I was in the local hobby shop the other day (because it’s right next door to Trader Joe’s.) I don’t go in there enough, they have a lot of model kits and model train stuff but also crafty things and toys. So it was fun to walk around and look at all the very small scale things that people buy to set up their hobby scenes. I found a package of super tiny tourists in HO scale that begged to go home with me.
Using super glue and sewing thread (and a needle as a tool so my fingers wouldn’t stick together,) I glued knotted lengths to the nape of each tourists’ neck. I thought tying the string around their necks would be a little creepy and not very sensitive to tourists.I also picked up some very thin (.64mm/.o25) music wire, which is basically thin lengths of metal wire or rods that do not bend. I cut several small pieces, one long and 3 same-sized.Looking at the form of a store-bought mobile I happen to have, I laid out my rods and peeps and began tying up the tourists. The hard truth is that this was a very tedious process of knotting, gluing, trimming and balance. It was necessary that I covered each knot with glue, one at a time, and let dry before committing to any further placement of knots and glue. Because this is such a tiny piece overall, even drops of super glue would change the balance of a section. So I would knot, glue, go do something while it dried, come back and do the next section. The goal was to get all rods parallel and people hanging evenly.Now I have a fun little group of tourists for my studio. I imagine they see me as some sort of Statue of Liberty at work. Just to show you their size reference, I allowed them to explore my keyboard.
I think mobiles are so darn fun. Imagine the possibilities with such things as skeleton keys, buttons, ephemera, junk jewelry pieces, little family photos, shrinky dinks, tiny dollhouse furniture, and so on!