Tutorial: Himmeli from Paper Straws

I got inspired to try making Himmeli by Elsie Marley's simple version and the more complex creations seen in Jeana Sohn's closet visit with Momo Suzuki.

What exactly are Himmeli? They are Finnish mobiles (for the lack of a better descriptor) traditionally made of rye straw and hung over the table to insure a good (rye) harvest. Since I'm not expecting any rye harvest (good or otherwise) I decided to try using a more plentiful waste product, magazine pages. 

Some nice examples of tradition Himmeli can be seen here, here, and here.

Basic Paper Straw How-To:

Lay the sheet with the side you want to be showing face down. 

 Begin rolling very tightly from the lower left corner. 

 

When you near the mid-point. Smear stick glue from the right corner to the left corner. Continue rolling up.

Once you have rolled up the page past the right and left corners, smear on more stick glue as you were tracing all the way around the edge.

Continue rolling up. Add a final extra smear of glue to the top corner just as you finish rolling.

Allow to dry completely before cutting into smaller sections. Clipping in optional and make sure you don't clip so tightly that you are left with a flattened out section when you take the clip off.

 

Assembling the Basic Shape:

Cut into each paper straw into 4 inch (10cm) pieces (you will be able to get 3 pieces out of each straw). You will need 12 pieces for each shape. Use the instructions and photo sequence here to assemble the basic shape. The one I made turned out approximately 6 inches (15cm) tall and 6 inches wide. I plan to make many more and make a large mobile out of them.