Rattle Rattle Mobile
By: Amanda Formaro
Difficulty: Average
Age: 8 and up
Average User Rating:
Parental supervision is recommended
;)
This bright and cheery mobile is actually two gifts in one! Put this cute project together so that mom’s newborn can enjoy it. Then as baby grows a little older take the mobile apart and he has plenty of rattling toys with which to play.
Be sure to visit our baby shower party guide, get recipe ideas, more great crafts, and get all your shower questions answered here.
What you'll need:
- 5 colorful toy rattles
- 3 – 12” long wood dowels
- 1 sheet each of orange, green, and yellow felt
- White and green ribbon
- Colorful pony beads
- White craft glue
- Hot glue gun
How to make it:
- Lay one of the sheets of felt on the work surface. Place a dowel onto the felt diagonally so that none of the dowel hangs over the edge of the felt. Glue in place with white craft glue.
- Repeat step one for each dowel.
- Wrap the felt around the dowel and glue in place, hot glue will adhere much quicker and make this step easier.
- Trim excess felt.
- Cross all three felted dowels. Cut a 24” piece of green ribbon and tie it several times around the intersecting points of the dowels. Tie the ends into a loop and trim the excess.
- Cut 2 long strips from the excess yellow felt. Wrap the strips around the intersecting points of the dowels to reinforce them. You may need to run the felt through the loop of the green hanger ribbon to keep it centered.
- Cut five 18” lengths of white ribbon. Tie a length of ribbon to each of the rattles and trim any excess.
- Attach each rattle to the dowels, one on each, by tying the ribbon toward the outer ends. There should be one rattle on each of the yellow and green dowel ends and one hanging from the center where the dowels intersect.
- Cut 2 green pieces of ribbon, 24” in length each.
- String a pony bead onto one of the ribbons and tie a knot to keep it in place.
- String additional beads onto the ribbon. This is a great way for children to be involved in making this craft.
- Tie the end of the ribbon to one end of the orange felted dowel.
- Repeat steps 10-12 for the other length of ribbon.
- To ensure that all items are securely attached to the mobile, dot hot glue onto tied ribbon ends at the dowels as well as on the knots tied onto the rattles.
Tips:
- When tying the ribbon onto the rattles, hold them up in the air and look at them. The rattles should be hanging in a way that they face directly down so that a baby can view them from their crib.
- If you don’t have ribbon, yarn is a perfectly good substitute.
- Be sure that “Mom” knows that your feelings will not be hurt when she cuts the rattles off the mobile as baby gets older.
