Art Mobiles by Shirley Rufener

• Cray-Pas Expressionist oil pastels
• White cardstock, several sheets
• Small sharp, pointed scissors
• White tacky glue
• E6000 or Goop glue (for bird mobile)
• 1 sheet brown cardstock
• Paper towels (lint free type) cut into about 5"-6" squares.
• Coated colored wire to match your project colors (one thick, one thinner) for Pod mobile only
• Large flat soft bristle brush (about 3/4" wide)
• Jute ot twine (for bird mobile)
• Wreath
• 7 silk flower blossoms and leaves, in warm tones (for bird mobile)
• Needlenose pliers with cutting area (or wire cutters)
• Round nose pliers
• Hot glue gun with clear glue sticks (or brown stick if you have one!)
• Color inkjet printer

1. Click here to download a PDF of the bird patterns for this project. Print out the bird patterns onto white cardstock. Make 7 birds and 7 bellies and cut out each bird and belly shape.

2. Use desired Cray-Pas colors to create designs on each bird. I kept with warm tones like oranges, greens, yellows and browns and added some red. Make each bird a different color combo or design to make your mobile more interesting. Color the bird belly the same as the center of the bird as shown in the photo below. Using a small square of paper towel or your finger, rub the colored areas to blend the colors for a smooth, natural look. You can also add details at the end that you will not blend in to add some texture. (See the brown lines in my drawing.)

3. Add tiny black or dark brown eyes. Oil pastels do not dry, so apply a thin, even layer of white decoupage over the colored design side with a large, flat, soft bristle brush to seal the oil pastels and allow the birds to dry.

6. Fold a small strip of brown cardstock into a triangle shape. Secure to the bottom of the tail as shown, with the point facing into the crease. This triangle will create a flat surface that enables you to glue the bird onto the wreath.

7. Glue birds to the wreath using hot glue. You will need to find a heavy object to hold the bird in place while glue is cooling. I used a spoon rest. Try your best to space birds evenly, and to line up the height of the heads the same. Face each bird towards the center point of the wreath.

8. Glue leaves and flowers in between the birds and tie the wreath with four pieces of jute with the four strands spaced equally. Gather all strings at the top and tie together so that the wreath hangs evenly.

1. Download and print out the pod pattern onto white cardstock. I made 11 three-leaf pods for my banana bunch mobile, but you can make as many as you like. Cut out the patterns.

2. I chose a variation of greens and blues for this mobile. Each pod uses different color combos and designs to make the mobile interesting.

3. Oil pastels do not dry, so apply a thin, even layer of white decoupage over the colored design with a large, flat, soft bristle brush to seal the oil pastels and allow the pods to dry.

4. Crease the center of each leaf of the pod (from point to point) COLOR SIDE UP like a valley or boat. Apply a thin line of tacky glue close to the inside white edge of the pod shapes *except for the very
top and bottom tips. Leave the tips unglued so that you can insert a wire later on. Glue the folded leaves together to form a 3 sided pod.

5. Cut lengths of heavy wire with wire cutters so they are 2" longer then the pod length from point to point.

6. Insert a wire into each pod and curl each end into a spiral using round nose pliers. Now cut two 24" pieces of wire. They can be different colors and different thicknesses. Twist the two wires together to make a strong center for the mobile.

7. Form a 3/4" loop at the top of the twisted wire to hang your mobile. Start at the top of the twisted wire just under the loop and add pod shapes by attaching them with short, thin pieces of wire to the twisted base. Stagger the pods 1" to 1.5" apart along the length of the twisted wire. Add the last pod to the bottom end of the wire.