.

And enjoy a bit of escapist fun.