Thanks everyone for the compliments!
This is my first proper project that I've posted on craftster so it's great to hear that people like it!
This is beautiful!
I want to make one for my daughter, would you help me please?
poppysmum, I'd be happy to give you advice on making one. Here's a mini-tutorial to help.
First cut a circle out of card for the top of the mobile. Mine is the width of an A4 piece of card because that's all I had lying around!
Decorate it if you want to. The card might get a bit warped when it dries but this should be sorted by leaving it under something heavy (when it has completely dried!) for a day or two.
Decide on how many threads you want to have hanging from the mobile (mine has 25). Make a hole for each of these in the circle with a needle. Spread the holes evenly around the circle to make sure your mobile is balanced when finished.
Decide how long you want the threads hanging from the mobile to be. Add extra length to take into account the amount needed to hang the mobile. This amount depends on how close to the ceiling you plan on having it. The shorter the amount, the closer to the ceiling it will end up.
Tutorials for making origami stars (sometimes called lucky stars) can be found widely on the internet and I'm sure I've seen some on craftster. The method I used is one I learned from a book about a year ago so I can't really post it because of the copyright issues. If you have major problems with tutorials though, post the problem and I'll try to help.
When you've made your stars (the number is personal choice) I recommend coating them in glue to protect them from getting squished when they are threaded.
Pick out some beads and thread them and your stars (when dry!) using a needle to go through the stars. Try to keep the numbers and sizes of beads/stars even between threads to help with balance. In my mobile there are gaps between the stars and beads. This is achieved by putting glue at the top and bottom of each bead/star to hold them in place on the thread. Leave to dry before hanging the threads.
Using the needle, thread each strand through its hole in the card circle. When all are through hold the ends up together and tie in a knot. When this is held up in the air the mobile should balance evenly. If it doesn't you may need to rearrange your threads. The mobile is now finished!
To hang, put an eye fitting in your ceiling. Thread the strings through and tie securely. Trim off any excess thread from the final knot. Stand back and admire!
Hope this is useful! If there's anything that needs more explaining let me know!
