Much to my own surprise, I’ve done very little in the way of making my kid’s bedrooms photo-worthy, despite purchasing pretty nice furnishings and pinning inspiration images to my heart’s maternal desire.

Wallpapering the kids’ rooms is still a project on the table, but for now they are white-walled (with some framed art, cool lighting [including vintage treasures], plenty of toys, giant chalkboards). I had the best intentions of making Hattie’s nursery “the homiest” when she arrived home 3 years ago, when we knew whether to buy up stereotypical pink or blue accents. I vied for cushy area rugs and adorable handmade decor, whatever it took to amateurishly mimic a magazine-ready environment in which I could relax and rock and nurse and snuggle and blog happily while she napped. But then life hit, and she screamed a *lot* which was neither relaxing nor creativity-inducing, and my design desires were squashed/muted/forgotten about as I worked my hardest to survive the baby era. To this, I recommend you do all of the baby prep before the baby arrives! There was never even a mobile over her sweet crib! Poor kid, I’m making up for it now with loads of books and all of the Doc McStuffins paraphernalia I can find.

That’s why this little mobile came to be.

I always meant to make a mobile for Hattie, and I had a second chance at making the room awesome when Sam arrived. The little man is ~6 months and is having a hell of a time adjusting to this bedtime thing, which is the other reason I made the mobile. We’ve pulled out all the stops including the white noise turtle, extra light jammies, extra warm sleep sack, etc., I won’t bore you with the trials surrounding the nocturnal baby, I’ll just show you this, which is maybe just distracting and colorful and gratifying enough to make him think happy and sleepy thoughts:

Here’s what I used:

• Needle + thread
• Felted wool balls (~$6 for a bag of assorted sizes at our local big box craft shop)
• Wooden beads (mostly natural wood, but because I’m resourceful I also snagged some painted beads, leftover from when I made a children’s abacus)
• A long piece of white string (I had an excess of white candle wick rope, which is strong and heavier weight than embroidery thread; that’s an affiliate link but the only one in this post)
• A 20″ piece of thin wood (what you see there isn’t a dowel, but a piece of oak spline leftover from when we installed our floors)
• Drill with 1/16″ bit
• Measuring tape
• Ceiling hook

Assembly is a pinch: knot the thread, and string a strand of beads and balls over the needle. Assemble each colorful length through holes predrilled 2″ apart through the wooden crosspiece, and attach another felt ball to the top. Knot the string in place, and enjoy it dangling and spinning with the slightest tap.

Ours hangs a safe distance above the mattress, and the white string that hoists it up to a hook on the ceiling can be shortened as the kid grows and grows.

After the crib is gone, it’ll make for a nice wall decoration. (Side note: Sheets are from Charley Harper for Land of Nod… obsessed!)

Sleepy time. Stay tuned for success rating.

A video posted by Emily Fazio at Merrypad (@merrypad) on Jan 9, 2017 at 9:14am PST