Star + Clouds Baby Mobile

When I was pregnant with my first daughter six year ago, I made her a mobile.  It was a cloud with stars hanging down. Now that I'm pregnant with our second daughter, I wanted to do something similar but different. So, I made a star with clouds hanging. Genius, huh? ;)

There is a tutorial for the first mobile I made here.

There will not be a tutorial for this mobile. I made it while juggling a few other projects and didn't take the time to document the steps. I also found there were a few things I would do differently if I were to do it again.  But I will let you know about the materials in case you want to attempt something similar!

The star is made from glitter canvas. I bought two 8.5x11 sheets at Hobby Lobby. There were in the section with felt sheets. I cut the sheets into stars and then sewed them together. I used glossy Mod Podge to seal the glitter so it wouldn't shed and fall into the crib.

The clouds are cut from faux leather that I've had-- the same faux leather used to make the stars on the first mobile. I painted the clouds white and sealed them with glossy Mod Podge to keep the paint from peeling.

Also like the first mobile, I used guitar strings. These particular strings were brand new, so they still have some stretching to do not to curl up.

The raindrops are cut from Hobby Lobby fabric I used to make the baby blanket. I may go back later and hand stitch around them to add interest. But we'll see about that.

Working with the glitter canvas was a bit of a challenge to hand sew the guitar strings to it. I used E6000 to reinforce where I stitched. I stuffed the star with two plastic grocery bags to give it some dimension.

It was a labor of love. And sometimes frustration. Once the guitar strings straighten out, it will look a bit more polished.

Just a few more weeks and we'll have a little one staring up at it!

Lace Mobile

I wanted something to hang over the chair in the nursery and saw a few different versions of a lace mobile on Pinterest (don't you love Pinterest!).  Here's the version I came up with.

Grab some scrap fabric and/or lace and an embroidery hoop.

I tied strips of lace and ribbon onto the embroidery hoop and then tied twine onto the hoop for it to hang from.

I tied the three pieces of twine into a knot at the top.

Then hang it!  I used a hook that screws into the ceiling.

You could do lots of variations of this just by picking different fabric.  It would make such a pretty chandelier if you hung a light inside!

Cloud Mobile

The second project I finished for our baby's room was her mobile.  I see cloud mobiles all over Pinterest.  I knew I wanted to do something similar, so this is what I came up with!

Here's how I made her cloud mobile:

1. Cut stars out of faux leather (or vinyl).  I used a thick faux leather so the stars wouldn't fold in to themselves.  I drew the stars by hand and then traced them to have an exact match for each star, since I was gluing two pieces together.

2. Use metallic gold spray paint so the stars are all the same color and have a fun shine!

3. Draw a cloud template on newspaper. Trace the template onto your fabric.  You'll need to also trace and cut a mirrored piece of the cloud since you'll be sewing two sides together (just flip the cloud to the other side for the second piece of cloud).

4. Sew the two cloud pieces together, right sides facing .  Leave a small opening so you can turn the cloud right side out.

5. Snip all around the edges, making sure not to snip into the thread.  This will help make smoother edges when the cloud is turned right side out.

6. Flip the cloud right side out, and fill with fiberfill or stuffing of choice.  Then, hand-stitch the opening closed (not pictured).

7. Take string or fishing line or plastic jewelry wire to hang the stars from the cloud.  I used  old guitar strings.  The great thing about guitar strings is they have holes on the end that are perfect for sewing onto the cloud.  Hand-stitch the strings onto the cloud.  I had four strings, and I made each a different length.

8. Glue the stars onto the other end of the strings (like a sandwich).  I used E6000 glue and used clothespins to hold the stars to the strings as the glue dried.

9. Create a loop for your mobile to hang from the ceiling.

a) Cut a strip of fabric about two inches wide and a few inches long.

b) Fold the strip in half, and sew the sides together.

 c) Turn it right side out to have a tube.

 d) Fold the tube in half.

 e) Fold in half again.

 f) Create a loop, and hand stitch closed.

10. Hand stitch the loop to the center top of the cloud and tie twine (or yarn or whatever you want) through the loop.

11. FINALLY-- Hang the cloud!  I used a hook that screws into the ceiling.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and think it can be used as decor once she no longer needs a mobile!

Baby Mobile- Space Theme

I love making things for babies!  You can't help but smile as you make something for a new little person that will be entering the world.

Colin and I don't have any kids yet, but we have quite a few friends that are having babies, so I've been making lots of adorable little items.

Our friend Jeanette will be having a little girl soon, and she and her husband have done the nursery in a space theme.  Jeanette found a mobile she liked on a blog, and I worked to recreate it.

Here's my version (I tried to stay pretty true to the original felt characters):

This mobile was so much fun to make!
I used a wreath form (painted it silver) to hang the felt pieces that I hand stitched.  They're hanging from clear, stretchable jewelry wire (well, it's plastic, so it's not technically wire).  The wreath form is hanging from silver jewelry chain.  The hook at the top is a jewelry piece.

And I found a few additional space items while I was picking up craft supplies.
Who knew there were such cute space things out there?!

Baby stuff is so much fun!

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