When I was making this custom crocheted crib mobile for my baby girl, I initially intended to make a crochet pattern for it. But I realized this method for taking a blank crib mobile and adding your own decorations could be applied to any number of crafts! So if you crochet, knit, sew or hot-glue, you might enjoy giving this custom crib mobile thing a shot!
What You'll Need -a crib mobile arm with a frame to suspend toys from -motifs of your choosing to fit your theme and the materials required to make them -8 "large" pieces and 7 "small" pieces (see explanation below) -string (can be plain or a crochet chain) -scissors
I got a 28" blank crib mobile arm from Amazon. It attaches to most crib styles with a screw on clamp.
Granted, it's not the highest quality thing ever. It's made of bright white plastic and has serious "made in china" vibes, but it's only thirteen dollars and by the end of the project, I think it looked like a million bucks!
There are also many beautiful, higher end, blank crib mobile kits on Etsy like these.
Selecting your motifs First, decide on a theme, then choose 3 to 4 different shapes or toys to make that fit your theme. For this mobile layout, you'll need 8 "Large" pieces and 7 "Small" pieces. My large pieces were about 4 inches tall, an inch thick and between 4 and 5 inches wide. The small pieces were roughly 1/3rd the size of the large pieces.
Below, you'll see a diagram of how to position your motifs along with suggested string lengths to get the same balance you see in my mobile design.
I went with small stars and pom poms for the small pieces and larger stars, clouds and a crescent moon for the large pieces. If you're a crocheter and interested in the patterns I used for my shapes, you can find them here:
For the large pieces I seamed two flat motifs together and filled the center with a little stuffing before fully seaming them up. I used the same star pattern for both star sizes by using a 6mm hook for the large ones and 2.75mm hook for the small ones. I also used a 2.75mm hook for the cloud pattern.
Hang your two identical danglies across from each other and the longest one in the middle. I was able to secure mine to the mobile I used with a small crochet hook. You can use any method to strongly secure your pieces to the mobile.
I'm so happy with how it turned out! I think the distribution of big to small pieces provides a nice balance. Its so easy to unhook and put aside if my little one is too overstimulated or if I just don't want to bonk my head on it! It's important to keep in mind, don't leave your little one with the mobile unattended as soon as they can push up onto their knees or sit up on their own because they could yoink it down.
Additional safety considerations to be aware of; The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends mobile string lengths of no more than 7 inches. For more mobile safety tips, check out this article from The Spruce
If you get inspired by this tutorial to create your own DIY crib mobile, shoot me a mention on Instagram or add your project to Ravelry because I'd love to see it! Thanks for stopping by!