Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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A DIY Baby Mobile With Folded Moravian Stars

When Isabel and Thomas sent over some photos of their DIY mobile project (which was reminiscent of the one that we featured in this nursery makeover of yore) we had to share the eye candy. Here’s their letter:

You’ve inspired yet another project, and since you’ve recently completed your nursery I thought this was timely. I learned how to make folded Moravian Stars from a tutorial online (in three different sizes, all in a variety of patterns I printed myself). I used this site and this site for reference, although the former is better. My husband invented the actual “hangers” for the mobile. He’s amazing! So with nothing more than paper, scissors, Mod Podge, a sponge brush, needle nose pliers, wire cutters, floral wire, a needle, and fishing wire… we ended up with this mobile! And the grand total was less than $10. Plus my husband and I had a great time making it for our son. Enjoy! -Isabel and Thomas

RR Mobile 1

Rr Mobile 2

Isn’t that a fun way to add some personalized interest to any nursery? We love that by making their own mobile, Isabel and Thomas were able to dictate everything from the color scheme to the size and the shape of their creation- and the fact that it was less than ten dollars to whip up is truly amazing. Thanks so much for the photos guys! And for including the links that you used so others can follow along at home. What do you guys think? Is anyone out there planning to make one of their own? If so, what color scheme will you be going with? Gray and yellow? Navy and turquoise? Orange and eggplant? Pink and lime?

Comments

  1. Melanie says

    That is beautiful! And I love that each piece was touched personally by the hands of his parents. Very sweet!

    Reply

  3. Rachel P says

    I love this. My husband and I are having a baby in December (shh, we still haven’t told) and I am already thinking of ways to decorate the nursery and one of the main things I want to do is make a mobile. We won’t be finding out what we’re having, so the room will be gender neutral, and this is an awesome way to make a neutral mobile.

    Do you have any other mobile ideas, I would love any and all of them. :)

    Reply

  4. Rachel P says

    Thanks Sherry. I have loved your mobile. I keep trying to think of ways to make it gender neutral, since I’m not sure flowers would be super boyish, if we had a boy. Any suggestions as to what we could substitute for flowers?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Rachel,

      Dragonflies could be cute, or you could do a leaves and acorn theme. Or something fun like planets or fish.

      The possibilities are endless! Just poke around the store to see what you come up with…

      xo,
      s

  6. Rachel P says

    Thanks again… Looks like I might be strolling the isles of a craft store one of these days. I am almost thinking of snowflakes, since we are having a winter baby and the room is going to be done in whites and mint greens (that’s the plan), plus it could be fun to play with. Who knows, but thanks for your awesome ideas. :)

    Reply

  7. Lara says

    Thanks for the link for the moravian stars! I made one in fifth grade art class once and have been trying to find a tutorial to make some more (for Christmas ornaments! :)

    Reply

  9. Laura @PARING DOWN says

    I love mobiles in my high school classroom. The two I’ve already made used mobile kits I purchased at a teacher supply store.

    I can’t wait to make some that are totally my own.

    SO COOL!
    Laura

    Reply

  10. Lisa says

    I love this! Those stars make cute Christmas tree ornaments too, and if done with nice paper, they can last for years. I still have some from my childhood, made by a dear family friend!

    Reply

  15. Isabel says

    Hi, we used floral wire for the hangers. With needle nosed pliers and a pen to loop it around, Thomas shaped and then cut them to size.

    Reply

  19. Megan says

    Wow- so pretty! But, after clicking on the how to page- so hard!
    :)
    I’ll leave the crafting up to them, what a cool project though.

    Reply

  20. Stacy says

    Ooh, I love this! And the color scheme is fab!

    I’ve been trying to purchase one of your design consultations, but so far haven’t been lucky. I’m trying to design a nursery for our boy/girl twins who are due in September, and it’s hard! I don’t want anything totally gender neutral (I’d like to incorporate some blues and pinks) but I also can’t do anything that’s too girly or too boyish.

    Wondering if y’all had come across any ideas or links that I could use for inspiration…until I hopefully get my own consult. ;)

    Reply

  21. Wendy says

    Isabel… your mobile is gorgeous. The papers that you’ve chosen are terrific. So many color combos/so many paper choices. I love the creativity!

    Thanks for the constant inspiration, John and Sherry!

    Reply

  22. Ashley says

    These are great and such a wonderful idea. I have a friend who is having a baby in a few months and I wanted to make something or have something made and I think this just jumped to the top of the list! So great!

    Reply

  23. Janna says

    Love this! Thanks for sharing. My husband and I are in the process of adopting and we are planning on doing a gender neutral nursery. I’m looking forward to making this mobile for over the changing table!

    Reply

  26. Jennifer S. says

    Nice mobile! I made these stars to use in my Christmas decoration last year. They are not hard. Try it!

    Reply

  27. Katie says

    This reminds me of when our oldest was a baby. We were living quite sparsely out of the country, so I made some colorful paper birds and bent a hanger into a circle and hung the birds from it at various heights. Then we’d blow a fan on the bird-mobile to make it slowly spin, and our daughter would sit under it in a stroller and just watch and watch those birdies go round and round! I kind of miss those simple days. Life is so much more complicated now, and our 3rd daughter is due in about two weeks!

    Reply

  30. Amanda says

    I know this is only vaguely related to this specific post, but I remember that you two said that you used Mythic no/low VOC paint for your beanette’s nursery, and that it was a favorite. I was shopping for nursery paint today and found Olympic, but I was just getting color cards today. I forgot to check the price. Either way, I was just wondering why Mythic is a favorite? Is it better than Olympic’s no-VOC option in any ways?
    Thank you!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, Mythic is the cream of the eco paint crop. It’s definitely more pricey, but the formulas are much more pure than Olympic no-voc paint. We actually learned that the Olympic no-voc stuff is not actually no-voc after the colorant is added. So the base paint starts out without vocs but when they tint the base paint for you at the color desk it becomes low-voc or even standard (not low or no-voc at all). Meanwhile Mythic is always no-voc and also is non toxic and has amazing coverage. That being said, we’ve used and liked Olympic no-voc paint, it’s just a bit less pure and a bit lower quality when it comes to coverage (but also less expensive). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  31. Elle Sees says

    I loved the mobile you made for baby P and I love these as well. I wish I was having a baby or knew someone who was so I could make these!

    Reply

  34. Frances Martin says

    A mobile after my own heart!!! Beautiful design!!! I have been making Moravian star mobiles for about 11 years. Check out my etsy site theStarcraft.etsy.com for more ideas on how to make your own :) Love your blog!!! XOXO ~frances

    Reply

  35. Keri says

    Was hoping to contact Isabel to ask her some more questions about that super gorgeous mobile! If by chance she sees this, or if you’re able to pass this message along, tell her she can email me at wherehopegrows at gmail dot com!

    Thanks so much!

    Reply

  37. Amy says

    I love your mobile! I had this idea to do for our nursery and came across your page! I love it! What kind of paper did you use?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Sweet. We’ll shoot you an email to work out the details. We do ask that giveaway sponsors send the prize directly to the winner (wouldn’t want people wondering if we just keep all the prizes if they’re shipped our way!). Stand by for more info via email!

      xo,
      s

  39. Jessica B. says

    A homemade mobile is an amazing idea! They remind me of these paper stars my grandmother used to make using Christmas wrapping paper. Instead of making a mobile with them she would hang them on the tree as ornaments. I tried making them once before but they didn’t come out quite as nice.

    Reply

  40. Leslie Ann says

    I know this comment is WAY tardy, but by any chance is there info on the fox print in the background?

    Reply

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