Hi again, everyone – Happy summertime! Abby here to share a deceivingly ambitious project I took on recently.
With the baby arriving a little less than a month from now, I’ve been trying to finish up his room so it’s all ready when he’s ready for his own room. One of the projects I always wanted to try for my first son was a DIY mobile. We ended up just buying a mobile for our first baby, but since I’ve been able to find a little bit of time, I was able to DIY a “mobile” for baby #2. The best part about this “mobile”, is that it’s not even a little bit like a traditional mobile. It’s more like a chandelier with no lights, so it really can be used anywhere in your home for some fun decoration. You are more than welcome to add fairy lights or a light kit to this DIY, but I decided to keep mine for decoration only.
Read along for how I created my mobile/non-chandelier!
Supplies Needed:
- T-Shirt, other scrap fabric or Tshirt yarn
- Sturdy wire – I used hangers from our dry cleaning
- Heavy-duty pliers and wire cutters
- Fabric Scissors
- Fishing Line or other clear thread
I used this DIY as inspiration for my efforts, but knew I wanted to try something tiered, so got crafty with some fishing line.
To get started, I manipulated my hangers into three different sized squares/rectangles – these will act as the three tiers of your mobile/non-chandelier. You can make as many, or as little tiers as you’d like. I had to upgrade to my husband’s pliers because my jewelry making pliers were not cutting it (figuratively and literally).
Then things got a little complicated. I knew I wanted a green motif – the baby’s room will eventually be painted green, but I wanted to use what I had on hand. It took me a few tries, but I finally settled on a color combination I liked (will share later in this post).
To attach my various fabrics to my wire frames, I used a Lark’s Head knot (just learned what that was called – it’s the basic starting knot when creating macramé. I started with the bottom tier and worked my way up.
Once I had all my wire tiers filled in with fabric strips, I connected all my tiers together with fishing line.
Et voilà – A completed mobile/non-chandelier! Obviously, I am not displaying it in the baby’s room in the above photo (I still need to paint!) but wanted to show off the final tiers. I thought about trimming all the levels, so the strips were even, but I kind of like the unfinished look (this never happens). I went back and forth on where I included what colors but am pretty pleased with the pseudo ombre effect that I achieved.
Once I have this installed in the baby’s room, I’ll be sure to share on social media (@bottesdeleanor on Instagram). And if you decide to make your own version, be sure to tag or @ me if you share! I’d love to see how you all bring this to life!
Until next time – Happy creating!