For Wesley's mobile I created a super easy and super cheap version of some mobiles I saw on Etsy. If you are a perfectionist, you may want to stop reading because my methods may drive you mad. This project was done the easiest and quickest way and is in no way perfect. (you will be able to see that in the detail pics). But I think it works just fine and I am very happy with the way it turned out.
DIY Baby Mobile
What you need to make your own:
construction paper
sewing machine and thread
two small dowels (got ours at Michael's)
fishing line
hot glue gun
small hook to attach to ceiling
paint (optional)
circle punch (optional)
Step 1: Cut out circles
I just used regular old scissors and cut out circles out of regular old construction paper. They are not perfect circles and I wanted several different sizes, so I just went to town cutting.
Step 2: Sew circles together
Did you know you can sew paper? Welp you can. Just feed the circles through like you are sewing anything else and wait a few seconds before you add the next one. The few seconds in between will create the spacing between your circles. I went completely random in the order I fed the circles through.
(If you don't have a sewing machine, you could just glue circles to string)
Step 2b: Create separate strings of circles
You can do this two ways. you can sew one looooong string of circles and then cut the strings at the desired lengths. Or you can start and stop sewing each new string. Either way you do it, you want to end up with 17 strings. If you are more exact than me, you will want to measure your strings and make sure that you have 4 each of 4 various lengths, plus one extra string that is the longest. I just did mine at random lengths (are you beginning to understand my ways?).
Step 3: Attach dowels together
Optional step: paint dowels first. I kinda wish I would have painted mine.
Form an X with your dowels and secure together by wrapping thread or yarn around the center. I couldn't get mine tight enough so I used hot glue to help bond them together as well as the thread.
Step 4: Attach strings to dowels.
You will tie one string of sewed circles to the X of your dowels and then four strings on each dowel leg. I simply tied the thread around the dowel and then secured it in place by adding a drop of hot glue.
Step 5: Attach fishing line to dowels
This was the tricky part for me. I couldn't figure out a way to keep the mobile balanced, so I ended up tying fishing line to the ends of each dowel leg (and securing with hot glue). Then I gather the four strings together above the X and tied them in a knot with a long string of fishing line. I attached the end of the fishing line to a small hook that screwed into the ceiling.
