Remember how we mentioned in our Charlotte window shopping post that we found inspiration for our nursery mobile at a charming little shop called Lucy & Co? Well, after talking to the incredibly inspiring designer of the yellow butterfly mobiles we learned that all it took to whip them up was some floral wire, some yellow fabric butterflies, and some glue. Sounds doable, right? But instead of butterflies we decided to brainstorm a few other “things” that could appear to be swarming around in a ball above our baby girl’s head. John kept harping on bees because they were on our homemade wedding invitations…
… but I thought that might be a bit terrifying. Bees in the nursery? Yikes. We finally settled on small yellow and pink blooms after we slipped through Micheal’s to check out what they had on hand. We were crazy about the small feathery little florets that we could pop right off of the stems and we loved the idea of adding some yellow and pink to our soft green and aqua palette. Plus they were buy one get one free, so for $8 we picked up two giant bunches of faux hydrangea blooms (one bunch in yellow and one bunch in pink).
We also picked up some silver floral wire to the tune of a few bucks. Then we parked our butts on the couch in front of the TV and watched The Celebrity Apprentice while we messed around with the floral wire and tried to create three orbs that we could cover with a swarm of hydrangea blossoms. This step of the process was sheer trial and error. We started by making a few loops of wire to establish the size of the sphere and then gradually took it from a 2-D circle into a 3-D ball-shaped mass of wire while Burger watched with suspicious half-closed eyes (see his legs below).
In the end our little orbs turned out feathery and haphazard and semi-ethereal. We could definitely work with them and we were sure to make one big beach-ball sized one along with one that was about the size of a cantaloupe and one that was somewhere in between. And as you can see from the image below, we left a few wires feathering out from the sphere for a light and airy look (once we glued the flowers on). Note: we later removed the little wire handle that we created on the top of the orb (stay tuned for more hanging details).
After we made all three wire spheres we got to work popping off the blooms from each individual stem on our faux hydrangea bouquet (by this time we were watching The Amazing Race- this is one of those takes-a-while-but-you-can-do-it-kind-of-on-auto-pilot projects).
Each individual flower came off with a bit of a hollow nub in the back, which used to slide over the stem to keep it in place.
So in order to attach our flowers to the wire, John geniusly suggested that we use an Exacto knife to cut each of the nubs vertically up the center about a centimeter, which created a forked pincher that we could dab with some glue and slip over the wire to adhere them to our spheres. And it worked! The pincher held it in place long enough for the glue to dry and really secure it for the long haul. So the forked flower nub + a dab of glue was all it took to secure each of our blossoms, which we clustered around each sphere randomly for a charming unplanned and not too overly balanced look. Oh and we used Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue (which we already had laying around) as our glue of choice since it’s non-toxic and water-based (both good selling points for anything that will live in a nursery).
Then we dug three small white ceiling hooks out of our screws/nails/etc drawer (they can be found at any hardware store or even at Target if you don’t have them on hand) and John drilled three tiny pilot holes into the ceiling. It was helpful to whip out the drill just to get things started since it’s hard to have great leverage when you’re trying to screw something into the ceiling. Oh and as for placement we just suspended each orb with regular old white sewing thread and John moved them around until we decided on the best three spots for our hooks. Again, we went the trial and error route.
And here they are all hung up on those white hooks with nothing more than white thread keeping them suspended. We love that the thread is so hard to see that they almost appear to float in the room. We definitely wanted them to look light and airy (and we love that we had the thread on hand so it was f-r-e-e). As for how we staggered them, again we just experimented with different lengths of string and kept stepping back to see what looked best. In the end we loved that none of our orbs were exactly the same size and that they were all hung at slightly different heights- just to keep things interesting.
Here’s more of a detail shot for you. See how invisible the string is? And how those little offshoots of wire ended up looking really whimsical and sweet once we added some blooms? Plus we love the fun shadows that they cast on the wall. Who knows, maybe the beanette will stare at those more than the actual mobiles.
And we mentioned that we removed those large wire “handles” that we initially made in favor of just pinching the wire in a spot on the orb (just a bit) to create a much smaller and less obvious place to loop the white thread around. Thankfully, it worked like a charm.
And although you’re probably assuming that we hung them over the crib, we actually opted to place them over the changing pad above our newly refinished dresser since that wall was looking a little bare (and we already had a great mirror on the wall above the crib to bounce around a lot of light from the window across the room and serve as a fun and colorful shape for Baby P to gaze at). Of course our new trio of homemade mobiles might look a bit high and a smidge off-center but we have other plans for that wall as a whole so you’ll have to stay tuned for those details…
And speaking of our changing table pad, we wanted to share how easily we secured it to the dresser using the screw & snap system that came with it. See the screw that I’m holding in the photo below? It has a large and super firm snap on the back of it, so you just have to secure it to the back of the dresser in line with wherever you want your pad to be placed…
… and screw it firmly into place…
And then you can snap your changing pad so that it’s fixed for the long haul (there was one snap-screw that we attached for each end of the pad so it’s wiggle proof and extra secure).
And you may have noticed our little blue fan. We have heard time and time again that good air circulation (ie: a fan in the nursery) can cut down on SIDS and make for a comfortable and happy baby- so we invested in a cute (and finger-tip-safe) Deco Breeze fan for the other side of the dresser that we can easily aim right at the nearby crib to cool down the beanette. We love how it looks with everything from the aqua ceiling and chandelier to our printed curtains (and you get a little sneak peek of another nursery furnishing that we’ll elaborate more on later in the background below).
So that’s how we made a fun little three-sphered mobile to hang above the changing table pad that we secured with some simple hardware. Oh and if you’re wondering where we got the changing pad cover, it’s actually from the same place where we got our organic aqua crib sheets (the changing pad cover is also organic, and we thought the price was pretty darn good). What about you guys? Have you ever made a mobile? Any tips or project ideas to share with the group? Any other changing-table-safety methods that you’ve implemented? Do tell.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, our fun little chair search, our mirror-painting extravaganza, our DIY faux sheepskin project, our big dresser makeover (and subsequent drawer lining project), our closet makeover, and our homemade crib skirt undertaking. Good times.
Ashley @ Mutschler Family, Dallas Edition says
I love LOVE the mobile! What a cute project!
As a mom of a baby, the fan is a great choice. Not only does it keep the air circulating, but it also provides some white noise which makes naps and night sleep longer.
Sophie says
Very beautiful! Love it! Also as a FYI, fishing wire really is truly invisible – I use that to hang things from the ceilings.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip Sophie! John actually asked me if we had that on hand, but we didn’t (and we happened to have the thin white thread so we went that route). Fishing wire would definitely work too though!
xo,
s
Joy says
Holy cow. I was not with you at all until the finished product shot. “Little fake flowers?” I thought, disbelievingly. “Glued onto wire?” But it really looks amazing! Great job you guys.
KARA @ MADE2CREATE says
ADORABLE!
Liz says
SO Cute! I love the fan as well!!
Jessica @ How Sweet says
That is beautiful! I want one for my own room.
Sarah (fellow 07/07 anniversary-er!) says
Beautiful mobile!
Our daughter Lydia was born 3 weeks ago (17 days poast her estimated due date) and is amazing… parenthood is fantastic. :)
Meghan says
Such a cute mobile!!! What a great idea!! Love love love!!
Humidifiers make great white noise and circulate air too for the cooler months – my son (WE) loves it! He doesn’t take a nap or go to bed at night without that thing on – it blocks all kinds of noise!
Joy_UK says
How very sweet! Love how the nursery is coming together…
You guys have brilliant ideas!
Cecelia says
That is adorable!
A flower mobile would also make a beautiful Easter decoration for anywhere in the house.
I love the nursery colors! So fresh, yet serene.
Just like your entire house!
David says
Your wedding was on 7/7/07 and it began at *6* pm?!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey David,
Yup, since it was an outdoor backyard wedding if we started it at 7 we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the light and the sunset quite as much.
xo,
s
Angela says
You may think about painting the white ceiling hooks the same green color as the ceiling so they don’t stand out as much. Just a thought. And the little flowers look beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Angela,
Great idea! We actually tossed that suggestion around but haven’t gotten around to breaking out the paint yet. Call it late pregnancy laziness…
xo,
s
Nicole says
Wow! I would never have come up with such a brilliant idea as those mobiles with the little flowers! This is definitely going to be saved in my ‘Future DIY Projects’ folder!
Cecelia says
“Our daughter Lydia was born 3 weeks ago (17 days poast her estimated due date) and is amazing… parenthood is fantastic. :)”
Let’s hear what you say in 14 years… :D
Cheryl says
So sweet. Love the shadow it makes on the wall. And you added that happy color, yellow. Purrfect.
Christa M says
Love it! Very dainty and feminine! Can’t wait for the big reveal! and thanks for all of the inspiration you guys provide here. I’ve actually managed to make plaid couches work in my space!
Regina says
That mobile is such a great idea! I may have to try that for my daughter’s room!
And the fan, is a great idea for not only keeping the baby cool, but provides great white noise, which may help her sleep better by blocking out outside noises. With my daughter, who is 20 months now and wasn’t a good sleeper (AT ALL) when she was younger, the white noise seemed to help.
Jennifer says
The mobile is precious! And yes, the fan is a great idea. We run one in our little one’s nursery all year except for the winter. One other thing you may want to consider is a small humidifier–babies often get stuffy noses (hence that scary sucker that comes in all of the baby first aid kits) and running the humidifier at night seems to clear it right up!
Jennifer says
Like Joy, I didn’t know where you were going with this project. But I forced myself to not scroll to the end, haha. What a great addition to the nursery! I love this!
heather s. says
Sorry – not loving the mobiles – I like the color that they bring into the room but I’m not sold on the shape or messiness of it. However, I love the fan – great buy!
I’d also paint the hooks to match the ceiling color since you went to the effort to try to make the string invisible – why not make the hooks invisible too.
Laura says
I just love this project! So simple, but it is so pretty and whimsical. :)
ShannonF says
How beautiful! What a lucky little girl!
Jacquelin Seybert says
You never cease to amaze me. Love the mobile!
Karrie says
The mobile is awesome! Perfect for a little girl. I think my favorite part is the shadows the flowers create. Just the perfect touch of whimsy. And that fan! It’s just the thing I’ve been looking to place in our living room. So cute!
LauraC says
Love how the mobiles turned out (had a hard time visualizing at first too) and especially how they add a little bit of soft, feminine pink to the room. Love the non-pink palette (I did our daughter’s room in green and white), but a little touch of pink somehow adds a lot!
Sally Caspers says
What a cute project! We hung our mobile above the changing table also. Our rationale (taken from great advice from an awesome mommy friend) was that the place a baby needs distraction is on the changing table, NOT in the bed. Beds are for sleeping…playing happens other places. When your little beanette gets really wiggly at about 7 or 8 months, you’ll be so happy to have something to distract her with. I’d also suggest a little music box that you wind up for changing times…keep them busy so you can work your diaper magic!
Katie says
LOVE, LOVE the mobile! So simple, but still girly!
nita says
super duper cute mobile!! simple and taseful , yet girly and dressy. i love it
Jill Stigs says
Yeah! They look awesome………and call me safety mom but I am glad they were not placed above the crib. If one of the blooms were to fall off you would be right there changing her, you know?
Also kuddos on the sphere success…….thus ending the bad feeling from the twine ball lights slated for the porch!!
I would stick one little bee in there though! :)
Letty says
You guys are so smarty farty! Great job!
Melissa says
When you showed the first sphere without the flowers I was like hmm that isn’t going to look right but the final product really does look cute and I think she will enjoy all the shadows it cast.
kelly says
Oh I love it!! I am keeping that idea in case we ever have a baby girl :)
Stephanie says
LOVE the mobiles–beautiful! I wasn’t sure about them at the beginning of the post, but they turned out marvelous!
And if anyone gets on you about how high they are, they’ve obviously never changed a baby’s diaper at a changing table–keeping it out of reach is a GOOD thing! :)
Lindsay says
Heh, like a couple other commenters, I was not with you AT ALL for a lot of this post. “Fake flowers? Glued onto wire? What?” But of course (not sure why I’m surprised anymore) it turned out SUPER CUTE. Love it!
Rachel says
You two never cease to amaze me. So creative…love it!
Catherine says
I was skeptical until the final product, but they look amazing! They’re so charming and ethereal. Love.
Erin C. says
love love LOVE! Your little girl’s room is just so PRETTY, rather than cutesy (cutesy is nice too..) but I really like the direction you guys took with it.
Jacci says
How cute are you guys? I love your sweet little mobile :) It’s perfect! And that FAN is adorable (yes, John, fans can totally be *adorable*) – I’d shell out the $60 for that puppy, too. Air-flow was never more chic ;)
~Jacci
caligurl says
oh how very cute! as i was reading along i was wondering what the heck you were up to?????? but then the finished product…. LOVELY!
the first thing i thought when you said you hung it with thread was that you could have used fishing line! but sophie already beat me to mentioning that!
Carolyn says
I ADORE your mobile!! So cute!
Good move avoiding bees in the nursery. Our daughter’s bouncer chair came with a bee stuffed animal and we had to take it off because she would freak out whenever she saw it!
Jessica B says
I love the mobile! The touch of girly pink and yellow go perfectly in the nursery!
I made a french memo board for my baby girls room (she was born in September), which hangs above her changing table and houses all of her barrettes. I bought the black ‘ung drill’ frame from IKEA and painted it white to match her furniture. Then, I bought a pillow case in the same pattern as the crib sheet (pink and white damask) and used that as the fabric for the memo board. Added some shimmery ribbons and done! It is absolutely perfect for her room!
brien says
Very cute. I thought the bee idea was cute too!
Sunny's Life in Rehab says
That’s just adorable. Nice use of inexpensive materials to get what you wanted as well. Bean’s going to love her room.
Kelly says
Love the mobile! So cute and simple. The nursery is really going to be the perfect place for your little one!
I do have a crafting question… I want to make a mirror with oyster shells on the frame. I noticed you mentioned Aleene’s crafting glue for this project. Do you have any recommendations for a really strong glue (other than hot glue) that would bond sea shells and wood?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, we don’t think Aleene’s would do it (it takes a while to set like Elmer’s glue) but maybe Liquid Nails or some other stronger epoxy (think Home Depot, not Michael’s) would be what the pros would use. You might just want to use it outside or in a super ventilated area so it doesn’t get too stinky. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
rosanna says
You are so creative! I’m in the ‘renting-but-daydreaming’ phase and your site just makes me that much more eager!
Amy E. says
LOVE the finished product! the whimsy definitely comes through, and from far away they sorta look like little butterflies and/or bees. the pink was a nice choice too. to me, the color choices in that room were getting a little to heavy on the cool side of the color wheel. i like how the pink infuses some warmth. not sure if that’s what you were going for, but i applaud you either way!
Danielle@NewlywedsParadise says
I would love to see how it moves around! It is very sweet for a little girl.
Kate at Centsational Girl says
You are the king and queen of multitasking ! I love it ! So ethereal and beautiful. Just the right tiny dash of pink for your wee bean. Love it !
Kate
amyks says
“BEE-U-T-FUL!!!” would look cute with one or two little craft bees buzzing around, too! Super sweet, love it.
katie says
These mobiles are absolutely beautiful.