Celestial Clay Mobile
Create a colorful mobile of planets and heavenly bodies made out of self-hardening clay.
Materials Needed
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Safety Guidelines
- Young kids (3 to 8 years) should use child-safe scissors.
- Watch out for this sign
. It means an adult's help is needed for the particular step.
Steps
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1. | Prepare a pair of wooden dowels or chopsticks for your mobile's frame. Paint them if you like. | |||
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2. |
Use glue gun to join the two sticks at the middle, forming a cross. | |||
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3. | Tie a string around the joint and make a loop to create a handle. | |||
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4. |
Make the links for each clay sculpture by cutting pipe cleaner or craft wire into 2-inch long pieces and looping the end of each pipe cleaner or wire. | |||
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5. | Sculpt celestial bodies from self-hardening clay. | |||
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6. |
As you finish each sculpture, insert a pipe cleaner link through the top portion of the sculpture. Push the pipe cleaner gently into the clay until only the small loop shows. | |||
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7. | Some creative ideas for your sculptures include: a.) Make twinkling stars by brushing glue on the star sculptures and sprinkling them with glitter. b.) Connect 2 or more stars with short pieces of pipe cleaner or craft wire. |
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c.) You can also make three-dimensional planets. Earth is of course a blue sphere with some green patches. | ||||
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d.) Combine two or more colors before shaping them into a swirly planet like Jupiter. | |||
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e.) Make a ring around a ball of clay to create a ringed planet like Saturn. Use your imagination and create your own celestial bodies. Remember the universe is a big place and the possibilities are endless. You can even make a rocket ship or a satellite. | ||||
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8. | Cut 12 to 15-inch long strings. Attach a string to each celestial sculpture through its pipe cleaner link. | |||
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9. | Hang the frame so that it is in a level position. To balance the mobile, vary the string's length or its position along the frame. You can balance two light sculptures on one end and a heavy one on the other end. Tie the strings loosely so it's easy to make adjustments. | ||
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10. | Once everything's balanced, fix the strings in place along the mobile frame by making secure knots on the sticks. Cut the excess length of string after the knots. Hang the mobile where it can move and revolve freely. The sculptures will set completely in a day or two. |
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