Dream Catcher DIY

The blog world is full of them, we all try to come up with cool new ones, many of us spend our weekends attempting countless of them that we collect during the week. What are they? Do It Yourself projects! We love them, and sometimes we hate them. I cannot tell you how many times I've attempted a project and half way through I've just thrown up my hands (and occasionally a glue gun!) when they don't turn out just quite right. This can be for numerous reasons, but a lot of times it's because the instructions include a technique that we are not familiar with or there is a part where a photo would have been a ton of help =)

So think of this post as the DIY myth-busters edition! I took a DIY that is floating around the web a lot lately - the Dream Catcher! There are a lot of good ones out there but I decided to take the one from Lune Vintage for a whirl. I loved how they incorporated vintage pieces into the craft.

Note: The following steps & instructions are based off the original post over at Lune Vintage (link above)

I used all the same supplies listed above, however for the lace doily - I didn't want to part w/ any of my real vintage ones so I got an awesome cotton doily from JoAnns for about $4 and hand dyed it in tea! I also threw in some twine and vintage lace - but we'll get back to that later! To dye your doily just head up some water and place hot water and about 2 dark tea bags along with your doily for about 10 min. Take out and dry (I just let mine sit outside while I finished the next steps). I also didn't use a circular hoop. I got one of those flat wood ones you use for cross stitch - they were much cheaper & it didn't seem to cause any problems for the rest of the DIY.

The original instructions call to use the yarn and do a "half hitch" knot - I believe this is a macrame term. I didn't really understand so I reverted back to my jr. high years and used a super easy knot used for friendship bracelets! I tied the knot to the top of my frame and pulled it over the frame looped around my thumb to create a sort of "4" and then pulled the yarn underneath and then over. When you do this over and over again it creates a sort of over the top braid that twirls around =)

sorry! just realized these photos are a little out of order! But you get the idea, right?

Next, go get your doily and place in the center adding yarn to the 4 corners. Place the yard on to the hoop pulling tightly and add clothes pins to hold in place. This is actually more important than it looks. I thought I was smarter than the tutorial and just tie them, but you can't get an even look that way - tutorial =1, emilee =0 haha

Now, that all your ends are clothes pinned - tie it up! I found it was easier to do top/bottom, then sides =)

Now for the fun part! Add your accessories! I added an old feather charm, some twine, and of course feathers to the bottom strings. I got the feathers for SUPER cheap at JoAnns =) I also added some vintage lace to the hanging string... because it's just so.. me!

After you're done w/ that - it's finished! You can add as little or as much as you want! I love mine so much I want to make 1 more big one and 2 smaller ones to create a little Dream Catcher corner in our living room! We'll see if Mr. H approves =)

Conclusion: Overall, this was a great DIY and can be totally customizable to your likes/style. There were definitely some cheaper alternatives to the supplies and the minor shift in how to wrap the yarn. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and it is so great for groups who have varying degrees of craftiness =) Head on over to Lune Vintage to check out her other awesome projects!