A mobile is a sophisticated art piece that adds a striking visual surprise to any space. This Styrofoam ball mobile project requires little more than a few easy-to-get supplies and just a bit of time. It’s a fun project to execute, and the design payoff is immense.
The colors chosen for the mobile components will have a big influence on the space where they reside. An array of primary colors will add energy, while calming hues like muted blue and gray, as shown in the video, will infuse a sense of tranquility. This project’s end result will surely be mistaken for a trendy museum shop find.
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Materials
- 18 small Styrofoam balls
- Chalk paint
- Small fine art paintbrush
- Small glass bowls to hold the paint and one filled with water for rinsing the paintbrush
- Transparent monofilament line
- Sewing needle
- Yarn tassels
- Embroidery hoop
- Chalk paint
- Small fine art paintbrush
- Small glass bowls to hold the paint and one filled with water for rinsing the paintbrush
- Transparent monofilament line
- Sewing needle
- Yarn tassels
- Embroidery hoop
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Gather 18 of the small Styrofoam balls on the work surface.
2. Fill small bowls with however many colors of chalk paint you've chosen for the project.
3. Decide which balls will be coated with specific paint colors and coat each ball with paint.
4. Allow the paint to dry.
5. Cut about a foot of monofilament line.
6. Thread the line through the eye of the sewing needle.
7. Use the needle to pierce a hole through the center of three of the balls. A double strand of the line will come through the hole but keep pulling the line through and it will become a single strand again.
8. Tie a double knot in the line below each of the balls so they remain placed where desired. Otherwise, they will all fall to the bottom of the line.
9. Take a tassel and tie its top loop, above the fringy bottom, underneath the lowest placed ball in the vertical row of evenly spaced balls.
10. Double knot the filament line so the yarn tassel is secure.
11. Repeat steps 5-10 five more times, so there are a total of six filament line lengths with balls and tassels on them. Take care to cut slightly different lengths of the line so that the mobile components are random lengths and not uniform lengths.
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12. Tie the top of each one with a double knot to an embroidery hoop.
13. Tie a piece of line with a double knot on one side of the hoop (leave about 6 inches of excess line) and tie the other end of the line on the opposite side of the loop. This will be for hanging the mobile from the ceiling.
14. Hang the piece and enjoy.