Today is my birthday, hurray! I had a really awesome birthday themed project planned, but I’ve been struggling to find the supplies I need at a cheap price, so unfortunately it isn’t ready in time. My goal is to be able to post it by the end of March, my birthday month. So instead I’m featuring a special mobile project that I’m working on.
Since New Years I’ve embarked on a journey to change my life and the lifestyle I lead. This has mainly centered on Weight Watchers, and their amazing program. So far the last 7 weeks have been fantastic, and I couldn’t be more excited and motivated. Its about being healthy, not just losing weight, and so far I feel I’m successfully achieving both.
However, I know that I have a long journey ahead and there will inevitably be bumps along the road. In preparation for those bumps I decided to conceive of a project that could track my progress and keep me motivated. And so we have my mobile. I will add a new paper crane for each pound that I lose, and that way if I ever begin to feel discouraged I can simply look at my mobile and think, ‘Look how much I have accomplished already, I can do this.’
So far it is constructed out of sticks that I found, the inside of an embroidery hoop left over from Project 2, some multi-colored quilled beads that I made, and of course the cranes. I decided to number each crane, and while some are constructed out of normal origami paper, a bunch of them are also made from pieces of recycled paper. I went apartment hunting for my mom one week so the paper crane tracking that week’s weight loss was made from the press sheet for the apartment. Other scrap paper includes magazine pages, newspaper, a sheet from a phone book, and even a couple of colorful cranes created from the weekly Weight Watchers magazines.
I can’t wait to keep adding cranes, and I’ll make sure to post updated photos of the mobile as it grows. For now I’m just enjoying where the journey has taken me so far, and knowing that before long my mobile is going to be covered in beautiful paper cranes.
Have any of you embarked on a lifestyle change for the new year? I’d love to hear your goals for 2011 and how you’ve been staying on track. So leave a comment, and maybe we can inspire each other.
Happy March everyone! Allison
the 3 R's blog 
Love the crane mobile – what a great inspiring way to track your weight loss!
Congratulations! I too am on a weight loss journey but take it loosly in the serious nature. Do you have instructions on making your paper crane? I tried it once and it was challenging, just like weight loss. You have inspired me. Paper cranes are much more difficult than the Kusudama flowers that I do on my Etsy site. Karen
These are the instructions I used: http://www.operationmigration.org/Origami.pdf
I had tried a crane once a few months ago and found it really difficult, until I understood what some of the trickier steps were talking about. So when I came back to it last week, it wasn’t nearly as hard, and then after the first few cranes it got easier and easier.
You might try looking for a youtube video that shows someone making one, it might help if there are spots you keep getting stuck. And then just practice practice practice, just like weight loss. And good luck, on both!!
Allison
Being a Weight Watchers member too, welcome. What a fun and unique way of rewarding yourself for a week well done.
Thank you for the welcome, I think one of the reasons Weight Watchers is so successful in the first place is the community. I know I have felt that having that support system is so important. And now when it does get harder I’ll have my mobile to keep me motivated!
oh my gosh i LOVE this mobile! it’s so colorful and happy! i’ve always been super intimidated by mobile-making, becuase they seem to require too much in the way of measuring and weighing, but yours looks amazing. and i love that it will evolve with you!
this makes me want to run outside immediately and begin collecting sticks. 😉
You know, I found that balancing the pieces could be a little bit tricky, but I wasn’t too worried because I know this is still a work in progress. Basically I left the string connections all loose enough that I could slide them back and forth around on the sticks, so as I added extra cranes I would simply adjust where the connection points were, in order to balance the whole piece. Does that make sense? I didn’t bother with measuring specifically because I wouldn’t have really known where to begin, but also I knew that I would constantly be adding new pieces and so I didn’t want anything too set in stone. It really is easier than it looks, as long as you can sit there and play around with it as you go. Make sure you can assemble your mobile hanging though, because that way you can be keeping an eye on the balance the whole time you are making it.
Good luck!!