Nursery DIY #1: Bird + Cloud Mobile

Which little nursery project to show off first?! They all make me giddy, so it's taking everything in my power to break them up into separate blog posts.... but, I'm gonna!

Let's start with the first project I did.... a mobile! Seems like some sort of first baby prerequisite, right? Even if the kid doesn't need a mobile, I feel compelled to have one. :-) I collected a bunch of inspiration on Pinterest (you can find my "little people" Pinterest board here) - all kinds of beautiful felt and fabric mobiles like these... (There are some gorgeous finds on Etsy (here, here) but dude, there's no way I'm going to front that kind of money for a mobile.)

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 And I truly loved them all. But then, I found this little tutorial and it was meant to be.

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First off, I'm a total sucker for birds. And paper. AND the fact that I already owned that metal clip mobile thingy (by Umbra, which they don't even sell anymore, but you can get a similar one here). I picked it up years ago at Urban Outfitters thinking someday I would use it for my craft business. I never did, so there it sat in a box just calling for a home in the baby's room.

Crafting this little thing was so easy and fun. In the tutorial, you follow a bird template by Martha - SO simple. I decided things would look a little too busy for my liking with that many birds, so I took inspiration from the cloud mobile above and added a few textured paper clouds into the mix. I chose papers with relatively bright colors and high-contrast patterns for baby's amusement. Cut those birdies out, glue the wings and tail in place, freehand cut some clouds, and clip 'em all to the mobile. Done in about an hour and I had everything on hand. Didn't cost me a penny! I hope Baby J likes it.

... and you get a sneak peek of the DIY curtains too! :-)

We've since decided not to actually put the mobile over the crib because it was getting in the way of some awesome art we've hung instead. So for now it's living in the corner by the window of what will become our changing station. Sweet birdy love.