Handmade Mobile

by Mudhugger
(Seacoast, NH, US)

I love this mobile, and it has more room for growth! It's so easy-- I cut out from felt some shapes I drew up. Then used some left-over quilt batting to add dimension and stability (otherwise they flop over.) Then sewed them up with embroidery floss, using simple embellishments in places. Also using the floss, I made a small loop on each piece and put ribbon through it for hanging.

For the balls, I just got wool roving and needle felted them. (If you haven't tried this yet, it's easy, fun, and a great stress-relief for pregnancy hormones!) I threaded the ribbon through a tapestry needle and poked it through the balls.

Then I crossed two thin apple branches (I used suckers I'd pruned earlier that day) and secured them together with wire. At the cross, I tied on another ribbon. Then I tied the felt-shapes ribbons on where they would balance well.

And voila! Inexpensive and pretty. I might add another larger cross to it for more shapes/balls, and then one can spin around the other...well, that's my untested theory anyways :)