Origami Mobile

The final project… and my favorite!

I collected all sorts of picture from Pinterest of possible mobiles to make. So many options! Here were some of my pins…

from Luxe Finds

from Heartland Paper

from Sew She Sews

from Emily Burnette Recipe for Cute

Several years ago, I had seen a great origami mobile from someone’s blog (if this sounds familiar and you know what blog it is, please let me know so I can update this. But I searched for quite awhile trying to find it with no luck). She used origami stars and hung them from a yarn covered branch. I loved the idea of the origami, and my brother-in-law is quite the origami master. He made a variety of butterflies and flowers out of scrapbook paper that matched the colors of the nursery.

The other thing I had to figure out what the frame was going to be made from. My first thought was a large embroidery hoop but the size I wanted was too expensive. Brainstorming:  picture frame, branch covered in yarn, foam board covered in fabric, wire. I took a walk through Michaels and found a round wooden frame in the wreath making section. For $5. Not too shabby!

What you’ll need:
*something to use as your frame (see above for ideas)
*ribbon
*quilting thread
*needle
*something to hang on the thread (like…origami)
Optional:  batting and fabric to cover your frame OR spray paint to paint your frame

1.  Cover or spray paint your frame. To cover it, lay your batting on one side and the fabric on top of the batting. Staple. Trim the excess.

The layers

Staple like crazy

The side you'll see from the crib

2.  Attach the ribbon to the wrong side of the frame (the part that will hang closest to the ceiling). You’ll want to put 4 ribbons going around the frame. I put mine through the holes in the frame. But you could also thread them through the fabric or just tie them around the edges. Cut your ribbon longer than you think you’ll need to leave room for tying the knot.

3.  Using the thread and needle, poke a hole through what you’re hanging and pull the thread through. Attach each item to the frame, hanging them at different lengths. For our mobile, I just hand stitched the thread through the batting and fabric. Make sure your knots are on the side that will face the ceiling!

That's Shannon and her husband Danny. He's the one who folded all our origami pieces.

Logan and I were hanging the origami from the frame while Shannon and Danny strung them.

Note:  We hung the mobile from our ceiling fan to string the origami pieces. This made it easy to see how long each butterfly/flower hung down. Just make sure that you remove the mobile BEFORE you start the ceiling fan!

4.  Use a ceiling hook to hang. Tie a knot in your ribbons and hang. Make sure that your mobile is level and at a good height before you trim the excess length from your ribbons.

View from the crib

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