How to Make a Wall Hanging with Sticks

Lewis Toad went on a nature walk - every walk is a nature walk for him, if you think about it. He brought some interesting sticks and things back to his house in the marsh, and then he crafted this wall hanging! Here is how he did it. It's a nice craft to do at home, and a nice way to explore balancing things and finding their centers of gravity.


You will need some interesting sticks, some string, and any other lightweight things you want to add. Lewis found some green grasses, an acorn, and some moss. He says feathers or shells would be very nice too, if you had some, but that he already used all his shells to decorate a candy dish for his friend Nicholas Bear Cub.

First, Lewis laid out the main elements he wanted to use in his wall hanging.

main elements to use!

He says the trick with wall hangings or mobiles like this, is to start building them from the bottom. So first we tied together all the elements on one side.

first element with string and twig

Then we tied together the elements on the other side, wrapping the stick round and round with colorful thread. When we had completed this section as per Lewis's wishes, it turned out very fancy!

fancy stick all nice and balanced!

It was tricky to find the balance point of this section, where we should put the golden thread so the stick wouldn't tip too much one way or the other.

both elements attached to the main stick

We tied both elements to the main stick, then figured out where the center of gravity was on the main stick by balancing on our fingers / frog hands.

Then we tied a little piece of string at the center of gravity. If you don't tie anything too very tightly, it's easy to make slight adjustments to improve the balance.

nice work, lewis!

Next, Lewis added some finishing touches: a red tassel and some tufts of moss. He says he was going to decorate more, but he liked the "stark beauty" of the main stick and he didn't want to clutter it up too much. 

Nice work, Lewis!

Obviously, every wall hanging will be different, depending on your artistic intentions and the sticks and other elements you use. We would love to see what you make!

what a lovely wall hanging with a cute baby chub hand