Origami crane mobile

I have been fascinated with origami since I was a child, when I folded all sorts of things during school holidays with my mom. I once folded a telephone directory into a Christmas Tree, and a working Jack In the Box.

Now I don't do much origami anymore (have run out of uses, sad excuse I know), but when baby C came along I got cracking, and made her this origami mobile to hang above her cot. The great thing about it is that the cranes have an interesting shape when viewed from underneath (not all mobiles take into account who they are intended for).

The quilt in the photo on the right was made by Granny AfricanCotton

If you would like to buy an origami crane mobile from me, please send me a message. To make it yourself, you need

• 6 pieces of origami paper (or any square paper). I used the size 20cm/8"
• some wire (soft enough to bend, but strong enough to hold the paper)
• some thread
• 6 small beads
• Needle

Step 1
Fold 6 cranes. Follow this YouTube video or these instructions with photos If it's your first time you may wish to practise before using your special paper.

Step 2
Cut 6 pieces of thread about 15cm/4" long.
Tie the beads to one side of the thread and trim off any extra thread.

Step 3
Thread the needle with the beaded thread and push from the bottom through the crane.

Step 4
Cut 3 pieces of wire. The first piece should be around 45cm/17" the second 35cm/14" and the third 25cm/9". Bend the wire into a curve with a loop in the middle and two loops on either side.

Step 5
Tie the cranes onto the loops on the edges of the wire curves. Take care to make the thread length equals on both ends of a piece of wire so they are balanced.

Step 6
Cut 2 pieces of thread and use them to tie the middle points of the wire curves together from the twisted circle points in the middle. The large curve should be on the top and the smallest curve on the bottom. Cut one more piece of thread and use this to hang the mobile.