DIY Paint Chip Mobile

For me nesting is not so much a cleaning instinct, but a crafting instinct. I'm not very gifted when it comes to cleaning. I like a clean house, but it does not come naturally. So when my nesting urge comes around, I get to crafting and creating things for baby. Specifically the nursery. One of the things I made for Kyler was a bird mobile (which can be seen in this post), and for this one, I just wanted something colorful and bold. I'm all about giving baby something visually stimulating to look at. So after perusing Pinterest, I found some inspiration. Specifically this:

Source: thesweetestoccasion.com via Lauren on Pinterest

I liked the gradient aspect of the top one paired with the dimension of the bottom one since it makes it easier for the baby to see all the colors looking up at it. I'm not gonna sugar coat this people, this thing took forever! And it was not fun! Although I probably took the hardest route possible. I ended up spending ZERO dollars on this project! Paint chips are free, and everything else I had. I will try to give my best tutorial in case anyone is interested. Here is how she turned out:

Here is the how-to:

Supplies:

Paint Swatches

Glue

Scissors

Circle Stencil (pepper shaker for me)

String (I used clear elastic jewelry string)

Upholstery Needle

Hot Glue

Cross-stitch Hoop

1. Steal as many paint samples as you can from various home improvement stores. You will feel very shady and might consider turning yourself in, but stay strong. Those things will be wasted anyway on indecisive painters.

2. Glue paint samples back-to-back, making sure to line up correctly. The colors won't match, but that's okay, it just makes it even more colorful. After I glued each one, I placed them under very heavy hard-back books so they were as flat as possible. Otherwise the glue will bend and warp them.

3. Unless you have a fancy-shmancy circle punch, which I don't-and was too cheap to buy one, you will spend the next several days of your life tracing a small circle onto every single color swatch. I used the base of a pepper shaker. Then cut out each circle. Your hands will want to die, but press on. It will be worth it in the end.

4. Now it's time to thread. You'll need a heavy duty needle in order to punch through the thick papers. I used a long upholstery needle. Thread through your circles (in which ever order you want), tying knot at the bottom of each one. I secured each knot with a dab of hot glue. It does not have to be perfectly in the center, just eye-ball it. This is what gives the different angles and levels.

5. Tie all the strands to a cross-stitch hoop. Again, I secured all my knots with hot glue.

6. I'm not going to give you any advice on hanging. As you can see, mine hangs crooked. I'm not a perfectionist so it doesn't bother me too much, although I might play around with it to see if there is a better way. And even if you look at Kyler's bird mobile, that hangs crooked. What can I say? Crooked mobiles are my thang.

Kid tested, kid approved:

Though it is certainly not perfect, I really love it. The way it glides constantly is just so soothing. I am so excited about decorating with fun, bold colors in this nursery. The walls are staying grey so I have a great canvas. My little mobile is really getting my creative juices flowing now.