Paper, String and Branches - Bird Mobile with Template

A while back I received a Target mailer with coupons for baby items, but I was very intrigued by the picture on the front of the mailer.  It was a baby, laying underneath this...

I thought it was so beautiful and made plans to make my own in the future.  Then passes an embarrassingly large amount of time until today, when I finally did it!  Here's the tutorial and template:

First, go outside and gather some sticks/branches!  Even if you don't have your own stick-producing trees, try to find a friend or neighbor that might have some.  The great thing about this is you can scale it to whatever size you like.  You could go huge for a dramatic centerpiece or chandelier type display, or smaller for a bedroom or office. 

Craft supplies for free!

Glue or tie the sticks together.  (See my fabulous trackpad drawn stick art below)

I think the Target mobile used sticks like the ones on the left.  I used straight-ish sticks crossed over each other like the ones on the right.  I tied them with string (actually I used embroidery thread, the kind that looks like string, not the kind that comes apart into six strands), wrapped around, alternating which sticks the string went around.  I hope that makes sense!

A closeup of how I tied the sticks together

Hot glue flowers to the sticks.  You can use pre-made flowers from scrapbooking or craft supply stores (that's what I used).  Or you can use punched out flowers (the Target mobile did), small silk flowers, cut your own,  or if you're making a large one, use larger silk flowers, or you can even make tissue or crepe paper flowers. 

Hot glue the leaves to the sticks.  Again, you can used punched out leaves, premade leaves, or cut your own.  I included a leaf template, and a half leaf so you can cut on a fold to save time.  I folded my leaves in half so they would have a bit more dimension.  

This thing was hard to photograph -- it kept spinning around!

Cut out the bird pieces.  You can trace it onto paper or import/trace the template in a program to use with a cutting machine.  I traced it onto cardstock and erased the pencil lines after.  Use a good quality cardstock so the wings will stay upward when folded.  Also, use an Exacto knife (or similar) to cut the slot for the wings and tail, and at least for the tail cut a small amount of paper out of the slot (equal to the thickness of the carstock) so it doesn't try to bend or lay flat against the body.  Punch a tiny hole in the back of the bird so you can thread the string through.  You can vary where you place the hole to change whether the bird is facing up, straight, or down.  The closer to the head the more it will face up, the further back the more it will face down.

Click here to go to Google Docs to download the image file.

Slide the wings through the slots in the birds' bodies, fold upward and use a tiny bit of glue when putting in the tail. 

Tie strings to the back of the birds, then tie them at varying lengths and directions to the sticks.  Make sure the mobile stays balanced. 

 There you have it!  Feel free to use the bird templates for any other projects you have.  Let me know what you've used them for if possible.  Enjoy!