fluttery paper butterlies

I know I've seen butterfly mobiles somewhere before so I can't take creativity credit for my whim yesterday to slice up an old book and make some butterflies.
{tho I may be the only grown woman unabashedly making one for myself, instead of some deserving young girl}

Want to make one too?  It's easy and fast.  {about an hour if you're fast with scissors}

 What you'll need:

• an old book - I chose mine for the linen quality paper and yellowed pages over a crispy new type.  It felt more romantic and fluttery.

• scissors, fishing line and glue of your choice - {I prefer hot glue, no question it'll stick and the smell is oh so crafty}

• a round object to hang the strands of butterflies from - I was impatient and didn't want to run to the store so I looped some light weight wire twice and twisted it around itself to create an interesting texture. 

then...

• cut a bunch of butterflies of varying shapes and styles from the pages of the book

• tie strands of fishing line to the round object and hang the whole mess from something high enough to work easily around it {5 strands for me, and I hung it from the light in my room}

• place butterflies one by one on the strands of fishing line paying attention to the balance so it hangs straight from the base. I cut squares from the pages to use to secure the glue.  As the glue was setting I bent the butterfly at the seam to give the effect of fluttering wings

• trim off excess line and clean off hot glue spidery webs from everything

• Ta da! A butterfly mobile.

 I went to the library last night after I finished my mobile.  Must have been all those fluttering words hanging around getting me in the mood.  When faced with all those shelved universes to peek into I can't get too involved in trying to take only the perfect ones home with me.  So instead I pick books mostly for the cover.  I get sucked in with a witty title, pretty typeface or a great image.  I'll skim the first page to see if the author can catch me in the first few lines and from there I'll take the stack of contenders home to weed out the worthwhile from the fluff.

It is national poetry month, so go enjoy some poems.  I grabbed Say Uncle, Kay Ryan because of the poem below.

Happy Friday!