The past couple of weeks were pretty good weeks for making things. But not much for anything else. Such is life.

For this week’s tutorial, I give you another way to craft with childhood toys. If you were to give me a few moments of honesty here, I will admit that I am surprised that I have been able to stick to this series for this long. I know I’ve only made three things so far but considering my track record as far as lists and plans are concerned, three is great… nay, ASTOUNDING. My name is Meream. I am lazy and I have short attention span. 

So. What were we talking about?

Right. Last weekend, over breakfast, I asked my boyfriend about how I can go about making a cardboard moon look a lot like, you know, the moon. He suggested using wall putty and acrylic paints in various colors. I replied with a “Hmmm…” And because the boyfriend knows what my “Hmmm…” means, he offered to help.

And today, we learn how to make a moon+stars mobile using cardboard and jackstone pieces:

Night Sky Jackstone Mobile Materials/Tools:

cardboard, jackstone “stones” or pieces, gold thread or nylon string, spray paint, cutter/scissors, acrylic paints (gray and white), paintbrushes, nail or thick needle, pre-mixed wall putty

How to:

1. In a well-ventilated area, spray paint your jackstone pieces gold. At least three layers should do it. Of course, if you buy gold jackstone pieces, you can skip this step. I should note that I used jackstone pieces in two sizes.

2. Cut your cardboard moon.

3. Slather pre-mixed wall putty on your cardboard moon. Go crazy with the texture. Let dry.

4. Slather more wall putty to the other side of your moon. Let dry.

5. Take your gold thread or nylon string and start tying together the jackstone “stars.” What I did was tie the thread in a cross-like manner around the center of the “stars,” making sure that I have extra thread for tying the next jackstone piece.

6. Mix black and white acrylic paint to get gray. Skip this step if you already have gray paint.

7. Paint your textured moon. Let dry.

8. Paint the other side the same color.

9. Once the paint is dry, lightly brush white paint over the cardboard moon. By lightly, I mean do not press your brush too hard on the cardboard. The purpose is to let the gray paint (and wall putty) texture shine through. Dry application works best here. This, according to the boyfriend, is a process called scumbling.

10. Scumble both sides. Let dry.

11. Using a nail or a thick needle, pierce your cardboard moon where you want the suspended stars…er… suspended.

12. Tie and hang.

Ta-da!

And because it was a sin not to, I made a 3D version of the mobile. I used THIS tutorial for making 3D cardboard letters to create the new moon.

NOTES:

1. If you don’t have jackstone pieces, star-shaped cardboard or origami stars will work, too.

2. All moon-related steps here were accomplished by the boyfriend. His WEBSITE/PORTFOLIO. His FACEBOOK ART PAGE.

3. Check out other things I’ve made using childhood toys HERE.

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