how to make an origami star mobile {repost}

a year ago today, the original post for this project was published. it was my first ever tutorial and is one of my most popular past projects.

 

while inspiration hunting for the nursery, i came across some fantastic ideas for diy mobiles.  i have made mobiles in the past (for both luca and gia) and the plan was to do the same for this little guy.  nothing i saw was quite the right style or budget fit.  i set myself a goal of $5 or less on expenses and wanted to use materials i had on hand.  the only real direction i had for style was something that would grow with the baby.  i had a vision - a collection of mini vintage globes hanging from the ceiling - and used this as a jumping off point.

having dabbled in origami before (one year most of our friends and family received crane ornaments for christmas), i thought about using maps as the paper for an origami mobile.  my sister-in-law bought me a great origami project book a few years back, so luca and i poured through the pages, before settling on the star.  it would be easy to make a lot of them (and by this time i was going big to fill the corner above the crib), but i am also drawn to them visually and symbolically.  since i ended up having an old map calendar stashed away for such a day as this and i chose all other materials i had on hand, this project cost me $0!

i thought i would write up a brief tutorial on how i assembled my mobile.  i also included a slide show of how to fold an origami star - not super detailed - i am sure you can find others on youtube and such.

materials used:

• branch
• spray paint (optional)
• thin (easy to fold) paper, cut in varying size squares
• fishing line
• sewing needle
• scotch tape
• twine
• hooks

i scavenged our backyard for a fallen branch that was to my liking.  then we spray painted it with two coats of bright, shiny red for a pop of color and let it dry overnight.

meanwhile, i cut 3, 4, 6, and 8 inch size squares from my map calendar and leftover scrapbook paper.   i then folded my stars in the following manner.




when finished, i threaded fishing line with a sewing needle on to the top point of each star.  now that the branch was dry, i had it hanging at eye level to save myself some major back pain (shoulders above my head for more than a few minutes can set off my fibromyalgia big time).  i estimated the length of line and the placement of each star and loosely connected them to the branch with a bit of tape (no tying yet, so i could play around with placement as i continued to add).  when all of my stars were in place, i spent a couple days living with the arrangement - giving myself time to fuss and my arms and fingers a rest.  i then double tied each star to the branch and cut off the excess line.  jesse and i hung the mobile by tying twine to the branch and then tying the twine to two hooks screwed into the ceiling.

we love the way it turned out.  hope this is helpful for any diyers looking for a new project.  let me know if you have any questions or if you try it yourself.

close up of the stars

view from the crib