How To Make a Mobile

...in 57 simple steps

Step 1 Stalk your partner's blog/flickr. (Excellent practice for the doll quilt swap stalking that I'm currently participating in.)

Step 2 Sleep on all those ideas running around your brain, hoping all the while that your subconscious mind will pare them down and spit out the best and brightest.

Step 3 Be severely disappointed in your subconcious for slacking off last night.

Step 4 Begin feverishly doodling, something...anything.

Step 5 Find a super cool preschool craft on line and immediately know what to make.

Step 6 Produce varying degrees and large quantities of successful cloud elements for your mobile.

Step 7 Realize that they are all too heavy to suspend in mid air and run to the craft store for the perfect weight ribbon.

Step 8 Be told by your all knowing ten year old that there's no way that ribbon will work.

Step 9 Be stubborn.

Step 10 Let ribbon dry over night and wave successful ribbon like cloud in ten year old's face. Ha!


Step 11 Totally change the original idea and actually use a few of the original cloud elements along with the new and improved ones.

Step 12 Gather branches from the yard in sub zero temperatures.

Step 13 Spend way to much time balancing all the new elements and last minute whims.
Step 14 Make all family members acknowledge that not only is this thing actually balanced, but the ribbon clouds worked and look, look at the super cute birds. Aren't they fun?!

Step 15 Figure out how you could possibly send this through the postal system without it becoming one giant ball of ribbon and string.

Step 16 Family members breathe collective sigh of relief that super cool mobile has left the premises and mommy no longer wanders around covered in yarn and glue.

If you still need a little mobile inspiration for that subconscious mind of yours, you can check out all the other really cool mobiles at Elsie Marley's Mobile Swap 2009.