Zoe Cara Boutique Craft Blog: DIY

It started with a link to an origami giraffe. And evolved into an incredibly precious mobile.
The link we had was in Japanese, but lucky for us, my brother B is really good at all things artsy and especially intuitive at Origami so he did most of the assembling of the giraffes themselves. Becca and I helped make some of the heads. Becca had the idea to use the embroidery hoop and ribbon and I figured out how to put the whole thing together.
You'll need:
1 embroidery hoop (we used a 10in hoop because that is what we had already)

15-20ft Ribbon (we recommend 5/8" - 1" grosgrain ribbon)

20 squares of 6"x6" paper. Thinner one sided paper works fine because all the folds fold in. Double sided cardstock doesn't work as well as we learned the hard way)

Craft glue

2" plastic ring (or wood or painted metal)

Sewing Needle

Thread to match ribbon

Giant paper clips or small-medium snack clips or clothes pins (see picture)

Tape wider than the ribbon you're using

A pen or pencil

A friend to hold the hoop while you work on it.

Step 1: make 10 giraffes. (see link at the end) We recommend gluing the two pieces together so gravity can't pull them apart.

Step 2: cut 5 12" pieces of ribbon and 5 18" pieces of ribbon (the rest will make the "tent" at the top.)

Step 3: separate the inner and outer rings of the embroidery hoop

Step 4: on the inside ring mark where your ribbon will go. For a hoop 30" around measure approx 3" apart

Step 5: get your friend to hold the hoop parallel to the ground

Step 6: alternating lengths of ribbon, tape the ribbon in place to the outside of the inner loop. If your tape has a pattern, you want to tape it pattern side facing the rim so when it hangs over the top the pattern faces out.
Tip: tear off strips of tape narrower than the rim of the hoop (the tape stays on so you don't want it to show)

Step 7: flip the hoop over and tape 3-4 (or more if you want) 10"-14" pieces of ribbon spaced VERY evenly around the hoop. These will form the tent at the top. You still want them taped pattern facing in, but hanging out the opposite direction from the ribbons that will hold the giraffes. (See pictures)

Step 8: reassemble embroidery hoop. Make sure all ribbon is hanging the right direction

Step 9: tie giraffes to ribbon at the base of the neck. (no need for anything fancy. Just a simple knot will do)
Tip: it is easier to tie the ribbon on if the giraffe is held closed with a clip

Step 10: if your ribbon is all holding really well you may be able to skip this step, mine was falling out constantly, so I glued the hoop together all the way around and held it tight while it was drying with clips. Worked really well.

Step 11: take your tent ribbons and hold them together so that the mobile hangs evenly. Fold the ribbons over the plastic ring and sew in place.

Step 12: hang your mobile! Congratulations! You're done!

If you have any suggestions for how we could improve these directions or if you make your own mobile please let us know in the comments!

And here is the promised link:
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs48/f/2009/190/a/4/Origami_Giraffe_Tutorial_by_slamah.jpg