Flower Mobile

As I was contemplating how decorate Anna’s room, I wanted to make sure that it was bright and colorful. Since my walls are a very pale yellow (because we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl) I want to make sure all accents have great 'pops' of color.   One way to bring out color was to create a mobile for above her crib. I searched Etsy & Pinterest to find just the right thing.  In my search, I got a lot of great ideas for inspiration, but nothing that fit exactly with my vision or my budget. Since I had a floral theme started for the room I decided to make a flower mobile.  I headed out and found the base for my mobile, a metal macramé ring.  I wanted the flowers to be bright, sturdy and visually interesting on both sides. I decided to purchase felt in bright colors and cut out many flowers of various sizes.  I wanted them to float so I knew I needed some clear string and fishing line seemed to be the best choice.  The flowers alone, didn’t quite pop like I wanted. Hobby Lobby was having 50% off their beads and I found a few strands that fit my color scheme (black beads, green beads and purple butterfly beads).  I also found a few glitter ornaments at Michael’s in their dollar bin (butterflies  & dragon flies). Assembling the mobile was fairly easy. The hardest part was cutting all of the flower shapes from felt as it was very time-consuming.  Overall this project was easy, inexpensive and provided the interest I needed for Anna's room. 


Materials:

• Metal Macrame Ring
• Felt
• Jewels / Buttons
• Beads
• Fishing Line & Needle
• Ornaments (Butterfly & Dragonfly)
• Optional:  Chain to hang mobile

Instructions: 

1. Cut out flower shapes from felt. I wanted multiple layered flowers so I cut 2-3 layers per flower of varying sizes. (I felt like I would never see the end of flower cutting)
2. Glue Flower layers together to create layered flower
3. Add jewel or button to center of flower on both sides
4. Layout flowers and beads for each strand arrangement. I wanted each flower to be divided by a chunky bead.
5. Cut long strands of fishing line (Measure the length you'd like for the mobile to hang and add at least 1/3 longer than what you actually want to ensure that you have enough to make the proper knots and ties)
6. Thread needle with fishing line. String felt flower onto fishing line and make a knot to hold flower into place.  Leave enough fishing line at the top of the strand to be able to tie it to the macramé ring when your strand is complete.
7. String bead onto fishing line and leave desired length between flower and bead and create a knot around bead to hold into place.
8. Continue to add flowers & beads to line until desired arrangement and length is created for each strand.
9. Wrap the extra fishing line at the top of the finished strand around the macramé ring and tie a knot to secure into place. Do this for each of your completed strands and space evenly around the ring to create proper weight distribution to keep it hanging level.
10. Create top of mobile and hanger by tying 4 smaller strands of fishing line evenly around the macramé ring. Gather those for strands together in the center so that each strand is even and the ring hangs balanced and straight.
11. String a few beads to keep strands in place and knot all lines together at the top. 
12. Attach a chain to the top and hang from a hook that is screwed into the ceiling.

  

 

  

Hair Bow Holder {Wall Frame}

Anna’s basket of hair accessories on her dresser was overflowing, and each time I searched for a matching accessory, I made a bigger mess or couldn’t find what I wanted. I’ve seen so many cute hair bow holders online {Pinterest} and so I attempted to make my own.

I went to the local thrift store and found a frame for $3.00.  While I would have liked a more ornate frame, this one fit the size I wanted and I knew it would be easy to drill through and staple.  I was at Michael’s and in their seasonal bins, I found 3 pink crystal looking butterfly drawer pulls and two votive holders to help create the look I was going for and was excited that they were all a dollar a piece.  I went to the local hardware store and purchased some one inch chicken wire. I happened to get an email for 50% off of an item under $30, so the roll of wire ended up being just under $5 and I have plenty left over to make more for gifts or use for other projects.

Frame I found at a Thrift Store $3



Tealight Holders to use as small baskets to hold small clips, pony tail holders, etc. 

Drawer Pulls - to hang headbands

Anna’s room decorating continues to evolve and I knew that I wanted something bright.  I decided to paint the frame a bright blue so that the hardware I found would ‘pop.’

Frame painted Blue

 3 holes were drilled on the bottom of the frame for the pulls to serve as hangers for the headbands.  The two votive holders were screwed to the side to serve as holders for small barrettes that don’t easily clip to the wire.  The wire was cut and stapled to the frame and 2 hangers were add to the back. 



Basket & Drawer Pull screwed to the frame

Chicken wire cut to size and stapled to the back

Finished bow holder on the wall

I’m pleased at how the project turned out and for just around $13.  




WELCOME {About Me}

Welcome to Little Journey Designs. My name is Janet.  I'm a wife and mom of an almost 4 year old boy and an almost 1 year old girl.  For as long as I can remember, I've always loved to craft, draw, paint, sew, bead and so much more.  I enjoy learning new things and the whole 'Pinterest' craze has me spending so much time on the computer getting inspired.  

My blog’s name, Little Journey, has multiple meanings. First, when I was a kid, my younger sister couldn’t say ‘Janet’ and she would call me ‘Journey’.  So, to my immediate family, I’m known as Journey. I also realized that my crafting evolves and expands with each little journey in life.  There has been a crafting evolution for me which began many years ago when I was in the “Busy Bee” 4-H club in elementary school.  Then there was college sorority life, to living on my own, to making gifts for others,  wedding planning and now kid & family crafts.

These days I have a little more time on my hands. Until recently I had spent the last 13 years working for a large consulting company as well as a large baking and snack company doing project management, change management, organization effectiveness and training & development. (blah, blah, blah)… and as much as I hated it, my job along with many other people’s jobs was lost due to foreclosure.  If you ‘Wonder’ what company this was, I won’t take you long to figure it out.  Any SuziQ or DingDong who likes bread or snack cakes will know right away. J  I’m lucky because I have decided to view this change as a gift and I get to spend it with two amazing little kiddos.

With my extra time at home, I decided I needed to start a crafting journal so that I could remember the many projects I’ve tackled.  I figured the easiest way for me to document and share this information was to post it online. I'm hopeful that maybe someone else out there may benefit from a project or two that I've done, just as I've learned from so many others out there. 

The next journey is to offer some of my items to others. I’ve had family and friends ask me to make gifts for them so I’ve decided to offer some items, as time permits, on Etsy.  You can find my offerings at http://littlejourneydesigns.etsy.com

Thanks for taking the time to look at my site and feel free to share my ideas with others.