Introduction: Harry Potter Themed Dream-Catcher!!!

About: 20 year old miniature artist with an unhealthy obsession with books, clay, paints, baking, collecting random stuff and all things weird.

Hey!

I have been re-designing my room to make it Harry Potter and various other fandom themed for the last few weeks. I have been modifying everything I can according to the theme.Yesterday I noticed that the dream catcher I had was really boring one and needed a transformation. So I came up with this Harry Potter themed dream catcher. It catches all bad dreams about Voldemort and lets the good ones pass!

If you too love sleeping and the Harry Potter novels, this project is just for you!
P.S. To discourage inter-house rivalry, I have made sure I demonstrate the steps with each of the house-themed rings only once. But I'm Gryffindor.
Let's get started!

Step 1: Materials

You will need the following items for this project.

  • Raw materials:
    1. Metal hoops/rings: I already had the large one. It was part of my initial dream catcher that I am modifying. That is why it is wrapped in green and blue. Ideally it should be plain like the small ones. I bought these for a local craft store
    2. Feathers: You will need a single feather in the color of the four houses (red,blue,yellow and green).
    3. Wooden beads: Its better and easier if the bead have a larger opening. You will need nine beads.
    4. Black ribbon: This is for wrapping the large ring. It simpler to use ribbon as it is wider than thread for bigger hoops. You can use thread for this also. For smaller hoops thread is a better choice as it is much neater and easier to wrap.
    5. Threads: I am using embroidery thread from the company called anchor. You will need three shades per house. The weaving will be done in a lighter color than the ring. You can however use the same color if you want. I couldn't find any metalic thread so I used the closest color.
      • Gryffindor:
        1. Maroon or dark red (for the ring),
        2. Yellow or gold (for the ring)
        3. Red (for the weaving. )
      • Ravenclaw:
        1. Dark blue
        2. Brown or bronze
        3. Light blue
      • Hufflepuff:
        1. Yellow
        2. Black
        3. Light yellow
      • Slytherin:
        1. Dark green or olive green
        2. Grey
        3. Light green
      • Main ring: Black
    6. Print outs of the Hogwarts crest and the house crests. Cut them out. Download it from here.
  • Tools and other things
    1. Needle: Ensure that the needle you are using has a eye big enough to fit the threads. {This makes the weaving much easier. However It is not compulsory}
    2. Fevicol or any other clear dry school glue.
    3. Paints (gold, silver, bronze and black) and brushes (OPTIONAL)
    4. Tape
    5. Scissors.

Once you have all your materials, we can start at once!

Step 2: Preparing the Hoops

Now we will be wrapping the hoops. This is a really slow process and slightly boring. I normally do this step for all my dream catchers while watching TV or listening to music XD. There really isn't much in this step.

You will need for this step:

  1. Your hoops
  2. The black ribbon and the various threads (dark read, dark blue, dark green and yellow)
  3. Scissors

Steps:

  1. Take your ribbon/thread and slide one end of it from below the ring. Then tie a tight knot.
  2. Begin wrapping it by passing the ribbon/thread from above and pull it from below and keep repeating this. During this process this will look like the second photo.
  3. Keep wrapping the thread/ribbon really close to each other so the silver of the metal cannot be seen.
  4. Keep doing this until both the ends meet. Then align the end so that they are on either sides of the hoop. Then knot both the ends together.
  5. Do this for all the hoops in their respective colors. (I took a photo of the this step but it got deleted! I tried a bunch of photo retrieval apps but I couldn't find this photo. If you know a good app, to do this please leave it in the comments!)

Note: Make sure you keep extra thread at the beginning and the end. You will need them for attaching.

Let's work on the highlights on the smaller hoops for houses.

Step 3: Highlights

Now we will add the highlights to the hoops of the houses

You will need:

  1. the yellow,brown,grey and black threads.
  2. The already wrapped small hoops.
  3. Scissors

Steps:

  1. Take a hoop and the the appropriate color. Start by tying a knot near the place where the ends of the first color is.
  2. Then begin wrapping like how you did in the previous step. The only difference is that you must not wrap so close to each other. Leave some place between each wrap so you can see the initial color also.
  3. After you come back to the starting, just knot them like you did before.
  4. Do this for all of them!
  5. Cut the excess off but not too short as the knots may loosen. Leave about a centimeter.

This step is pretty easy and doesn't take much time also.

Step 4: Weaving the Net

This is the most important step. It will take some time if you are new at this. I suggest you take it slow and do it with concentration as if you make a mistake once, it is really hard to undo it.

The first collage shows the knotting process. The second picture is the diagram for the weaving. The instructions below are given based on the points marked there. Refer to this for clarification. The third collage and fourth picture is the actual weaving and I have marked the respective points from the diagram here also.

What you need:

  1. The lighter colored threads
  2. Wrapped hoops
  3. Needle
  4. Scissors

Steps for the house hoops:

Knotting:

  1. First thread the needle and cut off a fair amount of thread. It is better to start with a longer thread as you can cut of the excess. My thumb rule is to cut 7 times the circumference of the hoop I am weaving.
  2. Knot the thread to existing bunch of threads from the previous steps.This will be point A.
  3. Stretch the thread from the starting point (A) to the next point (B) about an inch and half away.
  4. You will form two parts: one larger segment and one smaller. Wrap it around the hoop and pass the needle through the smaller segment. Pull to tighten the knot.

Weaving:

  1. Once you have the first knot at point (B) repeat this step so you get another knot at point (X). Similarly keep doing this till you reach somewhere 'close' to the first point (A) and there isn't enough place for making another knot. Point (C) in the diagram shows this point.
  2. NOTE: Make sure that the distance between two points throughout the weaving is about the same. According the size of you hoop, the total number of points will differ.
  3. Then stretch the thread from point (C) to the center of the segment AB named as point (D). The dark blue shows this.
  4. Here again pass the needle through the smaller segment to make a knot and continue weaving till the last point (E). The lighter blue shoes the complete weaving.
  5. Then stretch till the center of CD which is the point (F). Continue weaving this way.
  6. Keep doing this till you almost reach the center of the hoop
  7. In the center, knot the end by passing the needle through the any loop and then pass the needle through the loop created while doing so. Add a dab of glue in the end so it doesn't unravel. Cut the excess off VERY CAREFULLY. (One time I cut off one of the woven thread by mistake and the entire weaving came loose and I had to redo the whole thing.)

Steps for the black main ring:

  1. The weaving for this Is the same as that of the house hoops. The only difference is that I didn't complete the weaving till the center. Just do about 3-5 round of weaving and and then knot the end off to the closest string and/or glue it to the closest string.
  2. I left the gap in the center as I would be attaching the house crest there. So anyway the weaving will not be seen.

After this step you should have five fully woven dream catchers. Now we will work towards attaching them.

Step 5: Attaching

Now we will be attaching the smaller dream catchers to the main one black one.

You will need:

  1. All the dream catchers
  2. Beads
  3. Glue
  4. Scissors

Steps:

  1. You will see that there are five thread ends near the starting point in all the house dream catchers (two initial colors, two highlight color and one internal weaving color.) Except the two of the initial color, make sure the other three are about only a cm long.
  2. Then take some glue on your index finger. Pinch the three small and two large threads near the hoop and rub it to make them stick to each other. This way the loose ends will be glued to the main two threads.
  3. Pass a bead through the thread and slide it all the way to near the hoop. The bead will cover the glued threads.
  4. Do this for all the four house hoops.
  5. Now you will have two threads. Take one and pass it from below the main hoop. Then knot both the threads together.
  6. The basic arrangement Will be like the picture [] Refer to that while attaching the smaller hoops. Keep in mind that they must be attached in such a way that it doesn't tilt to one side. Just hang the main hoop from the ribbon you left originally while hanging the smaller ones. that way it will be easier for you to judge which side is tilting and re-arrange accordingly.

Done? Let's add some feathers!!

Step 6: Feathers and Crests

We will attach the feathers now.

You need:

  1. Feathers
  2. Beads
  3. Black thread
  4. Print out of the crests
  5. Paints and brushes (optional)
  6. Scissors
  7. The attached dream catcher from the last step.

Steps:

  1. Cut the thread into four equal pieces about 3 inches long.
  2. Make a simple knot first. one side should be longer than the other.
  3. Then slide the midrib of the feather into the knot and tighten. Make one more knot so as to secure the feather.
  4. Then slide in a bead and push it to the midrib the bead should ideally cover the remaining of the midrib. If it does not, just trim the midrib a bit.
  5. Pass the longer thread from below the hoop and knot it to the smaller one.
  6. It should look like the picture
  7. Do this for all the houses.
  8. Now cut out all the crests.(I was wrong in estimating the sizes and hence mine are slightly smaller than what would have looked good. I suggest you measure the places you want to cover with the crests and resize accordingly before printing.)
  9. Tape the house crests to the remaining of the thread of the feathers. This will also cover the knot.
  10. Also tape the Hogwarts crest to the main hoop in the center.
  11. Optional: You can use paints to add some highlights to the feathers if you want. I just dipped the end of my brush into the paint and pressed it on the feather for the polka dots and just painted the stripes.

Step 7: You Are Done!!!

I really love how it turned out to be and I hope you guys like it too. With this magical piece hanging over my head, I am sure I will have some amazing dreams now!! And it looks pretty fantastic as decor piece as all.

Please do leave me a comment and favorite this 'ible. If you have any doubts, fire away! I will answer them as soon as I can. Also share the images of the dream catchers you make! I will love to see them!

Hope to see you soon,

Ahona

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