Paper crafts are not usually the first thing I would think to use as decoration, but after receiving the book Paper + Crafts by Minhee & Truman Cho, I have seen just how adorable they can be. Specifically, the baby mobile.

Supplies needed:

  • Bird template (downloadable)
  • 3–5 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cover weight paper in various colors
  • Utility knife and cutting mat or scissors
  • Pencil
  • Newspaper or other decorative paper (optional)
  • Glue stick
  • Needle (or small gauge hole punch)
  • Three 1/32 by 12-inch brass rods
  • Wire cutters
  • Round nose pliers
  • 1 roll of thread, string, ribbon, or twine

Steps:

The Birds (or other hanging objects)

  1. Print your downloaded bird template onto cover weight paper (or regular paper if your printer does not accept thick paper) and cut them out.  You can use a utility knife if you have a steady hand or use scissors. Scissors don’t give as clean of a cut, but feel free to do what feels most comfortable. (Any object would look cute on this particular mobile so if you are not into birds, just take the cover weight paper and cut out anything you like. I think letters and numbers would be really cute hanging from this also.)
  2. Take your template and trace them onto your desired color paper and cut them out. I used cream and black for the bird bodies and colorful paper for the bellies and wings but it would also be fun to use colorful paper throughout.
  3. Assemble the birds using a glue stick.

The Mobile

  1. Using the wire cutters, cut one of the brass rods in half (6 inches) and another other at about one-third (4 inches). You will use the 12-, 6-, and 4-inch rods and can discard the other pieces.
  2. Use the pliers to bend the ends of each rod into a small loop. The longest rod will be the element from which the mobile will hang. (These rods are very thin. If desired, use something thicker. Just make sure you are still able to loop the ends. I have thought that using branches would be really cute. Then instead of looping the ends you could drill a small hole through the branch to string up the hanging objects.)
  3. Cut 6 pieces of any kind of string or ribbon in various lengths. Make a needle hole in each bird and attach to the rods. Adjust the placement until you get the balance you like.
  4. If you use a thicker material to hang the objects from, you can add small details to weigh the birds down a bit, such as buttons or coins.*
  5. Hang the mobile from any place you like. I hung mine using a swag hook in the ceiling above my son’s crib.

I recommend buying the book, as there are so many fun crafts to be done.

*Note: If you are using this as a baby mobile, gluing things other than paper onto the mobile is not advised, as small objects could fall into the crib and be a choking hazard. Also keep this mobile out of reach of children, as it is delicate and could come apart easily. Mine is high, so my son can look but not touch.