Livia's Birdhouse Mobile: A DIY Project

Hi!  I'm back after not posting for a long time.  Its nice to be back!  Please pardon me if I'm a bit rusty...

Today I am sharing a project that Jason and I did together for our little Livia, who just happens to be six months old now.  *sniff, sniff*  She's growing up so fast!

One of our final projects for Livia's room was to make her a mobile to hang above her crib.  We decided to make her a birdhouse mobile because her room has a subtle outdoorsy theme.  Her grandma Carol also has a love for birdhouses, so it made it even more special and sentimental.

Here's how we did it.  We purchased a 2'' x 2''  poplar square, a square dowel, and some eye screw hooks from our home store.  The 2'' x 2'' poplar square would be used to make the actual birdhouses.  To make the rooftop of the birdhouses, Jason cut the poplar square at a 45 degree angle on two of the sides with his table saw.

He made a series of cuts on the poplar square with his table saw every two inches to make each individual birdhouse.  To make the hole in each birdhouse, Jason used his router and a 1/4'' straight router bit.  After the birdhouses were cut and the holes were drilled, I sanded them to make them smooth and to soften the sharp edges a bit. 

I then painted each birdhouse in the colors that we decorated Livia's room with, which were taken from the inspiration paper in the picture below.  To give her something to look at while she is in her crib, I painted the bottom of each birdhouse as well.  Jason then screwed a small eye screw hook in the top.

To make the top of the mobile, Jason used the small square dowel which he cut in half.  Each half measures 12'' and was notched halfway through so that they would fit together.  He used wood glue and a small nail to hold them together.  This was sanded smooth and painted as well.

To attach the birdhouses to the top portion, Jason drilled small holes in the ends and the middle of the top portion and used fishing line to hang them.  The fishing line was knotted at the top to secure each birdhouse. The mobile was hung from the ceiling with a hook and a fishing swivel so that the mobile could spin freely without getting tangled.

Here are some more pictures of the finished product.

Livia really loves her mobile, which makes us pretty happy.  It was a fun and easy project to work on together for our little girl.  We hope you like it, too!