Paint Chip Baby Mobile Tutorial

When you find out that you are pregnant you instantly start looking at baby clothes and thinking of what theme you want your baby's nursery to be. Then you come to realize that everything is so expensive. Brand new baby bed sets cost well over $100 and that usually doesn't include the mobile, lamp, decorations, bumper pad (which you aren't suppose to use anymore) and more. It's crazy how expensive baby items can be.

We lucked out with our first child and were given a brand new bed set as a baby shower gift. I bought a gently used bed set for my second child for really cheap but one thing that wasn't included was a baby mobile which I really wanted because I wanted something for my baby to look at but I didn't want to fork out the $50 bucks on a baby mobile because it's not a necessity and I'd rather spend the money on something we needed like diapers. I decided to use my creative skills and came up with a cheap or free baby mobile. You can't beat free right?! I used items I had lying around the house and saved $50 bucks.

Baby mobiles are not a necessity but they are cute, make for nice nursery decor and gives your baby something to look at and help stimulate their brains, especially if you have a red and black mobile or contrasting patterns on the mobile. 

Supplies:

• Paint chips - you can get these from Walmart or Lowe's for free
• Cardboard Box or Wooden Hoop
• Fishing Line or Clear Sewing Thread
• Ribbon
• Pipe Cleaners or yarn
• X-Acto Knife 
• Scissors
• Markers
• Clear Tape

How To:

1. Trace a cereal bowl onto the cardboard then draw a smaller circle inside that circle. Cut out the circles using an X-Acto knife.

You can buy a wooden embroidery hoop or a metal ring at any craft store if you would prefer to use that over a cardboard ring. Cardboard is free so it depends on your budget. You can see what the mobile looks like using a wood ring below.

2. Using the paint chips, cut out the shapes you want to use. I drew the shapes onto the ugly side of the paint chip then cut them out. I cute out eight zoo animals and a bunch circles.

I like to use paint chips because they are thicker than construction and scrap booking paper so it will hold up betted and last longer. Plus it won't tear as easy if your child gets a hold of it. Card-stock and flash cards may be thick enough paper to hold up as well if you can't find any paint chips.

3. Using your markers, draw patterns such as lines, circles, zig zags on the back of your shapes. This not only helps hide the ugly side of the paint chips but the colors and patterns help stimulate your growing baby's brain.

4. Using the X-Acto knife, poke a tiny hole in the center of each shape you are using on your mobile.

5. Cut four or five strands of the Fishing Line or Clear Sewing Thread a minimum of 15" and tie them around your hoop.

6. Cut three or four pieces of ribbon approximately 15" and tie them around your hoop so they are positioned in a triangle like way (square if using four strings). After they are attached to your hoop, you can tie them together at the top.

You can use ribbon, string, yarn or tulle to hang your mobile with. Ribbon was the only thing I had that matched this mobile so that is why I used it. I used tulle to hang the butterfly mobile with. *see below

7. Wrap the pipe cleaners around your hoop, twisting them together when you need to add another pipe cleaner. I used four pipe cleaners because I liked the spread out look but you can use as many as you want.

You can also use yarn or ribbon to wrap around the hoop. You can cover the entire cardboard hoop or spread it out like I did in the picture. Secure by tying the ends together and tucking it under to hide the knot.

8. Figure out the order you want your shapes to go on the mobile. Start putting the shapes onto your mobile by sticking the Fishing Line or Clear Sewing Thread thru the tiny holes you cut into the shapes. Once you place the last shape on that strand, wrap it around the side and tie it to the Fishing Line or Clear Sewing Thread so it won't come off.

9. Once you have strung all your shapes onto the mobile and tied the bottom pieces onto your mobile, it is now time to position them. Evenly spread out the shapes on each strand, take a tiny piece of clear tape and tape the Fishing Line or Clear Sewing Thread to the back of each shape.  This helps keep the shapes in place so they won't all fall to the bottom.

10. Hang your mobile up above the crib and watch as your little one enjoys the new toy you made them. I used screw eyes (ours came in an assorted picture hanging kit we already had) to hang the mobiles from the ceiling.

Check out my Zoo Animal Paintings: Giraffe, Lion & Zebra I made to go along with the Safari animal nursery theme.

Use any variety of colors and shapes you choose to match your nursery. I made a purple and blue butterfly mobile (picture's below) for my daughters room and this green, yellow and brown zoo animal mobile for my son's room. When I had my third child I made him a navy and grey geodetic triangle mobile. All three of my kids have loved their baby mobile. My son loved to talk to his and my daughter enjoys trying to hit hers with her hands and laughs when it starts to move.

These paint chip baby mobiles are a cheap or free way to decorate the nursery. They also make a cute gift as long as  you can manage transporting it without getting it all tangled. I hope your child enjoys the mobile as much as mine have. Let me know what mobile theme you made in the comments below!

Check out my Geometric & Whale paintings I made that inspired the geometric triangle baby mobile.