I decided to make a yarn dream catcher to add bohemian decor in my apartment. With just a few materials, you can DIY your very own.
What Are Dream Catchers:
Objects believed to have special powers appear in numerous indigenous cultures. But the dream catcher typically associated with Native Americans originated in the Ojibwe (Chippewa) culture.
A dream catcher was a tool hung over children’s beds to capture any bad or evil before it could cause them harm.
It’s believed that the hoop and web form protects sleepers from bad dreams and “catching” them. But allows good dreams to pass through.
Materials Needed:
- Metal craft ring
- Yarn
- Wood beads
- Scissors
- Spray paint (if you want to paint the craft ring)
Instructions:
For my boho wall hanging, first I spray painted the metal craft ring green.
When the ring was dry, I cut various lengths of green yarn. How much length of yarn you cut depends on how long you want your dream catcher to be.
Let’s just say 30 inches is the length of yarn you cut for an example. Once tied to the metal craft ring, your 30 inches would then be a total length of 15 inches dropping down from the craft ring.
Diagram Of How To Tie Knot:
I used this knot to secure each piece of yarn to the metal craft ring.
Fold your length of yarn in half and pull it through the craft ring. Then loop another strand through that one. Pull it taut and move on to the next one.
Keep going as far as you want the yarn to hang from your metal craft ring.
I randomly tied wooden beads here and there on my boho wall hanging.
To finish mine off, I snipped off random pieces of yarn because I didn’t want the yarn to appear completely straight at the bottom.
Where The Dream Catcher Legend Originated:
Ojibwe people believed that the night air is full of dreams good and bad.
The good dreams find their way through the center of the circle. But the bad dreams get caught, and with the first sign of daylight they disappear.
Dream catchers were hung above baby’s cradles to protect them. And to help them sleep as they would be mesmerized by the swaying of the feathers.
Meaning Of The Materials Used:
All the materials used to decorate the dream catcher have their own meanings.
- Single bead represents the spider that is on the web where Nokomis (grandmother) got her idea of the magical web. Many contemporary dream catchers use different styles of beads to act as the center piece.
- Scattered beads throughout the web represent all the good dreams that have been caught through the nights. This style is often displayed with multiple colors that shine beautifully when the light hits them.
- Hanging feathers represent breath or air which is usually attached to the ring. Some dream catchers use many feathers while others have only one.
- The ring of the dream catcher stands for giizis (sun) that travels each day across the sky. The circle also represents life that is essential to the culture. Rings of many sizes are used to create dream catchers, to display them in many places throughout our lives.
Dream catchers are fun to make. Mine was very simple, and I just made it up as I went along.
I see you were eating cheerios! They contain the herbicide glyphosate which is very dangerous and unhealthy! Below is a link to read about it. I guess Cheerios and General Mills have some of the highest counts of it and of course there is alot of controversy about it, and of course the food companies are saying there isn’t enough to be dangerous to people. But my husband and I are staying away from any of those 70 companies where glyphosate has been found in their foods. It’s in the pesticides used for many many crops. We try to buy now only Non-GMO foods AND organic. Just Non-GMO may still have pesticides in them. It’s only organic foods that don’t use pesticides. I thought non-GMO meant no pesticides, but I’m wrong! They CAN have them. It’s only organic that doesn’t. I just did a little more research!
Didn’t mean to be such a downer! I do love your dream catcher. Just want you to be as healthy as possible! We’re trying to eat all organic as much as we can. Marilyn
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tests-show-monsanto-weed_b_12950444
How nice to have lunch with both daughters. The dream catcher is lovely. We have some dream catches in our house.
Marilyn
Lovely dreamcatcher…and what a wonderful lunch date!! So, so happy for you!
So glad you got to have lunch with both of your daughters. I hope you get to do it again and again…..
Best wishes
So happy for you that you got to have lunch with both your daughters. A step in the direction of a more complete reconciliation, perhaps. I hope so.
Your dream catcher is unique. I’ve never seen one without a web woven across the circle. I like the color and the beads. It alsmost looks like it could be holiday decor with the green and red.
Take care and have a good Friday.
Lunch sounds fun. Enjoy. How exciting. Love the dream catcher.
Ivy really feels so comfy and trusting of you to sleep on her back. So cute.
Hugs,
Kris
See, dreams do come true Brenda! So happy for you that u had lunch with both your daughters! Yay!
What a wonderfully creative idea for the dream catcher; I will have to get the craft materials to make one for myself. And how nice that one of the readers gave an informative response to the meaning and function of the dream catcher.
Charlie looks handsome even with his “scruffy” look. Hope his acupuncture treatment helps him to feel less pain. Ivy looks so cute sleeping on her back. What wonderful company they must be.
It was a pleasure to read that you had lunch with both daughters. With the holidays just around the corner (and hopefully some cooler temps), it will be nice to spend time with your daughters. So much to share and catch up on. This Thanksgiving you will have an additional blessing to be thankful for. Your soul must feel just a bit lighter these days.
Take care and have a wonderful evening .
Your girls have always sounded like well rounded intelligent daughters so you had to be so proud sitting with them yesterday. Your life must feel complete having them near you. Believe me, once you lose a mother it has never felt the same for me so I hope the healing continues as a strong family is important for a healthy outlook in life.
On another note, Brenda, I had a reaction similar to yours when I got my shingles shot. The person who administered it said it’s mostly our age range experiencing the aches and chills and feverish feeling. Thank goodness it was only 24 hours so I will accept it versus months of nerve pain if I caught the disease. She also said she was fine after the second dose so I am hoping I do the same.
How nice for the 3 of you to have lunch together!
The best part of this post was hearing that you had lunch with both daughters. Would love to hear how this came about. I’m so happy for you all. May the healing continue. Sandra
Slowly. It came about slowly. Months of just FB commenting to her. No pressure. I relived the moment I walked in and saw the two of them sitting in the restaurant over and over last night. No strings. Didn’t ask for her email address or phone number. I once had it, but did away with it so I wouldn’t be tempted. She says if she can she’ll meet us next time. We meet once or twice per month for lunch, the younger daughter and I. They have remained on good terms throughout. I’d just like to see her for an hour here and there. Won’t ask for more than that.
I am also so happy for you, Brenda…you are wise…to keep things very low key!! Not what our mother’s heart wants, but what is best under this situation…I agree…and you know I have some experience in this camp. BLessings…take care!!
Happy for you, Brenda! And love the photos of Charlie boy and Ivy. Ivy is a unique little girl.
Mary
I am so happy to hear that you had lunch with both of your daughters. I love your dream catcher. So easy and clever. xo Laura
Hi. I’m glad you could meet with your daughters. I hope it was a good experience for everyone. The color and texture of your dream catcher is really nice. In order to actually “catch dreams,” the inner part of the hoop needs to have some fibers criss-crossing or woven together like a spider web. The web part catches nightmares, which then dissolve in the morning light and therefore never reach us. Good dreams slide down the long hanging fibers and are able to reach us.
Thanks! Good to know.
Your dream catcher is lovely….I may try one too. So happy to hear about your time with your two daughters. Blessings, Carolyn in Fl.
Glad you were able to get together with both of your daughters ! I hope all of you enjoyed your visit and get together.
Love the color of your dream catcher.
Oh I am so happy for you that you were able to meet with both of your daughters. It’s been a long time coming. Great dream catcher. I can only imagine how Ivy would like to catch some dreams from it!
The dream catcher is inspiring. A great idea for using up some of my yarn scraps. Yay for lunch with both daughters – very happy for you!
I love the dream catcher. Great job. So creative. I have a shabby chic type one..I did not make..but love it. :0) .. Glad you had a lovely day it sounds with “the girls”.
Enjoy your lunch. The dream catcher is so pretty and nice idea with the extra paint.
Lunch with both daughters. I’m so happy for you!