Description
Christmas Mobiles
I came up with the idea for Christmas mobiles as I was looking for a last-minute project to teach at a workshop. I have to confess, this borrows from an earlier idea. I had a little collection of beaded parcels from various other projects and workshops and I was wondering what to do with them. Looking for a new Christmas decoration, I thought they would be great suspended in groups somehow.
From here I fell upon the idea of Christmas mobiles. I realised that the wire snowflake forms that are usually used to string beads to make simple decorations, would also make a perfect base for the mobile.
I made my parcels using size 11 delicas, so they are really small and neat. I also decided to move away from the traditional Christmas colouring. So, I used as many different colours and shades as I could. There is really no limit to the colouring you can use for your Christmas mobiles. Stay traditional, or branch out, go multi-colour or keep it uniform. This is also a great project for using up lots of leftover beads.
Additional information
The parcels will actually work in any size of seed bead and you do not have to use delicas. Each parcel requires just a few grams of beads and takes around an hour to make. So your Christmas mobiles do not have to be a big investment.
The snowflake forms are readily available from several bead shops, including GJ Beads and Riverside Beads. I used up leftover crystals to decorate my actual snowflake form and chose to suspend the parcels on a beaded string. You could add the parcels using chain as an alternative.
The Christmas mobiles project includes instructions and tips for assembling your mobile. It teaches you how to make parcels in two possible shapes: hexagonal or square. This project is suitable for anyone who is happy working in Peyote stitch. You will be using the circular and tubular variations. So, you can find a free tutorial here if you need a technique reminder.
