Children’s Artwork Mobile
This project offers an alternative three-dimensional way to display children’s artwork. It’s a simple concept with multiple potential variations so you can make it as basic or as complicated as you like. I love it’s kinetic qualities, but unfortunately this made it astonishingly difficult to photograph properly, so all I can say is that the photos don’t really do it justice. You can make them as big or as small as you like depending on the space available. I think a few really long ones would look fabulous suspended down a stairwell. However we don’t have the house for this, so a corner of my kitchen had to do!
Before you start, measure the height of the space where you intend to hang your mobile so you know how many frames you need.
To make this, all you need is some foam board for the frames, coloured card for the mounts, and I used a clear nylon beading thread to join and suspend the frames. Of course you don’t have to use foam board for the frames. I chose it because it was light and fairly easy to cut as long as you have a very sharp knife and a cutting board. (Be warned, foam board is very unforgiving of blunt knives!) I used white, which is the most readily available colour, but it is also available in black which I think would look rather good too. You could of course use thick card instead, and even create some ‘gilded’ frames.
You can cut the frames any size you like – (a variety of sizes can look good, used in mixed formats – i.e portrait and landscape), just make sure you leave the frame wide enough to give a reasonable level of rigidity. The sizes will of course be at least in part dictated by the size of the artwork you want to frame. I had quite a lot of work created on A4 and smaller sized paper which I sorted out, paired up and stuck back to back on pieces of stiff coloured card, leaving a small border around. The window of the frame was cut to be slightly larger than the mounted artwork so that it could be suspended freely within it.
Once you have cut your frames, you can either leave them plain or paint or decorate them in any way you choose. I chose to leave mine plain and minimal so as to place all the focus on the artwork itself.
To assemble the mobile, start by punching a single hole at the centre top of each mounted artwork, and threading a length of the nylon through it. I then used a needle threaded with an end of the nylon to take the thread through the top inside edge of the frame, and secured it with a knot.
Having done this for all the frames, I then laid them all out on the floor in the order I wanted them, and again used a needle threaded with the nylon, to join the individual frames together with equal spaces between. Bear in mind where it is going to be placed so that you don’t create it too long.
Your mobile will then be ready to hang, so stand back and admire!
