Instead of screens today, why not make a dream catcher…
We were recently at a country market and the Badoo’s eye was caught by a stall selling beautiful dream catchers.
“What are those?” she said, all eyes and awe.
“They’re dream catchers,” I explained. “The Native American Ojibwa nation made them to protect their kids from bad dreams. You hang a dream catcher above your bed and the web catches bad dreams and makes them disappear when the sun comes up. If the dreams are good ones, they float through the web, down the feathers and into your heart forever.”
“I want one!” she squealed. And who could blame her? But these were really, really nice dream catchers and I just couldn’t afford one.
“We’ll make one at home,” I promised. The Badoo was kind enough to remind me of that promise 16 times a day for the rest of the year until finally we made one when the holidays came around. Kids are good like that.
What you need
- A wooden embroidery circle, or any kind of circle big enough to make an impact
- A selection of beads
- String or wool that is fine enough to thread through the beads
- Fishing line
- Feathers
- Leather cord or wool or string
- Assorted ribbons or tassels
- Scissors
What you need to do
1. First decide if you want to wrap the hoop with ribbon or leave it plain. We decided to leave ours plain because we liked the look of our wooden hoop.
2. Now it’s time to create the web. You can make a particular pattern by weaving a star or other design, but as my girls were making these (and they are only seven and nine years old), we went with a random pattern that was easy for little fingers to manage. For help with weaving a star, click here and for a more ‘web like’ pattern, click here.
3. Take the end of your string (or wool) and tie it to one side of the hoop.
4. Thread a couple of beads onto your string, cross it over to the other side and loop it around the hoop a couple of times before crossing over to another part of the circle. You can also use fishing line to make the beads appear to float in the air.
5. Keep crossing, adding beads and looping until you are happy with your web pattern. Knot your string from time to time to keep it tight and secure. We also added different coloured string for interest here and there.
6. Next add the feathers and other decorative elements to the bottom of the dream catcher. Tie some string or leather string around a feather and tie the other end around the hoop. You can thread some beads onto the tip of the feather (you may need a spot of glue to hold these in place, depending on how tight the fit between the bead and the quill is).
7. Tie some string at the top of your dream catcher to hang it with. Add a few beads to your string to decorate. You can either tie some string at two points on your dream catcher, creating a loop to hang or you can use one piece of string with a loop at the top to hang over a hook. Both ways look nice so it’s up to you.
Hang your dream catcher above the bed to help you feel safe and protected all night long. You never know, a dream catcher just might be the solution for anxious sleeping children!
Do your kids generally dream good dreams?
Let’s play!
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Rebecca Bowyer says
Oh I love dreamcatchers! I made them with my boys a few months ago out of paper plates, blue wool and a few bright feathers from Spotlight. They loved them and were so convinced that my 5yo actually stopped having nightmares! And only yesterday my 3yo told my Mum, ‘I don’t have bad dreams. Mummy helped them to get stuck in the hole.’ (the hole being the webby part of the dream catcher).
Maxabella says
Wow, I’m so impressed that it worked so well at your place, Bec. And paper plates = inspired! x
Erin says
Oh look at the smile on Badoo’s face, she is sooo happy to be making her dream catcher, finally;-)
Maxabella says
This is very true!
Maxabella says
Oh, and that’s Cappers – no shot of Badoo. I actually never considered that they DO look alike until this minute. Amazing!
Robyna | the Mummy and the Minx says
So gorgeous! We have made a few and put lace in the middle – vintage doilies are cute too (if you can get them!)
Maxabella says
I’ve seen that, and they are very nice! I’d have to overcome my op-shopping issues to be able to secure the doilies. Unless my mum has some… probably.
Robyn says
Gorgeous! I made one with Hollie last week too and she loves it. 🙂
Maxabella says
Did you do the Robyna doily thing (see above)? I’d love to see a pic!
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen says
I love how our babies never let us forget a promise 🙂
She’s done a beautiful job Bron, and looks justifiably proud x
Maxabella says
We had a really good time making them and they look great above their beds.
Sam Stone says
I love dream catchers!