makin' it monday // paper bird mobile

i keep making room decor projects because i'm trying to decide exactly what i want and don't want in norah's room. remember the canvas quotes from a couple weeks ago? already took them down. it's not that i didn't like them, i just like this weeks project much better and that corner is the best spot for it. i made her a paper bird mobile out of some leftover invitations i had been holding on to from her first birthday party. i loved them so much and i didn't have the heart to just toss them, especially since i handmade each one! i've been keeping them for months, trying to decide what i could use them for. well i finally thought of the perfect project. here's what to do:

you will need: a large embroidery hoop (inner piece), felt, hot glue gun and extra glue, embroidery thread, scissors, and paper. 

i cut out the birds through both layers of the invitation, so i have a colorful bird and a matching kraft paper bird. if you aren't a paper hoarder like i am and you're starting this project from scratch just take these extra steps: draw or trace your bird onto the paper of your choice. align a second piece of paper behind the first sheet, and simply cut through both layers so you have two of each bird. it doesn't have to be birds either - use any shape, pattern, colors, etc. that you want. get creative! 

now you want to cut a piece of embroidery thread for each bird. for the nicest look, vary the lengths of each piece of thread so the birds are staggered when hanging.

add a small amount of glue to the bottom layer of your bird and press down the end of a piece of string. add more glue around the edges and place the second bird layer on top. 

repeat the gluing for each bird. using my example, your layers from bottom up would be kraft paper bird, glue and string, then colorful paper bird.

i chose to add one bird in the middle of the mobile. to do this, simply tie a separate string from one end of your hoop to the other, centering to your best ability. tie the end of the string attached to the bird to the middle of the new string you just tied to the hoop. again, use your best judgement when centering. you could use a ruler if you want, but i find it to be easier to just eyeball it.

now tie the rest of the birds to the hoop. i spaced mine out fairly evenly and also made sure to alternate short and long pieces. 

to cover the hoop, start by cutting your felt into 1/2 inch strips.

add a small amount of glue to the hoop, and press down the end of a piece of felt. then just wrap the rest of the strip around the hoop. i added an extra drop of glue near the middle of the strip and again at the end just to secure it. repeat this step until your hoop is covered. for me, it took about 5 1/2 felt strips.

your hoop is now finished! to hang it, i tied four equal length pieces of embroidery thread to four "corners" of the hoop (again, i didn't measure. i just eyeballed four evenly spaced places around the hoop and tied the string to it.) bring the four loose ends together and tie in a knot. before knotting, hold up the hoop and make sure it is balanced. if not, pull or loosen each string as needed so that the hoop is balanced and then tie. after that, i used a thumbtack to stick the mobile directly into the ceiling over our rocking chair. and you're done! enjoy!

close up of the birds

the finished product

makin' it monday // mod podge canvas art

so this weeks project is a combination of a couple ideas i found on pinterest, then modified based off what i already had in the house. i'm trying to decorate norah's room a bit with handmade pieces without spending a ton of money on supplies. i decided to paint a couple of shel silverstein quotes onto canvas and then add a few paper circles to give it some color. here's what i did:

you will need: canvas, acrylic paint, paint brush, mod podge, scrapbook paper, hole punch, and foam brush. i had all of these supplies on hand from previous projects, but anything here can be purchased at a craft store for a reasonable price!

lightly pencil your quote onto the canvas. you can write out the entire thing or only the first couple of words (or none at all!). i just did the first few in order to keep myself semi-straight. i wanted a hand written/home made look but i also didn't want my words all over the page. 

trace/free hand paint your quote onto the canvas.

while the paint is drying, punch holes in your scrapbook paper. i used a circle punch, but there is a wide variety of shapes available. 

arrange the shapes onto the canvas as you choose. with the foam brush, lightly paint with the mod podge over the entire canvas. this will hold the paper down and give the whole thing a nice finish.

and you're done! i'm not as happy with the one on the right but i don't think norah will mind it too much. the words are a little too bunched for my OCD so i'm going to hang that one on the wall facing away from her door. that way i don't have to see it everytime i walk in her room (HA!). i love both of these quotes so much and i think she will too (when she learns how to read)! :)

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as a reward for reading this far you get to see what else i did with mod podge and scrapbook paper this week:

first, get some cardboard letters from hobby lobby

next, trace the letters onto scrapbook paper

then mod podge the paper onto the letters and...

done!

i've had these letters since norah's 1st birthday party (january!) and they've been hanging plainly on her wall for months. finally i decided to spruce them up. again using supplies i already had, i just mod podged some pretty paper to the front to give it a nicer look. 

both of these projects were super easy (and cheap! cheap as in free!) and fun to make. after little mouse gets up from her nap i'll post some pictures of them hanging on her wall :) happy makin' it!

***UPDATE*** here are the finished products hanging up:

these are in the corner (where her crib was last week) hanging over the rocking chair where norah and her daddy have story time every night before bed.

i had to take down the ribbon bunting since her crib is now up against a wall instead of in a corner. i kept the smaller piece and hung it underneath her name. i'll find a home for the longer piece somewhere :)

the 'top left' corner of her room (if you were to look at it from the door). hopefully soon her room will finally be finished and i can post pictures of the rest of the mess space!

makin' it monday // ribbon bunting

remember this spool of leftover fabric ribbon i found thrifting?

now it's living as pretty bunting in norah's room! this was by far the easiest DIY project i've ever done and i LOVE how it turned out. this was the best $.25 i've ever spent! :) here's how i did it:

all you need is a spool of fabric ribbon, scissors, and a ruler. (seriously.)

i made the flags 2" wide but you can make them as thin or wide as you'd like. starting at the end of your ribbon, measure out the desired width and cut. i stopped my cut at about 1/8-1/4" from the top.

next, cut a 3/4" slit right in the middle of each flag (about 1" in from each side). you can measure if you'd like, but i was able to eyeball it pretty well and thus i was able to move much more quickly on this. measuring out each little flag will take longer. i put my OCD aside and did the best i could. all the flags are probably a little bit off but i'm ok with that.

now cut two lines from the bottom corners of the flag to the top of the slit you just made to form little triangles.

repeat until you get to the end of the spool of ribbon. (seriously, it's that easy!)

once you get to the end of your spool, hang up the bunting wherever you please! i cut the spool so i would have two strands to hang. then i just used thumbtacks and pinned them right to her wall.

ta-da! easy peasy.

now i just need to figure out what's missing from that corner....any ideas?