Some time at the end of last year, I had a discussion with the lovely librarian at our kids' school about providing hanging decorations for a large space between a ground floor and mezzanine level in their beautiful new library. In large spaces, it can be a challenge to find items big enough and bright enough to really make a visual impact... so I wanted to create something large, book-related and striking.
Not only is the librarian, Kathy lovely, she's also very patient. On the weekend, I finally finished a series of decorations she can hang from fishing line to make a blank space so much brighter.
These decorations are deceptively easy to make. They are simply made from large sheets of cardboard. After cutting shapes (and pasting on any details as required), the pieces are just stapled together (you'll need a million staples!) and stuffed with scrunched up paper.
The simplest shapes often work the best, and letters look really effective. As you stuff, they crumble a little, which is just perfect - they are meant to look pouffy and crinkly. When you have stuffed a piece and want to staple it closed, pressed down on the piece so that the stuffing flattens a little - this will help you line up your edges for stapling.
You can go as detailed (The Hungry Caterpillar) or simple (the sun) as you like. I also made a simple white cloud and hung blue rain drops from the cloud using fishing line (not pictured).
These look great hung with filament or fishing line, and make sure you leave plenty of space for the pieces to twirl. I recommend punching two holes at the top of each piece as it's easier to hang them this way. Make sure you test where to punch the holes by holding the piece up and balancing its weight.
Have fun decorating your library!
