YOU GUYS. This DIY crib mobile is our boho dream!! How precious!!!
It’s such a stunning piece for any nursery & (a bonus??) it’s completely gender neutral (for all you ‘dont-find-out-until-baby’s-here' kind of pregnant mamas that still like to get started on nursery decorating :P... We see you! STAY STRONG MAMA.)
This tutorial requires a bit more product than some of our other tutorials, but we think its totally worth if for the final item! Our wood beads really shine in this adorable mobile - and we've even added a couple sprigs of spring fresh faux-greenery. Needless to say, we are in loooove. Sarah's gonna walk you through the process, so follow along and enjoy!
Supplies Needed:
- One 14” wood bamboo embroidery hoop (we got ours for $2 from our local craft store!)
- One 25m bundle of uncut nylon cord in the color wheat (purchase here)
- 330x 14mm round wood beads (purchase here)
- 126x 19mm round wood beads (purchase here)
- 36x 22mm round wood beads (purchase here)
- One 3” wood untreated ring (purchase here)
- Optional: faux greenery
- Helpful tip: find a hook to hang your mobile on!
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Start by setting up a hook or workspace that you can hang your mobile on. We used our baby’s jolly jumper hook. Tie a string to your wood ring and hang it on your hook.
2. Measure out three 18ft lengths of cording. Fold them in half and loop through your wooden ring at the middle point. The lengths will be long to work with at first, but you’ll need the length for all the bead loops!
3. You may recognize this slip knot from our macrame tutorial (linked here). Cut a 1.5’ length of cord. Hold an end of this piece up to your cords. Create a loop about 3” long. Wrap it around all the cords, making sure the end piece is still out at the top and visible. Be sure to keep the string being wrapped taught, but not too tight.
4. After you’ve wrapped the cord around everything and you are happy with the length, take the other end and pull it through the loop at the bottom.
5. Gently pull the top piece of string you left out upwards. You’ll see the loop at the bottom begin to get smaller. Pull the top string until the bottom loop is gone and is partly pulled into the knot.
6. You can gently push your knot up higher to the ring to keep your cord looking neat. Trim the small string pieces sticking out of your wrapped slip knot.
7. Holding up your hoop, wrap one of the 6 long strings around the hoop once. Check the length of it and make sure that you are happy with how high or low the hoop will be held.
8. Once you are happy with the position, wrap the cord around the hoop again.
9. Loop your string around from the back and tie it around your string attached to the wood ring. Pull this knot tight.
10. Go to the opposite side of your hoop and do the same thing to a string opposite the first string you just secured. Working in opposites will help you keep the hoop level as you tie off all 6 strings. Adjust the loops and knots as you need until all the strings are holding the hoop level, also keeping the 6 strings equal distances apart.
11. When all your strings are secured and your hoop is level, take one of the strings hanging down. On that string, thread the following in this order: 5x 14mm wood beads, 5x 19mm wood beads, 5x 14mm wood beads. You should have a total of 15 beads. Slide them up to the hoop.
12. Take the strand of beads and reach it to the right, just in front of the next string loop. Wrap the string over the hoop and forwards on the left side of the bead strand.
13. Holding the strand to the hoop with one hand, loop the string back under the hoop and over the top. Feed the string through the loop you just created. Pull the knot tight. Let the string drop from there. Pick up the string from the next loop and repeat step 11-13 until you’ve gone the whole way around your hoop.
14. Once you’re back at the spot you started stringing beads, pick up the strand hanging. On that string, thread the following in this order: 5x 14mm wood beads, 3x 19mm wood beads, 3x 22mm wood beads, 3x 19mm wood beads, 5x 14mm wood beads. You should have a total of 19 beads. Slide them up to the hoop.
15. Bring your string over to the next loop, following the same instructions as steps 12-13, looping your string onto the hoop. However, before securing the loop to the hoop, slide over the loop holding the upper row of beads to make a spot for your second row to sit on the hoop beside.
16. You will now have two strands hanging down from the same spot. Reach for the left string in behind the bead strands. Use this strand to repeat steps 14-15 until you’ve gone all the way around the hoop again with all your hanging strands.
17. We decided to do a third row of beads using the same steps. If you want to add a third row, thread the following in this order: 5x 14mm wood beads, 5x 19mm wood beads, 3x 22mm wood beads, 5x 19mm wood beads, 5x 14mm wood beads. If it feels crowded up by the loops, slide them over on the hoop to give yourself enough space to secure your knots. Once you have finished all your hanging bead loops, slide your strands closer together on the hoop.
18. You should still have all 6 strands hanging down from your mobile. Take each of those strands and thread 25x 14mm wood beads. Loop the last one through once more to temporarily secure it.
20. Making the same wrapped knot that you made to secure the strings to your wooden ring, wrap a string around the bottom strands and secure a wrapped knot to hold them in place. Trim the short ends of the knot.
21. Trim the length of the strings hanging from the bottom to the length you’re happy with. We trimmed our strings approximately 4-5” from the knot.
22.Want to jazz up your mobile? We found some precious faux-greenery springs and hot glued them to the loop clusters!
Voila! Isn't it stunning? And even better, it's such a personal gift, made with love and well-spent time for the precious baby in your life.
Thanks for coming along with us for our exclusive tutorial project! Enjoy! We can’t wait to see you try this tutorial! Tag us in your beautiful creations using #createdwithcarasupply or send in your photos!
Happy crafting!
xo
- the girls