A dreamcatcher begins as a single willow branch, cut green so it bends without cracking, formed into a small hoop and left to dry in that shape, then strung with a web woven from sinew or nettle fiber, traditionally, spiraling inward toward a small central opening, with one or more feathers and beads hung beneath the finished hoop.
Its original, specific purpose
In Ojibwe tradition the object was made specifically for an infant, typically by a mother or grandmother, and hung over a cradleboard, a role tied to a particular stage of a particular child's life rather than a general household charm meant for any room or any person. That specificity, a family made object for a specific baby, is precisely what got lost when the dreamcatcher became a mass produced item sold with no connection to Ojibwe teaching or makers, the appropriation this atlas's companion article on the object addresses in more detail.
Who is understood to make one properly
Within Ojibwe tradition the object is made by community members carrying the specific teaching attached to it, not a craft treated as open to anyone regardless of background, and traditionally a dreamcatcher was allowed to age and fall apart naturally over time rather than being kept indefinitely, since its purpose was considered complete once the child it was made for had grown past infancy.