Part of the fun of expecting a baby is decorating the nursery. If you want your nursery decorations to include a mobile, consider turning it into a DIY project! Not sure how to make a mobile? We’ll tell you what you need to know.
Your job is to dream up the perfect mobile, and our job is to tell you how to make it!
In this article, we’ll give you an idea of the supplies you’ll need, talk about how to craft your mobile, and provide tips on how to make it safe for your little one.
How To Make A Mobile: Choosing Your Supplies
Before you make your supply list and hit the store, you need to decide what sort of mobile you’re going to make. As you do that, keep these two things in mind: matching the nursery and choosing safe parts.
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Make The Mobile Match The Nursery
If you’ve chosen a theme for your nursery, your mobile is the perfect place to make it shine!
For a nautical theme, go with little origami boats on the mobile. For a beach theme, felt seashells are a good option. And for a starry-night theme, opt for wooden star cutouts!
For those of you who haven’t landed on a nursery theme or decoration ideas yet, don’t stress about it! Check out our gender-neutral, boy, and girl nursery ideas.
Choose Safe Parts
Whatever theme or colors you choose, the most important thing is that the parts of the mobile are safe. Stay away from very small items that could be a choking hazard if your baby gets ahold of them.
You’ll also need to be sure that everything you use can be securely attached to the mobile so that bits and pieces don’t fall off! This is important to think through before making your supply list.
Make Your Supply List
The exact supplies you’ll need to make your mobile depend entirely on what you want it to look like. To get you started, we’ve put together a generic supply list.
Take this list and make adjustments and additions based on the mobile design that suits your fancy!
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A Hoop Or Sticks
With handmade mobiles, an embroidery hoop or a wooden stick are commonly used for the top. The fun decorations you choose will hang down from this.
If you want a circular mobile, an embroidery hoop is your best bet. You’ll only need the inside ring of the hoop.
For a linear mobile, a wooden stick, rod, or paint-stirrer will do the trick. You can find a small wooden rod at a craft store, or for a unique touch, go on an outdoor scavenger hunt to find a sturdy stick!
Just be sure to clean it thoroughly before getting crafty with it.
Decorations
Now that you have the top of your mobile sorted out, choosing the decorations — what hangs from the top — is next. This is where it gets really fun and where you have dozens of choices!
Choose lightweight decorations that are large enough not to be a choking hazard. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit. Here are a few ideas:
- Pom poms
- Plastic flowers
- Origami
- Paper cutouts of planes or hot air balloons
- Wooden animal cutouts
- Felt seashells
- Feathers
- Colorful ribbons
- Pinwheels
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String
To put the decorations and the top of your mobile together, you’ll need string or something similar.
For example, fishing line, yarn, embroidery string, or ribbon are all good options depending on the style and the decorations you’re hanging.
You’ll also need some sort of string to attach to the top of the mobile (the embroidery hoop or the sticks) to hang it from the ceiling.
Another way you can put pretty yarn or ribbon to use? Wrap the embroidery hoop or stick in it! If you prefer to cover up the top of your mobile, this is the perfect way to do it.
Extra Supplies
Depending on what sort of mobile you’re crafting, you’ll need other supplies, like scissors, hot glue, paint, and a needle for threading your decorations.
Hardware To Hang The Mobile
Finally, you can’t do without sturdy hardware to hang your mobile from the ceiling. You’ll need a stud-finder, a pencil to mark the spot on the ceiling, a drill and drill bit, and a cup hook.
How To Make A Mobile: Putting It All Together
With your supplies gathered, all that’s left to do is put your mobile together!
1) Prep Your Supplies
Your first step is to get all of the separate pieces ready to be put together. If you’re going to paint your decorations, the embroidery hoop, or the sticks, do that first and allow plenty of time for the paint to dry.
Or, if you plan to wrap the embroidery hoop in ribbon, now is the time to do so.
2) String The Decorations
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Cut several pieces of the string or embroidery thread that you’ll use to string the decorations. These can be all the same length or different lengths. It just depends on the look you’re going for!
Then, string the decorations!
For most of the options we listed above, a needle and embroidery thread will be your best bet. For others, tying the string onto the decoration will be better. Make sure they are securely attached to the string.
Next, tie the top ends of the string to the embroidery hoop or stick.
3) Hang The Mobile
To hang the mobile, tie pieces of string to the embroidery hoop or stick.
For an embroidery hoop, three pieces of string, evenly spaced around the hoop, work well. And for a stick, use one string on each end.
Allow several inches or a foot of string, and then tie the pieces together at the top. This is how you will hang your mobile on the cup hook in your ceiling.
Voila! Your mobile is ready to be hung. Now the question is: where will you hang it?
Where To Hang Your Baby’s Mobile
At Newton Baby, we’re passionate about keeping sleeping babies safe!
Little ones should sleep on a firm, safe mattress with nothing in their crib other than a fitted sheet. That’s why we’ve created safe (and breathable!) products, like our Crib Mattress and Breathable, Organic Cotton Sheets.
Sleep safety starts there and extends to the decorations in and around the crib, which, of course, includes the mobile. And one of the safety considerations when it comes to your mobile is where you hang it.
While some store-bought mobiles are made to be attached to the crib or the wall, the easiest way to hang your handmade mobile is from the ceiling.
Most parents hang it right above the crib, but it could also be hung elsewhere in the nursery.
Above The Crib
Hanging a baby mobile over the crib is logical since the point of a mobile is for your baby to look at and enjoy it! If that’s what you choose, there are three things to keep in mind.
1) Check All The Parts
Be sure all of the parts are securely attached to the mobile and that the mobile is hanging safely from the ceiling. If parts fall off and into the crib, they could be dangerous for your little one.
2) Hang It High Enough
When hanging a mobile above your baby’s crib, remember to make it high enough to be well out of reach of curious fingers.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says, “make sure they do not hang low enough to entangle your baby, especially once she begins to roll. In fact, once your baby is able to sit up, it will definitely be time for her mobile to come down.”
3) Hang It Low Enough
That being said, if your goal is for your little one to enjoy looking at the mobile you worked so hard on, you’ll have to hang it low enough for them to see it!
Keep in mind that for the first month or so, babies’ eyes don’t work well as a team and they aren’t necessarily able to focus on what’s in front of them.
That’s OK! Looking at a mobile will help their eyesight develop as the weeks go by.
When your baby is three months old, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, their “eyes should work together to focus and track objects.”
Elsewhere In The Nursery
If you choose not to hang the mobile directly over the crib, that works, too. Because, in addition to providing your baby with some entertainment, mobiles add a fun, pretty touch to the nursery!
In that case, consider hanging it over the rocking chair or the changing table. If it’s over the changing table, your baby will get plenty of enjoyment out of the mobile and it might just make all those diaper changes a bit easier!
Time To Get Crafty!
Now that you know how to make a mobile, it’s time to get crafty! Let your imagination run wild with the adorable possibilities and then get to work.
Take safety into account when choosing supplies and deciding where to hang the mobile. And for the best sleep safety, put your little one to bed on a Newton Baby breathable Crib Mattress.
A handmade mobile will add a special, personal, and unique touch to your little one’s nursery that you’ll both enjoy during all the precious moments you spend in their room.
