The creative Karen Thomas shows how to brighten up your home or office "nest" with a whimsical desktop mobile that features colorful paper folded cranes. For step-by-step illustrated instructions to fold the cranes, see the PDF below the image at the right.
Materials
9" of 32-gauge piano wire
14" of 22-gauge piano wire
small oval bass wood plaque
thin string or transparent thread
thin needle
2" Yasutomo Minigami origami paper
white glue
black acrylic paint
violet interference acrylic paint
sandpaper
round needle-nose pliers
wire cutters
scissors
seed beads
water-based varnish
stamps
permanent stamp ink
awl
Steps:1. Fold four or five flapping cranes with the 2-inch paper. Folding instructions can be found in the PDF below the image at the right.
2. Tie a seed bead at the bottom of a 6-inch piece of thread and feed the needle and thread through the bottom of each crane and up through the back. Bring the bead up through the small hole at the bottom (figure A). The bead will act as a weight and will keep the thread from coming through the top. Leave about 4 inches of thread at the top of the crane.
3. Sand the bass wood base lightly and seal with wood sealer. Paint the base black and let dry. Stamp or collage words or images on the base with permanent stamp ink, or paint with interference colors. Varnish with water-based sealer when completely dry (figure B).
4. Pierce a hole through the thickness of the bass wood base at either long end about 4 inches apart. A sharp, thin awl will easily go through the soft wood.
5. Put the thicker piano wire strip into the hole. The piano wire is very strong and will hold its shape but will spring back flat if needed (figure C).
6. Cut three pieces of thin piano wire 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches long. Make small loops with round pliers at ends of each piece, making sure they are going in the same direction (figure D).
7. Tie one crane at each looped end of one piece. Make one crane a hang a little lower than the other. One crane should be 1 inch from the loop and the other 1-1/2 inch away from the loop. Tie a piece of string in the middle of the wire with the dangling cranes. Secure the string with glue once the cranes are equally balanced. With the middle string, tie through one looped end of another piece of wire. Now tie a crane at the other end and balance unit before securing with glue (figure E). Build your mobile from the bottom up, balancing each segment as you go.
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PDF
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