When we first conceptualized this we thought about doing a Calder style mobile with the Cricut, but as the project progressed we decided that the circus theme was kinda too cute to pass up. And while this mobile is massive (almost too big to shoot) I’m kinda obsessed with it. You can scale back every single graphic so its smaller, in case you don’t want a 5′ mobile hanging over your dining table (whats wrong with you?).
At first I was going to do a bunch of crazy colors, but then I decided to scale it back and just do brass, wood, blues, grays and whites – you know, just to SHOCK you. In person it was BEAUTIFUL but it doesn’t pop as much in the photos. I think the key to these things is to go really big in color and the amount of them. They can get tangled, sure but its just so fun to keep adding and adding.
The best way to tackle this project is piece by piece. You will definitely want to start by sketching your idea out on paper. That way you have a pattern to follow and know how many pieces you will need for the full mobile. Ours had one large dowel that anchored everything at the top and then from there i was a pattern of 2 dowels connecting to the two different sides of the previous dowel.
Here’s what you will need:
1. Brass Dowel (we used 1/4″ thick)
2. Bass Wood Square Dowels (we used 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick but you could use any thickness that works for your space)
3. Brass Picture Hooks
4. Architects Mitre Box and Saw (this isn’t completely necessary but it does make cutting the dowels down to size much easier and cleaner)
5. Scissors (make sure you have vintage brass handled scissors that barely cut anything :))
6. Cricut Cardstock (this is perfectly cut down to the 12″ x 12″ size for the cutting mat – but you can use whatever paper you have on hand)
7. Fishing Line, although you could use rope or colored string if that was the look you were going for.
1. Start by using the template that has been created for the projected on the Cricut Design Space – everything is all ready to go and all you have to do is follow the instructions! You can resize any of the projects or use them for any decor (even just shapes on a table would be super cute).
2. Load the paper up and let the machine do its thing.
3. Once the machine has cut the pattern pieces out carefully remove it from the cutting mat.
4. You can jazz up each of the pieces by creating metallic gold highlights to go on each of the cut-outs which can all be found within the template we have ready for you in the Cricut Design Space. We used vinyl for these and just stuck them on.
Once you have all of your pieces cut out you can begin assembling the mobile
5. Measure out each of the dowels to the desired length and mark them where you intend to cut them down to (we cut ours to 36″, 24″ and 12″)
6. Using the mitre box you can easily cut each of the dowels down to the desired lengths
7. In the middle of each of the dowels you will want to screw in a picture hook. This will serve to tie the fishing line onto.
8. Tie each of the pieces together using fishing line and start assembling the mobile!
Once your mobile is all assembled and hanging on its own then you can begin to attach each of the cutouts to the ends of the fishing line. You can hang them in any order you decide but the one thing you have to make sure you do is balance the weight out on each end. So if you hang a large elephant on one end of the mobile you will have to hang something else on the other side that is about the same size so that the mobile “floats”and moves by itself and isn’t hanging down unevenly on one side.
The possibilities are kinda endless with the mobile and the tools on Cricut Design Space. Once you have the mobile built you can swap out the cutouts for anything and then you have something you can hang at every party. Brady even had a great idea of hanging air plants for a different themed party. How cute would that be? Answer: super cute.
Now go and make your 5′ circus themed mobile or you will get arrested! And, if at this point you are still totally in the dark and have not seen Charlie’s Sip n’See or the video then feel free to head on over and take a look. Also check out the leather coasters we made, too. You can create all the Circus themed DIY’s using the Cricut and the my templates on the Cricut Design Space.