Galaxy Star Mobile
Post by Aimée Lowry & Bettijo B. Hirschi from PagingSupermom.com
I am so excited to finally share Baby Rockwell’s nursery makeover with you. We’ve had a few delays, but I just put the finishing touches on things, and I’m happy to report that Mr. R loves his room (Thank you Land of Nod!) Today I get to share his favorite detail of the moment — the Galaxy Star Mobile we created to hang above the crib.
Rockwell seems to have no choice but to stare into the Star Mobile with wonder and awe, while I scurry around after Modette who is shamelessly tearing the room apart faster than I can put it together.
Using leftover American Crafts Cardstock and Glitter Paper from our Glitter Academy project, and my Cricut Expression 2, I cut out 140+ of stars in about an hour (WAAAAY better than by hand!). To make a mobile you will also need a few No. 12 Screw Eyes, fishing line, and two 3/8-inch, square, wood dowels cut down to 22-inches. (If you ask, the hardware store will usually cut them down for free.)
1. Using the smallest drill bit you have drill a hole into the precise center of each of the dowels. (It is important to get as close to center as possible so your mobile will hang level.)
2. Mark where the star strands should hang. Measure from the left edge of the dowel and make a mark on the top side of the dowel at half, four and eight inches. Repeat on the other side measuring from the right edge.
3. Cut a yard of fishing line and tie a strand at each mark using a fishing knot that won’t come out. Tie a strand at each mark on the dowel, for a total of 12 strands. Tie a final strand through the center hole on only the bottom dowel.
4. Lay out the dowels and tape down the fishing line. Line up the paper stars in the desired pattern (see suggestions below).
5. We used Double-Sided Super Sticky Tape since it is mess free and quick.
6. Place the tape over the top of the fishing line and attach firmly to one of the stars and remove the red backing.
7. Line up the second matching star and press firmly to adhere.
8. Once you have completed adding stars to all 13 strands, twist in a Screw Eye to attach the dowels together.
Our mobile consists of 13 total star strands. We cross the dowels in the center and create four sides, each holding three strands. The final strand hangs in the center. The photo above shows a close-up of the strands for one side: a 5-star with one large glittered star, a 6-star strand with a small and large glittered star, and a 5-star strand with one small glittered star. For the center strand I used the 6-star one shown.
Despite our best efforts to make everything balanced, our finished mobile still didn’t hang level. We used a couple extra screw eyes as weights, hidden inside the stars, as needed to balance.
Reposted with permission by Aimée Lowry & Bettijo B. Hirschi from PagingSupermom.com