Remember that kickin’ mobile that I made for the bodacious boy boudoir? It’s time for a little tutorial on how that $12 gem came to be so you too can enjoy the soothing swishes and turns of a custom mobile…without breaking the bank. If you have a nephew/baby on the way, or just want some 3D art in your home, you can whip up this homemade mobile in about 30 minutes flat.
I saw a similar mobile on etsy one day while doing some nursery research, but wasn’t quite sold on the color scheme that the seller offered. Then it occured to me – why not make a mobile? It couldn’t be that difficult, right? It’s just some hangy things on some string to keep the baby’s mind gears turning – I think I can handle that. I used the etsy mobile as my guideline and popped over to my beloved neighborhood Michael’s to stock up on some supplies.
Riveting photograph, I know. My supplies for this project were as follows: 3 squeezy bottles of craft paint, 2 foam paint brushes (I splurged for 2 to speed up my process since they weren’t more than 50 cents each), a bag of pre-cut wood shapes for $3.00 and some bead jewelry string (easier to work with than fishing wire, in my opinion). I also picked up a 9″ brass hoop and some fun orange ribbon after my attempt to create a top from a clothes hanger failed miserably.
Once I had my handy craft supplies, I laid out the pre-cut shapes into three columns, being sure to mix up the patterns and the lengths of the mobile pieces to give the final piece some dimension. You could use all one shape of wood cut outs, but I would recommend keeping the length of your mobile pieces varied so there is a bit of visual interest when the mobile is hanging. I then brushed some cheap-o craft paint on my wood pieces, let dry, then painted the other sides.
My seminole lovin’ heart was desperately resisting painting these pieces orange and blue, but hey, it’s all in the name of design. I still know where my loyalties are. :) After the paint dried (remarkably in about 5 minutes) I took a large size nail and created a hole in the center of each wood piece. I did this by nailing the nail into each size of a wood piece on top of an old magazine. Unconventional, I know, but I didn’t want to search for a scrap piece of wood to nail into, so the magazine got the job done. I just hope that Reese Witherspoon will forgive me for jabbing a nail into her photo spread repeatedly.
After that, I strung the jewelry string through the wood pieces at varying lengths, tying a quick knot on each side of the wood pieces so they stayed put in their positions on the string. After all three strands were completed, I tied them to my brass hoop and kept a long strand of excess string to use to hang the finished mobile.
The brass ring I used for my top just didn’t mesh with the modern decor of the nursery (brass screams old lady – sorry brass lovers, but trust me on this one) so I pulled out some punchy orange ribbon and a hot glue gun and went to town wrapping that brass bad boy. I had to get some assistance from my grumbly husband to hold the mobile up while I wrapped (he’s not a fan of the arts and crafts), but you could hang it from a ceiling fan and get the same effect. After I wrapped the brass away, the mobile was complete and ready to be hung in said nursery. Simple, no?
Oh no. Now I’m sitting here wondering if I have “old lady brass” all over my house. The mobile is awesome, by the way. It is so light that is spins slowly with the breeze from the fan. So calming.
Oops. That reply was from Terry (MOM). I’m on the wrong computer.
Love it, and what a great tutorial!! You made the project look so easy and fun!
It’s got this cool retro-60s vibe to it, without the old-lady brass.
I love that whole room, btw. My glider in comparison is VERY old lady! :)
That is so awesome! I think I am going to give it a try. We will see how it turns out. :)
Great tutorial andI think even I could do that! Keep up the good work
I just love what you’ve done! I wanted to make a mobile for my newborn baby (I just hate the store bought ones) and your project is perfect for her. I’m in the process of making it right now. It is SO EASY!! Thanks for sharing.
@Barb: I’m so glad you found this tutorial helpful! Send some after pictures if you think of it!
Thank you so much for sharing your creativity! I also am not fond of store bought mobiles and have been searching for an inexpensive one to make! Yours is fabulous and I went down to Michael’s today to stock up on supplies!
Ok..I’m just wondering how you got that string to hold the knots. I got the same kind that you have shown, and the knots just fall out. I am going to disassemble it and try it with fishing line and some beads to hold the pieces in place.
Other than that, great project! Relatively easy for the craft-challenged amongst us! Thanks for the idea!
@jessi: I don’t remember exactly, but I’m sure I used some needle nose pliers to pull the knots extra tight. I also tied a double knot, so maybe that would give it the extra oomph it needs to stay in place. I’d love to see your final product – thanks for using my tutorial!
Super clever… and a lot better and less expensive then the puffy toy animals mobiles at the store. Love that I can color coordinate with the baby room. I know what I’m doing this afternoon. Thanks!
I love it. I have been looking for months for a mobile to match my colour scheme (virgo – everything must match) so excited that now I can make my own. Thanks heaps for the great lesson.
Where did u get the pillow in the picture? My nursery will be modern with a bicycle twist.. Thx!
@kelly: pillow came from CB2 a few years ago
This was great inspiration! I made one myself for our modern nursery. I handpicked large (3″) wood shapes from the open stock bins for a celestial look (stars, suns, moons, and comet swirls) and bought paints that match the starburst rug in our baby’s room (pale blue, grass green, and brick red). A couple tips that helped me: I had my husband drill the holes using the smallest drill bit we have, which resulted in clean edges; I bought and painted a few extra “just in case” pieces, which was helpful because we lost a few in the drilling process; I had to knot the jewelry thread several times under each wood piece so it wouldn’t slip through the hole; I wrapped the hoop with ribbon before stringing anything to it; and I used regular tacky fabric glue since I don’t have a hot glue gun and it worked fine. It only took about $10 and one afternoon and the result is so perfect — everyone compliments me on it before they even know it was a DIY project. Thanks for this how-to!