DIY Project: Dream Catcher

The big project I spent my Saturday working on was....

A dream catcher!

I've been wanting to make one for forever, so I'm happy I finally took the time to complete it and I'm really beyond thrilled with how it turned out.

I've always been very interested in the whole dream catcher theory, so before I share with you my creation, let me give you a bit of background information.

The legend itself comes from Ojibwa elders.  The belief is that dreams travel around before choosing which person to inhibit at night.  They created dream catchers so that the webbing will prevent bad dreams from harming our sleep.  The good dreams travel through the personal beads and feathers that the creator picks out, whereas the bad dreams get tangled in the web.  

I love how the Ojibwa created catchers out of willow to hang over the children's beds.  When the willow dried out and broke, it meant the child had grown up.  

I've always been interested in dreams and decoding what our dreams mean.   I love how dreams take us to another place at night.  It's like we are each writing our own little story, or fantasy world.  It's our second lives, lives which only come out when we are all asleep.  It's here where we do everything we might not be able to do during the day.

I one hundred percent believe that our dreams take on a life of it's own when we are in a sweet slumber.  I also believe our own emotions have more power over us sometimes, and our own karma and everything related to our outside beliefs has the power to take over our dreams.  When we are unbalanced and something is wrong in our psychological mind, we have nightmares.  

I like to think the dream catchers work just a little bit at giving us a calmer night's sleep.  And even if they don't, they sure do look pretty hanging over our bed's, don't they :)

I followed the DIY from this site, and just picked up my own materials from the local craft store near my house.  It was pretty simple to make, and I loved how I could pretty much add anything I wanted to it.  I allowed me to get some creative expression out, for sure.

I chose natural looking feathers and some gorgeous red and blue beads for mine.  I'm already thinking for all the different dream catchers I can make... maybe one with fabric or a necklace one?  How cool would mini ones be for decoration on a wrapped gift?  Ah, the possibilities are endless!

If you decide to make one, let me know!  I'd love to see how yours turns out :)

oh, and Happy March!  

Have a great night everyone! xo