Parents have long known the importance of visual stimulation during baby’s early years. A gently bobbing mobile is a great way to entertain your infant and provide healthy stimulation for cognitive development. The bright colors and simple shapes of this DIY geometric baby mobile are eye-catching and perfect for soothing little ones.
Materials: six coordinating sheets of colorful cardstock or scrapbook paper, two dowel rods (3/8″ thick) cut to 10″ lengths, glue gun, scissors (or craft punches or electronic cutting machine), thread, sewing machine (not pictured)
Hot glue the two dowel rods together at their centers.
Cut out ten triangles, ten circles and ten diamonds approximately 2″ wide/tall. For all three shapes, cut five each from two different colors of paper. You can cut them with scissors, craft punches or an electronic cutting machine like Sizzix, Cricut or Silhouette.
Pair up the matching shapes, and lay them out in five columns. Each column should have one pair of triangles, one pair of circles and one pair of diamonds. Note that although the shapes pictured below are offset, you will want to align the edges of each pair before moving on to the next step.
Thread your sewing machine with fun colored thread. Then, beginning with the bottom shape in each column, sew a straight stitch through the center of each shape to connect the two pieces of paper together. You don’t want them touching in your finished mobile, so be sure to leave about 1 1/2″ from one shape to the next.
Sew together all five sets of shapes, making sure to leave several inches of thread at the top for tying.
To make the shapes three-dimensional, gently bend half of each color out at a 90 degree angle.
Leaving 2″ of thread above the top shape, tie one strand of shapes to each dowel end. Tie the fifth strand to the center of the mobile.
Cut an additional length of thread for hanging (I triple folded mine to make it thicker). Lash together the dowels at the center, leaving enough extra thread to hang the mobile at your desired height.
Hang your geometric baby mobile someplace fun, and watch your child delight in its delicate dance of shape and color.
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