DIY: Cute as a Button Mobile

As promised, much of the nursery is a result of some DIY projects that could be easily replicated for those of you who also have a nursery in the works! I have a completed project now hung up and ready to show off. I call it the Cute-as-a-Button Mobile because the circles hanging look like big buttons.

The idea I already had in mind began to take shape with this lightweight chandelier that already came in the creme color for just $22.50. I say just but we all know I prefer to get things much cheaper than that. Shoot me-it was a shopping day with my sister so she was the naughty little whisper in my ear: Go for it!

Adding to the chandelier, I contemplated pinwheels, made a few and decided against it. Then, I thought about vintage toys but some creeped me out and it would have made the mobile cost a  fortune. Any google search for DIY Mobiles will bring up the popular circles hung from an embroidery loop typically in bright colors and with fishing wire. I wanted something more muted, in our color scheme and with a more rustic finish than the fishing line. Once we knew it was a boy, I ruled out the floral idea I originally had in mind too! Below is what I used for the hanging pieces.

The blue thing is a circle cutter that I did go out and buy with a 40% Hobby Lobby coupon so I think it was $4-5. The scrapbook paper I got during one of their half-off sales so spent about $4 for all the sheets (8 total I think). The pink thing is a paper studio hole punch that creates two skinny rectangles side by side typically used to tie a bow or wrap ribbon through a paper document. And, of course, the hemp was to string them all together and hang them from the chandy. I only used the scissors to cut the paper as the circle cutter created edges that had to be cut away so I could get all the way to the center of the 12 x 12" sheets.

I then paired the "buttons" together back-to-back with non-matching piece on eiether side and used the two-pronged punch to go through the two. I made stacks after punching them two by two before starting to string on a seperate evening. The next night, I experimented with string lengths and how low the chandelier would hang above the crib and so on. I decided on 12-14" of hemp for the strands of 3 "buttons" and 16-18" for the strands of 4 "buttons".

I tied a knot at one end and then strung the buttons onto the hemp one ata  time about 2 1/2
 apart with no knot required to keep each in place. Then, I tied each strand to the hanging hooks. The strnds of 4 hung from the top row and the strands of 3 from the bottom until it looked like this:

And there it sat in my living room for a good 3-4 weeks before I dared climb up with the drill to hang a hook from the ceiling. I had to buy another 6" of chain (unfortunately in silver so it doesn't match) for 79 cents to get it the length I wanted when hung from the ceiling. End result: Baby G's mostly homemade mobile! Simple but whimsical and not too overstated. 12 more weeks before we find out if he likes it (maybe more if I never let him sleep in his crib. . . )