Friday, January 20, 2012

DIY Yarn Mobile Tutorial

I have been putting off this project for basically 9 months. Thanks to Pinterest, I saw this mobile at Put Up Your Dukes and I had to make it or I wouldn't be at rest. (Why does my brain do that??) 
So, I rounded up A LOT of yarn, crochet circles and jewelry string and it sat in my "to do" project pile for about 5 months.
I finally found the motivation I need after an appointment to the OB and finding out I was already dilated! So, here is how I finally started and finished our little guy's yarn mobile.
First, I started rolling yarn balls and didn't finish until many "Vampire Diaries" and "Once Upon a Time" episodes later. I am sure that rolling the yarn around foam balls would have been MUCH easier but after so many trips to the craft store with crazy kids in tow, I found it therapeutic to just sit and roll yarn (yep, I have issues).  I used a hot glue gun to secure it along the way and ended with 11 yarn balls varying in size when I was done.
Second, put a dab of hot glue on the inside of the yarn circle and start wrapping it around that. You only need the inside crochet circle, my boys had fun playing with the outer circles (so much for making something out of those).
After I was finished with the yarn (I decided to not use all the colors, there is already enough color in his room), I wasn't sure what to do and my surgeon-in-training husband walks by and says why don't you just do this. . . and proceeds to tie an amazing knot to one of the yarn balls in 2 seconds. 
All these months of trying to figure out what to do. . . who would of thought that my anti-project doing husband would of had the answers)
His secret was out, so he tied knots on all the yarn balls with the string leaving about 12-24 inches of string. Then he tied 3 pieces of string to each crochet circle tier leaving about 12-24 inches on those as well.
Next comes the tricky part, take the first (the smallest) and last (biggest) tier and tie the 3 strands of the biggest tier to the smallest tier as shown in the diagram below. 
Now take one strand of the middle tier, thread it through the top tier and tie those 4 
(one of the middle and the 3 top) strands together and tie to a ring that can be attached to a hook in the ceiling. The other 2 strands of the middle tier are going to hang on their own hook, so tie a knot at the top and attach it to a ring. It gets very tedious and takes a few times of tying to get it at the right length. 
(I had to take pictures of my husband helping because if you know him, this is VERY rare that he is in on my insanity. . . which is evident from his headphones still being on:))
I dabbed a bit of hot glue to each know just in case.
Now that you have all the tiers tied together, the fun part comes. Tying all the yarn balls on. There is no right or wrong way to do this. I tied 5 to the bottom tier, and 3 to the middle and top.
Hang in the nursery and wait for that little one to get here!!!
Or finish the other million projects you want to get done before having 3 kids, ages 3 and under and not being able to pick up a hot glue gun or paintbrush for a LONG time.
Post of the finished nursery coming soon!

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linking up to these parties:

13 comments:

  1. Love the noise canceling head phones on Clayzer.

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  2. Great job, Telisa! That's a hard project, and I love the diagrams!

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  3. Very Cute, I love your blog. My husband and I went to school with Clay. Congrats on #3.

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  4. Wow! That was a lot of work! It turned out amazing though! I love it!!

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  5. That turned out great! I love the colors!

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  6. How totally fun is that?! Would you consider sharing it here?

    http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/01/shine-on-fridays-11-and-giveaway.html

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  7. What a beautiful mobile! Love this idea and it's so effective !


    I would love if you came over and linked this project to my weekly Round Tuit party at:
    http://jembellish.blogspot.com/
    Have a great week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success

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  8. Love it - and so will your baby! Get your projects done before that baby comes! I had 3 kids in 3 1/2 years and I had no time to craft while they were little. Now my youngest is 3 and I am finally able to get back into it!!

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  9. this is gorgeous! I hope you'll link this up at my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW

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  10. This is SUCH a cool idea...I love the way they look like they are floating in the air...swoon.I hope you will link up with me here:
    http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2012/01/sweet-saturday-link-party-v23.html

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  11. That is super adorable!! Love it!

    Thanks for linking up at Create and Inspire Party.. Hope you can join us tomorrow for another awesome party plus a giveaway!

    Angie from A Little Inspiration

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  12. So cute!
    This just gave me an idea for our daughters nursery.
    She's 4 months and we haven't set it up yet...oops!
    But this idea makes me think that with the beachy theme we have...that I could do bubbles in a similar style...
    Thanks for the inspiration!!!

    Biz

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    Bogs Women's Classic High Tuscany Rain Boot

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