TCPTuesday 197-Pinwheel Mobile

This week’s TCP Tuesday challenge from Julie is an ABC challenge—anything but a card. I used TCP’s CutUps Pinwheel die to create this fun pinwheel mobile that I had a nearly impossible time photographing!

I used the die to cut a bunch of pinwheels from a double sided designer paper and assembled them, varying the folding so that both of the patterns were on the inside of some pinwheels for a varied appearance. The pinwheels are held together by a small silver brad that I covered with a pink button.

To assemble the mobile, I attached lengths of clear fishing line to the back of each pinwheel, looping the line around the brad and knotting it to secure it. For the mobile's frame, I picked up an inexpensive 6” wooden hoop at the craft store and removed the inside hoop, then tied each of the pinwheels to the hoop at varying lengths to add interest (I discarded the outer hoop with the screw closure). I wrapped the wooden hoop with a long piece of coordinating pink grosgrain ribbon. I used the same ribbon to attach a pair of criss-crossed loops that I used to hang the mobile. A pretty ribbon bow where the loops intersect adds one final girly touch to the mobile.

The hanging part was a challenge! I hung the mobile from a cup hook at the top of a window-like opening from my kitchen into my front entry hallway so I could photograph it. This required getting on a step stool and climbing on the island in my kitchen to reach the hook, then taking a clock off of a wall so it wouldn't make an appearance in the photo (and, yes, my kitchen walls are a purplish-gray shade that's not your typical kitchen color!). I took multiple photos from multiple vantage points and still couldn’t get a great one, so this one will have to do . . .

Materials Used:
CutUps Pinwheel die (The Cat’s Pajamas); Hip-Hooray Girl-Happy Day designer paper (My Mind’s Eye); pink grosgrain ribbon, pink buttons (Michaels); silver brads (Recollections); fishing line