Thursday, September 06, 2012

HOW-TO: DIY Dream Catcher with an Amethyst Crystal

Once upon a time I said I was going to make a dream catcher. Remember that? It's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would but it is finally finished and I think it was worth the wait! I love it!! 
Dream catchers originated from the Native Americans who believed that they would trap negative dreams in the web whilst letting positive dreams through the hole in the middle and down the feathers to the sleeper below. I love this idea and would love to have a traditional Native Americans dream catcher but the one I have made is purely for decoration. I have not try to imitate any sacred traditions of the American Indians.


It's as bright and colourful as I had envisioned and I really love the little string of sequins :) It makes me so happy to see this hanging in our bedroom each morning.

So what do you need to make one of these?
An embroidery hoop - you choose the size
Lace ribbon - to wrap around the embroidery hoop
Twine
Hot glue gun
A crystal of your choice -  I chose amethyst because it is a highly protective and healing stone 
Wire - I used bright blue jewellery wire
An assortment of colourful yarn, ribbon, sequins (optional: feathers)

DIY Dream Catcher with Amethyst Crystal
First step is to wrap your embroidery hoop with your choice of ribbon or lace. Second step is to create the intricate spider-web in the middle. Here is a little mini tutorial on how to do this:
Dream Catcher Tutorial
Step three is adding your trim to the bottom using all kinds of fabrics. I used what I had in my ribbon box because I didn't want to spend much money on it (and I knew I had some pretty stuff to use)
DIY Dream Catcher with Amethyst Crystal
Step four is adding your crystal to the middle of the dream catcher. I used a amethyst crystal that originally came from a broken bracelet. This meant that it already had a drilled hole in it which I could put the wire though. However you can simply wrap the wire around the crystal if this isn't possible. Voilà!! You have your very own dream catcher!!DIY Dream Catcher with Amethyst Crystal DIY Dream Catcher with Amethyst Crystal

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial.

Rhiannon xxoxx

2 comments:

  1. I have loved dream catchers for years, and yours is beautiful! Thanks for the step-by-step of how you created it. My mother told me the most amazing story about a dream catcher created by her Native American neighbors that REALLY WORKED for my step-father's terrible dreams when she followed instructions to shake out all the bad spirits at the end of each night. Such an interesting tradition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Andria, thank you so much for your kind words. I love the traditional dream catchers and would absolutely love to have one created by Native Americans. I have no doubt that the real ones work and its super cool to hear about your step-fathers experience =)

      Delete