DIY project

I'm not a very arts and crafts-y person. I generally prefer to pay someone else to make something as opposed to making it myself. I found this over-the-crib baby mobile on Etsy and decided I wanted to get it as a shower gift for the baby mentioned in my last post (less than a month till Baby C is born!). But when I saw the expensive price tag, I though "ya know, I bet I could make that myself." 

So I did...with a little help. :)

A friend of mine (hi +Noelle Petersen!) made the felt roses and they couldn't have turned out better. The rest I kind of improvised. I couldn't find a metal hoop that would work for the base, so I bought an unfinished wooden frame and painted it black. I then used the scroll work on the frame to attach the flower strands - 4 strands with six roses, 2 with eight and the middle has ten. The mobile I was copying used glass beads and glass teardrop crystals, while mine are plastic. I originally tried making the strands with string used for jewelry, but it had too much elasticity and wouldn't knot properly. I made a last minute run to Shopko and bought plain ol' fishing line, which worked beautifully. An episode of The Blacklist, two of Grimm, three of Masterchef: Junior and one of Last Man Standing later, the roses and beads had been strung, attached to the black frame and dangled over our dining room table...all for about half the cost of the original mobile. I would definitely consider it a DIY win. :)

Since creation, it has been delivered to Texas and hung over Baby C's future crib! Some adjustments need to be made - for example, it's a little too long and poses a bit of a future hazard to grabby toddler hands. But otherwise it looks pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself!). :)


~ Katie