DIY Nursery Mobile

I love when you read a blog article and see pictures of what the post's about right up front.  I've decided that I'm going to post pictures of the end result first when it makes sense to do so.  Just seems a little more user friendly, doesn't it?

This little project has been brewing for awhile.  I really, really wanted something to hang above the change table to give Bubba something to focus on while I change and dress him.  He's a wiggly, little guy!  And combined with wiggly, he's got really stiff arms and legs which makes changing him a challenge at times.  It's getting better, but still.....

I blew the budget on the bedding (more about the bedding here) so this needed to be an inexpensive project. I found lots of great ideas on the internet but most of them involved sewing.  This was my favorite DIY mobile from Sew She Sews.   Loved it!

 

 

 

But sewing....Not happening.  I can sew but I hate it so much I gave my sewing machine away last year.  As much as I loved this project I knew I needed to find a way to make this happen without a sewng machine.  Or money.

 

So I dug around my craft room and searched the scrap book paper until I found some old paper in the colors of my nursery, gray, orange, and turquoise.  Then I added some off white ones as well to match the trim and add the fourth color.  They weren't perfect but they more or less matched the colors in the nursery.  I also found some old embroidery hoops and some turquoise ribbon.  Yay!

 

And then I traced and cut out what felt like a hundred thousand circles on the different colored sheets of paper. I traced. And cut. And traced and cut some more. I used my large circle punch to cut out some smaller circles. I actually only used 64 circles so if anyone wants some orange, gray, white, or turquoise circles, let me know. I have a bazillion of them.

 

I apologize for the crap lighting....I don't know why the pics didn't turn out because there is tons of light in the craft room. Photography remains a mystery to me.   Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

It took me forever to figure out how to string them up and then how to hang them in the nursery. 

And then I set out to put it together. This resulted in some head scratching for a few days until I decided to "sew" the circles together. I got busy threading a needle with some grey thread and put the circles together....blue and gray together and the orange and white together. In the end I used 8 circles for each grouping and made 8 strings. That part took the better part of a morning.  I had to use a little tape on the back of the circles because they started to slide around. 

I used the same Mandarin on the hoop that I used on the nursery lamp. 

 

 

 

And here's the end result!

 

 

 

 

Bubs loves it!  He is utterly enchanted with the moving circles.  I'm not saying changing him is suddenly easy....but the mobile does hold his attention for a few moments at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy baby, happy Mamaw!

 

Total cost of this project?  Nothing!  I had everything I needed just hanging around in the future craft room.  A little time consuming, but totally worth it.

 

 

Linking up to my regular fav parties.  And to Shabby Creek Cottage and My Repurposed Life.