DIY Baby Mobile

Quick, easy, and inexpensive…three of my favorite words when it comes to crafts!  This mobile is great because it hits on all three of those, plus it’s completely personalize-able to fit any nursery’s colors and theme.  I came up with this idea after trying to find a mobile for my daughter's owl themed nursery that didn't cost $50 or more.  Can you believe how much mobiles cost!  Seriously!  This one will run you under ten bucks for all the materials.

Materials:

-One dowel, cut into two 10 inch pieces.  My dowel is about 4/16ths of an inch in diameter.

-Waxed paper or other surface protector

-Craft paint (acrylic).  I used Plaid #410 Lavender for this one.

-A small paint brush for applying glue for glitter

-Hot glue gun

-Scissors

-A metal split ring (like the kind that you put keys on).  Mine is a 24 mm silver one.

-Heavy, clear filament or fishing line.

-10 pre-painted wooden cut outs.  Get 5 different designs, and get two of each kind.  Look for ones that are painted nicely, as the paint job quality really varies on these!  Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Wal-mart all have a pretty good selection.  

-Optional: glitter, glue, googly eyes, large beads to put on the end of the dowels

Directions:

    1.       Cut dowels to length and sand the ends of the dowels to make smooth. Plug in your glue gun to heat up.

    2.       Remove the price tags from the backs of all the wood cut outs (otherwise they show in places).

    3.       Lay down wax paper.  Paint the dowels a color that coordinates with the wood cut outs you are using.  I held one end down with one finger and rolled it while painting, then painted where I had held it down last.  Let dry completely

    4.       Cut a six inch piece of line.

    5.       Cross the two sticks to make a plus sign, measuring to make sure you have them crossed exactly in the middle.  Put a pencil dot on each one where they should cross, then glue the sticks together with hot glue. Tie the 6 inch piece of line around the crossing point, getting it stuck in the still-warm glue.  Reinforce the joint between the sticks by putting more hot glue on all sides.

    6.       Tie a knot in the line so it forms a loop at the top.  String the split ring onto the loop. 

    7.       Cut a 16 inch piece of line.  Run a line of glue down the center of the back of one of the wooden cut outs, then lay the end of the line in the glue.

    8.       Apply more glue to the back of the wood cut out, then lay the matching wood cut onto it, creating a sandwich with the line inside of it.

    9.       Repeat Steps 6 and 7 again for the other 4 designs.  But make the line 20 inches, 24 inches, 12 inches, and 8 inches long.  NOTE: if the two wood cut outs don’t match up when sandwiched together because the design is not symmetrical, be very careful about where you put the glue so it doesn’t show.

   10.   Tie the 24 inch one to any one of the four stick ends just using a knot.  On the next stick, put the 20 inch one, then on the next put the 16 inch one, then on the last stick put the 12 inch one.  Don’t worry that the mobile is not balanced yet.  Put the 8 inch one in the center.

   11.   To balance it, scoot the knot for the heavier ones toward the center, and scoot the knots for the smaller/lighter ones toward the edge.  Once it is perfectly balanced, put a drop of hot glue on each string, attaching it to the stick in the right spot.  Cut off the tails from the knots.

   12.   Decorate the cut outs with glitter, googly eyes, gems, or whatever decorations you want to add.  I used the same purple glitter on each one to tie the pieces all together, then added other glitter colors as accents.

   13.   Tie a 24 inch piece of line to the split ring.  Determine where you want to hang the mobile, then tie a knot in the end of the line at the correct length, then hang from the ceiling with a push pin. All done!  Cute, huh!!!