Thursday, August 2, 2012

Elephant Baby Mobile



 In my previous post on Bethany's Baby Shower Gifts I gave a sneak peak of the baby mobile I made her. Well after a long wait, here it is. Before I get into detail on how to make it, let me start of by telling you how we came up with the idea. It all started with Pinterest. I was browsing through pins when all of a sudden this cute elephant baby mobile popped up. I clicked on it thinking there would be instructions on how to make it, but instead it took me to someones Etsy account that sells them. Well knowing that Bethany was having an elephant theme as well as the colors grey, coral, and peach I took a picture of the mobile and sent it to her. She text me back right away saying that it was exactly what she wanted. That is when I told her that it cost a lot, but I think I could recreate it for very little. So I went and bought all the materials which cost me under $10 and got started making the mobile. At first I almost gave up because the original one was made of wood on the top, but that was to difficult for me because I didn't have the necessary tools. That is when I came up with the idea of buying a metal ring at Joann's and wrap it in ribbon. After hours and hours of making the elephants it was finally time to put it together. To tell you the truth I had no clue what I was doing, but some how it all worked out in the end and Bethany loved it and I hope Jasey does too.

Below I will give the instructions on how to make the elephant mobile the best way I can. If you have any questions let me know and I will be happy to help. I have included a few photos showing the process on making the elephants.




1) Use an elephant template to cut the elephants out of the felt

2) Cut out ears from the felt.

3) Sew on an eye on all of the elephants.

4) Next sew on the ears.

5) Now sew the two elephants together and stuff them as you go before closing them up.

Materials Needed

Felt in at least two different colors
Matching thread
Pillow stuffing
Buttons
Clear fishing line
Metal ring
Ribbon
1 small ring or key chain ring
Hot Glue
 First start off by sketching out an elephant on a piece of paper and cut it out. Then use that paper as a template to cut out elephants from the felt. I wanted to have 7 elephants, 4 in gray and 3 in cream, so I had to cut out 14 of them. Do the same for the ears 14 total. Next sew on black eyes on all the elephants keeping in mind that you sew the eyes on have of them on the opposite side (refer to image 3 and 4). Next sew on the ears in the color that is not the same color as the elephant. Now its time to sew the elephants together. While sewing together make sure you stuff the elephant as you go before closing it up. Next glue a couple of buttons on to the elephants. Besides elephants I also did felt hearts on the mobile. When it came to the hearts I kept it simple. There was no sewing involved, instead I glued two hearts together on the fishing line. I would suggest not doing the hearts until after the elephants are connected to the line first.

Now it is time for the assembly part. I really did not know what I was doing on the assembly, I would just try things until it worked. To attach the fishing line to the elephants I took the line and tied it in a knot a couple of times around a stitch on the top of the elephant. Next I would glue the hearts to the line. Repeat this steps until all your elephants and hearts are all connected to fishing line. The next thing I did was tie the eight strands of elephants at different levels onto the metal hoop and put a drop of hot glue on the spot I wanted the strand to stay. Then I took the ribbon and wrapped it around the hoop until completely covered. Then I cut out 8 strands of ribbon and glued them over a small metal ring one by one. Then the last thing to do is glue the ribbons one at a time to the hoop where each of the strands of elephants hang.

If you decided to make this mobile for yourself I wish you luck. I tried my best to describe how I made it and hopefully it makes some since. I would suggest looking at the photos when possible in hopes that it will help make since of things. If you  do decided to make the mobile you will be happy with your finished product :)  

Here is a close up of the one of the elephants hanging on the strand with the hearts.

Here is a close up of the top of the mobile. You will also see I made a moon at the top. To make the moon do the same thing as the elephants and stuff the two pieces of felt.

And here is one last look at the mobile hanging from my ceiling :)
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2 comments:

  1. I love it so much. I love the idea that we can save money on baby nursery by making it ! I am so excited to make my nursery Decorations that I'm just estatic. My fiance doesn't share the same. I'm 23 weeks and he says we have FOUR MORE MONTHS and i'm like Four months until the baby pops out. lol Men. I love it girl! I love love it thank you!!

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  2. Your Welcome!!!! Congrats on your baby. These four months are going to fly by :)

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