DIY Paper Crane Mobile

I forgot Beck's ACTUAL favorite thing!

It's this.  This mobile we made for her out of paper cranes while I was pregnant.  They match my tattoo, they're a symbol of peace and healing, and she loves it SO much.  

When we were making this I wasn't totally confident in our ability to hang anything from the ceiling that wouldn't collapse down, so we decided to put this over Beck's changing table instead of crib.  That way we'd always be with her when she was under it, just in case.  I'd also read that mobiles over changing tables keep wiggling kids still, which is the opposite of Beck's reaction - she gets so excited to see her cranes that she starts kicking like a maniac every time we lie her down on the changing table.  

There is no better feeling in the world than having made something for your kid that they really like.  

I don't really know how I got so fixated on this, but at one point I saw a paper crane mobile on Pinterest and it was alllllll I could think about while I was pregnant.  I'm not terribly obsessed with cranes, my sisters and I got the tatts because it reminds us of Japan, but other than that they're just cool things that I know how to fold.  But for some reason the idea of the mobile seemed really fun and cool, so we did it!

I get asked a lot about the paper, and we had origami paper left over from when we lived in Japan, so I had a lot to work with.  Amazon Prime that ish, though, and you can get almost any colors that you want.  If you live in Greenville you can also come to my house, there's lots more where this came from.  

I thought a lot about doing kind of a color scheme to match the pink/gray thing we had going on, but in the end Jay convinced me that a full rainbow would match everything and would take away from the sweetness of the pink curtains in the room, and he was totally right.  PLUS, babies can only see super bright colors for quite some time, so this is perfect for little blind people.  

In addition to the origami paper, to do this project yourself you need a branch, spray paint, fishing wire (intended for crafts), crafting needles (these were marketed for making dolls?), and hooks to hang the thing into the ceiling.  The branch we chose was super light, so we didn't need anything heavy duty for this.  

Folding the cranes is the biggest part of this shindig, the other steps are super easy.  To fold, just Google the steps and go for it - I learned in Japan years ago, but there are all kinds of easy tutorials online.  

We picked a branch that was straight but not too straight, then spray painted it white and let it dry.  The branch was just slightly shorter than the length of the changing table, and I did enough cranes to be hung about 2 inches apart.  

Once the cranes are folded, you'll use the doll needle to thread fishing wire right though the center of each crane, then tie a knot at the base of the crane.  At the bottom of the crane there is a hole where all the folded paper comes together, stick the needle through there, then poke a hole right in the top of the crane's back, pull the needle through, and tie off the bottom (where you started with the needle).  

Now, we hung the branch FIRST, then added the cranes so we could see what it would look like as we went along.  That allowed us to get the anchors into the ceiling, then level the branch.  

I spread the cranes out in the order that I wanted them (with the fishing wire already attached), and Jay hung them, starting from the middle of the branch, about 2 inches apart.  I cut the fishing wire all the same length (18 inches, give or take), and he hung each crane slightly above or below the one before to make a wave effect.  

And that's it!  There is a little bit of time involved, but there is NOTHING complicated about this project.  

Now, for my next question.  Would you buy something like this on Etsy?  Would you want it fully assembled or just the pieces, OR would you ever buy just a bunch of folded paper cranes?  This is a real question.  

If you want one simple thing to make for a nursery, let this be it.  It's so lovely and airy and ENTERTAINING for little wiggle worms on a changing table!