Project #1: Baby mobile!

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, I am going nuts for DIY projects to cute up my house. D is relieved that I actually finished one! My first completed project is a mobile I made to go over Reese's crib, since her "nursery" is a corner of the living room and I wanted to make it seem a little more nursery. I based it on this project I found on Pinterest:


I loved the pink ombre colors and how soft and sweet and feminine it was. Also, it's made with paint chips! And they are free! So in order to make this, I went to Lowe's to get the paint chips, and I ran into a little lamp shade that was $2 on clearance. I originally had a square one I was intending on using, but late one night on his way to get the crying baby Dave stumbled into my "craft room" (aka living room floor) and broke it. So, I was very happy when I found a replacement lamp shade on clearance. I took that there lamp shade home and used very primitive tactics to remove the cover on the lampshade, leaving just the exposed frame. Note to self: add exacto knife to your Christmas wish list.
 Anyway, in the original project, the lady used a frilly edged punch to get her circles, but since I already had 1.5 diameter circle punch without a frilly edge, I decided that I even if I omitted the decorative edge. After punching for what seemed like forever (and even trip #2 to Lowe's to get more paint chips) I started making the strips. I lined them up end to end, put down a string of thread, and then laid a long piece of tape down the whole row. I seriously don't know how she did it, but I could not for the life of me get my rows straight. And even if I did manage to get it straight, I would inevitably tape it crooked onto the lampshade skeleton. It was frustrating. I was annoyed that this project looked so simple and I was really struggling to get it right. Then, laying in bed, I had a flash of insight. So, instead of trying to make this work, I went and ripped apart all the strips I had already put together, made my thread longer and taped double-sided circles to it. Here was my result!

(sorry it's a bad picture. I took it with my phone)
I actually think I like it more this way. The only thing I would've done differently is that I would've spray painted the lampshade cream if I had known I was going to make it so much more visible than it is in my inspiration project. But I love it! It looks perfect right over her crib and makes her little nook feel a little less like living room. All in all, this project only cost me $2 for a lampshade!