DIY Simplistic Dreamcatcher

In my humble opinion, dreamcatchers are one of the most beautiful and symbolic pieces of art. Their magic comes from the symbolism and purpose Native Americans have given them: they are believed to work as a filter to protect people from negative dreams while allowing them to experience positive dreams during the night.

For this blog post, I wanted to do a DIY project. And while I love crafts, creating things with my hands, and have made many DIY projects, I don’t have much experience explaining them or showing how to make them, so please – pleaseeeeeee – cut me some slack!

I hope this post inspires you to make your own dreamcatcher. Remember, when it comes to art and creating things there are not limits – anything and everything is possible! Use your imagination.

Now, let’s cut the chase and go to what really matters here, how to make a simplistic dreamcatcher!

Supplies List:

The hoop – a metal hanger like the ones you get at the cleaners will work perfectly.
7” Crochet doily – since I am not expert crocheter, I got my doily from Etsy.
¼ yard of white fabric – stores such as Michael’s and Hobby Lobby have a good deal of options. I got my fabric from Hobby Lobby. You will want to buy fabric with a lot of flow, so it falls nicely when hanging if you want a dreamcatcher like mine.
Natural Jute – to wrap the hoop.
Metallic aerosol paint – I used silver paint to give an ombré look to my white fabric.
Feathers – I only used one big feather for my dreamcatcher, but you can use as many as you want.
Decorative trim – pearls
Accessories you don’t use anymore –I got a bracelet that I did not use because it was too big, but did not want to give away because my grandmother had given it to me. I also happened to have a raw clear quartz. If you can get one, that’s perfect because stones are natural channels of positive energy.
White thread – to hang the accessories. You could use the jute as well. I wanted to keep it clean and monochromatic, so I used white thread.
Hard wire cutter.
Scissors.
Hot glue gun + hot glue sticks.

Steps:

(Not shown in the video) Go to your backyard or someplace outside and far from anything that can get stained. Then, shake the paint can and spray the tips of the white fabric to create an ombré effect.
Having the fabric ready, start by organizing your place of work. Make sure you have everything you will be using at hand.
Once you have chosen the right place, organized all your supplies, and turned on some great tunes, begin cutting the white fabric. Fold it in half and cut horizontal strips that are about 2-4 inches wide.
Grab the metal hanger and untwist the top part.
Turn on the hot glue gun.
Afterwards, try to straighten the metal hanger as much as possible, then compare the doily against the circumference you will create with the hanger to see how big the circumference needs to be. If the circumference is too big, then use the hard wire cutter to achieve the desired size.
Grab the natural jute.
Place hot glue on the tips of the hanger using the hot glue gun, and then take a 5-inch piece of jute and tie a knot –make sure it is tight. Cut the excess.
Take jute twine and glue the tip to the part of the hoop where you tie the jute knot.
Begin to wrap the jute around the hoop.
Wrap it up! Try to wrap a section more than once if you want it to look a bit thicker. Keep wrapping the jute around and around. At first, I was just wrapping the whole twine of jute through the hoop; however, I found it easier to just cut a piece of jute and glue a new piece every time I ran out.
When you are about to finish wrapping the hoop, put your finger right where the last wrapping part should be and make a little hoop with the jute by going around your finger (this will help you hang the dreamcatcher). Tie a knot – a tight, secure knot. Finish up the wrapping and glue the last tip of the jute to the hoop.
Center the doily inside the hoop.
Cut a long piece of jute to start securing the doily around the hoop.
Tie one of the tips of jute to the top of the hoop (where the little hanging hoop is) and take the other tip and pass it through one of the tips of the doily.
Make sure the doily is centered and start wrapping the jute string around the hoop.
With every wrap around the hoop, insert the tip of the jute string through the doily. Repeat this step until you have gone all around the doily making sure you are keeping the doily centered.
Once you are done wrapping and tying the doily around the hoop, go back and make sure everything is in its place. Move the jute around the hoop, so the doily is nicely secured and placed. Finally tie a knot and cut any jute left.
Take the fabric and start decorating your dreamcatcher’s hoop.
Cut long strings of the decorative trim of pearls to hang from the hoop.
Use your imagination to decorate the dreamcatcher. For example, I repurposed a bracelet with cute beads. I strung the beads through a string of white threat and attached the feather at the end. Then I secured it to the hoop.

NOTE: My camera died before I could finish decorating the dreamcatcher. I hope the pictures and the final footage can help you figure out how to decorate it. I didn’t end up using all the accessories because at the end, I wanted to have a more simple and clean dreamcatcher, but you can use as many accessories as you want for your own.

Remember, if you have any questions or concerns, I’m here to help you! So write them below.