The ilovegorgeous Makery!

At ilovegorgeous, we love all things creative, and half term is the perfect time to take part in homemade projects with your gorgeous girls! Sisters Guild is a fabulous online boutique, whose emphasis is on beauty and creativity.  The site is full of great ideas, products, prints, recipes and more, and we asked Carla to send us a fab Monday Makery idea that you can try at home this half term! 

Under the Stars: Homemade Mobile

With daughters of my own it's wonderful to be enraptured by all that glitters, all that's magic, all that sparkles and all that's gorgeous! When ilovegorgeous asked us to guest post a Monday Makery we jumped at the chance to share some craft love.

I asked my daughters what we should make, and inspired by the ilovegorgeous 2012 A/W collection where we see stars, sequins and glittered dresses, there was only one thing that sprang to mind..... stars!

We gaze up at them in the night sky, we sing about them, we wonder what they are, in all their shining twinkling glory as though magic, but most of all we wish upon them, and sometimes we dream of catching them, holding stars of our own.

So, with this in mind, we set out to bring the night sky and all its wonder into our bedrooms, where stars can twinkle above our heads day and night and our wishes and dreams could be cast upon them as we sleep.

Here's our step by step guide to make your very own twinkling star mobile:

You will need:

• coloured card
• a pencil
• star shaped cookie cutters
• glue (fabric glue is best)
• some small clips
• scissors
• thread
• hand needle (typically used for wool or embroidery thread)
• embroidery hoop
• ribbon

Here's how you make them:

1.     Take your embroidery ring and a long piece of ribbon. Open up the embroidery ring a little and place one end of the ribbon in-between the two rings and then tighten the embroidery ring closed so the ribbon is securely fixed.

2.     Wrap the ribbon round and round the embroidery ring until you end up back at the beginning, Secure with a little glue, fabric glue works best, and then place a clip on the ends whilst the glue sets to work.

3.     Now take your embroidery ring and some thread. (Coloured thread is easier to work with as it’s easier to see, though if you truly want the stars to look as though they're suspended I would recommend using white thread.) Tie one end of the thread to the edge of the embroidery ring, then pulling it tight across to the other side, tie the other end to opposite edge, creating a line across the middle of the ring.

4.     Now turn the embroidery ring around so that the first string lies horizontal in front of you. Then, following the same principle as before, tie another piece of string to the edge, about one third of the way in from the bottom left of the ring. Pulling it tight, tie the other end to the top edge of the ring crossing your horizontal line. 

5.     Repeat this process again on the right hand side to create a grid-like pattern of string across the embroidery ring. Your stars will later hang from these grids.

6.     Set the embroidery ring to one side and begin with the stars.

7.     Begin by drawing around your star shaped cookie cutters onto your card. We made our mobile using 40 stars. You can make them in different sizes and colours if you like, and vary them on each string.

8.     Cut out each of the stars. (If little hands can manage it, try folding the card in a concertina, draw around the cookie cutter on the top side and cut out several at once.

9.     To create the strings of stars, first thread the needle. Then, tie a knot at one end, thread the first star onto the thread and slide down to meet the knot. 

10.  Tie another knot a couple of inches above your first star, then thread another star, again sliding it down to meet the second the knot. Keep doing this until you have a string of 4 or 5 stars.

11.  Repeat the process with another piece of string.

12.  Once you've made 8 strings of stars, put to one side, and you're ready to finish!

13.  Tie one strand of your stars to where the strings cross on your embroidery ring.

14.  Take another strand and tie it with a knot to the other central crossover. You now have your central strands fixed.

15.  Now, taking each strand of stars in turn, tie each one to the edge of the embroidery ring where the threads meet the edge of the ring.

16.  Finally, take four even lengths of thread. (The length will depend on how low you want your mobile to hang.) Tie one end of each thread to opposite sides of the embroidery ring. Gather them up above the ring and tie in a secure knot.

Now your mobile is ready to hang!

We’ve hung our mobiles above our beds and watch them twinkle in the soft light of our bedside lamps.  The gentle movement brings some of the magic of the night sky into our room. 

Top tip for making glittery stars

If you'd like to add some glitter to your stars try this little trick to make it easier.

Take a cereal box and cut out the back of it using a sharp knife or scissors. (Adults only please!) Tape the original opening to seal the box, then snip one of the bottom corners off.  When you want to add glitter, glue the top of your star then glue side up place into your 'glitter box' and sprinkle with glitter.You can then tip the glitter from the box back into the pot of glitter and none goes to waste!

We've got a twin makery this week so be sure to check out our other star Monday Makery! You'll soon have a room full of stars more beautiful than the night sky.....and its all yours!

Happy Making!

 We hope you’ll love this project as much as we do – try making one with your gorgeous girls this half term and as let us know how you get on, we’d love to see pictures of your pretty star mobiles! ilovegorgeous customers can also enjoy 20% off everything at the Sisters Guild boutique; simply enter the code STARS at the checkout!

Don’t forget we’ve extended our half term happiness offer - you can still get 20% off everything at ilovegorgeous until midnight on Wednesday 24^th October, by using the code HHH20.