Tuesday, August 16, 2011

White Flutter Baby Mobile (tutorial)

Amélie's room has been a design enigma for me. I just can't seem to figure out  how to make all of Olivia's old stuff work right in there! And with her little mini-crib (got it on craigslist for $25 and painted it gray) in that big room, I feel like it will never look right. Anyway, one thing I DO like about her room is the mobile!

I was trying to figure out how to make something that didn't add MORE busyness to the eye while still making it interesting for her to look at. So I decided to hide the fun part, and make the rest white and easy on the eye! Here is my little tutorial.

Materials:

Stiff paper for base of cones (I used vinyl that I eventually removed but I suggest cardstock)
notebook paper
glue (elmers, pva, etc)
little cup for water/glue mix
cheap paper (notebook, copy..)
tissue paper
hotglue/gun
paint (optional)
permanent marker
paper doilies (dollar store)
string, hooks for hanging
1. wrap paper into different sized cones and tape together

2. a)tear the cheap, thin paper (copy paper) into little squares, and mix glue and water 1:10 ratio (I didn't measure mine but I am guessing) b.) dip the papers into the glue mix and apply to the cones. do a few layers to make it strong.  c)let dry over night

3.cut strips of the tissue paper  about 2-3 inches wide and the entire length of the paper. zig-zag one side.
4. cut a line in-between each point of the zig-zag (you are creating the flutter!)
5. Before you do anything else you need to take your marker and draw designs inside the cones (this is the surprise! Your plain white mobile actually has lots of interesting things to look at, they are just hidden inside!)
6. hot glue the strips around and around starting at the bottom. I made some cones that had strips all the way up to the top, and some that just had a few rows at the bottom.
7. OPTIONAL: For the cones that just have flutters on the bottom, you can paint the top part of the cone. It seems unnecessary but up close it looks really nice that way.
8. sew a few strips of doilies, varying sizes. I did 3 doilies on each strip.

9. hang em up! I used thick string to hang the cones. I tied a big knot at one end, poked a hole at the top of the cone, and strung the knot so that it it was inside the cone, leaving the long string to hang it with. I used thread to  hand the doily strands. (And I used "c" hooks and "eye" hooks to hang them all on the ceiling.)
This is what the baby sees........
and this is what YOU see! ahhhhhh. If anyone makes this I would love to see your version! Shoot me an email!




8 comments:

style-for-style said...

So cute!!! it's pretty

Cristy said...

Very cute Katie!

Question: I am getting ready to re-do the kids rooms and am thinking about painting the kids bunk beds. Can I just go for it? Do I need to sand them first so the paint will stick? Do you prefer paint brush or spraying? Help! I re stained a table once and sanding it down was so much work and it scared me from big projects for a few years.

Tricia said...

Great idea to hide the design. The mobile definitely doesn't overwhelm the room.

Jill said...

That is so clever! And it looks so nice in the room.
--Jill

Mora said...

LOVE it!!! What a fabulous design idea, inside and out!

Jane said...

So cool! Love the insides!

The Dobecks! said...

Wait! you forgot to tell how you painted the wall!!!

blueeyedfreckle said...

I didn't paint it Meghan! Its just IKEA paper table cloth that I cut and scalloped!