PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Adorable baby mobiles! A do it yourself tutorial

Check out this adorable mobile I made for my son.  And you can see my adorable little guy while you're at it :)  Anyways, here is the train of thought that led me to this creation.  First of all, there are a million and one things to buy for a new baby and to me a mobile seemed like a want rather than a need so with prices at $40 a pop I decided to go without.  When my son started getting a little older and more alert I felt he really deserved a mobile so I decided to shell out the dough and started looking for one that would work with his co-sleeper.  Apparently there is no such thing so I set out to make my own and here is how you can do the same:




I am doing this tutorial for the owl mobile you see above but this can be done with ANY animal you would like.  My good friend Kerry made one with butterflies which was cool because she bent the wings up and made them 3-D.  What was also nice about hers is they didn't need any eyes or beaks like mine.

Supplies:
- Scrapbooking paper to match your nursery decor (I chose 10 different prints but Kerry made one with 5 different prints and just repeated each one twice).
- One sheet of paper with polka dots that would make good eyes
- One sheet of paper for beaks
- Glue
- 2 embroidery hoops (one large, one small)
- Wood stain if you do not like the color of your embroidery hoops (I stained mine an espresso brown)
- A sponge applicator
- Two spools of ribbon (one very thin and one a little thicker)
- Tape
- The internet and a printer
- A thumb tack to secure it to the ceiling
- An exacto knife or just a knife with a sharp point on the end

Steps:
1. After buying your supplies stain your embroidery hoops if you are going to (using your sponge applicator and following the instructions on your stain).  Set aside to dry.
2. Go onto google images and search for the animal you would like to use.  In this case I searched for  "Owl stencils."  Choose your favorite, print it, and cut it out.
3. Take one of your prints and fold the paper in half.  Use your sponge applicator to glue the two sides together.
4. Trace your stencil onto the paper and cut out your owl. It will be double sided and nice and smooth.
5. Repeat for each of your papers until you have 10 owls
6. Cut out 40 eyes from your polka dot paper
7. Cut out 20 beaks from your designated "beak paper"
8. Glue the beaks and eyes onto each side of all 10 owls
9. Use your exacto knife to cut a slit in the center of each owl
10. Using your thinner ribbon, poke a fairly long piece through the slit in each owl, tying a double knot to secure it.  Set owls aside.
11. Cut three very long (equal in length) pieces of your thicker ribbon and tie them equally spaced from each other onto your small embroidery hoop.  NOTE: If you would rather, you can also glue the ribbon to your embroidery hoops rather than tying it.
12. Bring the ribbons together and either braid them all the way up or tie knots every few inches to secure them together. 
13. Tack that part of the mobile to the ceiling. 
14. Tie 4 pieces of the thicker ribbon  (equally spaced) to the small embroidery hook that is now hanging from your ceiling. 
15. Tie the other ends of these ribbons to the larger embroidery hoop with however much distance you would like between the two.  I think mine are about 7 or 8 inches apart.
16. Break out your owls again and tie them at varying lengths to both embroidery hoops.  I tied 4 to the small hoop and 6 to the large hoop.
17. We had to put some tape around the ribbons on the top of each owl to keep them flat.  Kerry, who did the butterlies didn't need to do that because they looked good at an angle (lucky)
18. Hang above baby's bed, changing table, or wherever else it can be enjoyed :)

All my supplies only cost me $15.  Kerry's only cost her $11!  My son actually loves his mobile too much!  He wouldn't stop looking at it to fall asleep so I had to put it over the changing table instead :) Sometimes he is so content laying there and watching it I just let him stay there for 15 minutes or so (with close supervision of course :))

17 comments:

  1. That is so cute Jill! I love the colors and papers that you used to!

    Thanks for linking up!!

    XOOX
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a beautiful mobile. I might just have to copy it as my friend is about to give birth to her first baby... What I like most about it is, that you stuck the animals on in such a way that they are visible as shapes from below. That was something that all the mobiles lacked which I had when my babies were small. I made one myself, back then, with shapes floating horizontally... But I like yours better than my butterflies from back then.
    Anyhow, I am just starting a new Saturday link party. Please post your project! http://craft-werk.blogspot.com/2010/03/star-on-saturday.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. VERY cute!! I stopped in from wrap up party...so glad i did. We have a 7 month old right now that would definitely get into this! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for all the sweet comments ladies. Sonja and Shaunna, do share pictures if you make one yourself, I would love to see them! And I will definetly post my project Sonja, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cute baby mobile...and I love owl's!! thanks for submitting your project!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Owls are MUCH too FAB! THis is wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aww this is so cute! I'm going to go make one for my daughter right now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is adorable, and I know what you mean about the baby stuff being so expensive...neither one of my kids go a mobile...and now my youngest is too old for one :(
    I would have definitely made this one, SO cute!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Whoops ! I forgot to say I was featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh how cute are those owls!?! I love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I remember when my husband ask me if I wanted to have a baby,, but I knew we had a problem, so we buy viagra after to prove all the benefits this medicine can give us. like a couples we talk everything, and now we finally have our kids. The last baby have a lot of blanked that my husband buy for him. I think he doesn´t know how to say happy he is in this moment.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very cute and looks so easy to move around. Thanks for the tutorial too because I've been wanting to make one! Thanks for linking this up to my Crafty Mommy Diva Baby Shower Event. Featuring this today: http://craftymommydiva.blogspot.com/2011/03/baby-shower-event-babychild-link-up.html
    Congrats on your newest addition!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this!!, Im throwing an owl themed gender reveal party for my sister, and this will look so cute!!
    Thanks for stopping by!
    Laura

    www.lifewelive4.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails