Want to see a pregnant woman in a crib? There it is.

I made a baby mobile for our little man, and it’s one of those projects that’s simple but makes the whole nursery feel more finished. The design blends rustic and modern: a bleached manzanita branch serves as the armature while colorful circular disks hang from varying lengths of thread. It’s cheerful, easy to look at, and somehow made me feel more ready to meet the baby—like, “Now the mobile’s up, the baby party can officially begin.”

This mobile was straightforward to put together, and my daughter Clara even helped with a few steps. I used a decorative manzanita branch that had been bleached and cleaned. It’s solid and stable, so there’s no worry about loose bark falling into the crib. I liked the raw tone of the branch against the bright, painted disks.

I also used two paper banners I had bought on clearance months ago. Their patterns didn’t match the nursery palette, but a couple coats of craft paint solved that. Clara enjoyed painting the pieces with me—mostly we worked carefully so the strings wouldn’t get paint on them. It was a fun parent-kid craft that she’s proud of; she likes telling people she helped make “her baby’s” mobile.

To make the mobile fuller, I cut additional circles from craft paper in sizes that matched the banner pieces. I traced three different circle sizes using household items—paint bottle bases and a cup—to get consistent shapes, then cut an even number of each size. I sandwiched white embroidery floss between pairs of circles with Aleen’s Tacky Glue, spacing them about two inches apart to echo the original banners. Each strand ended up around 25 inches long, which created a nice, layered dangling effect.

Once the glued disks were dry, I tied the strands to the branch at different points so the disks would hang at varied lengths. I draped the branch over two chairs while attaching everything so the pieces could hang freely as I worked. The result: a lively, slightly asymmetric mobile that looks interesting from multiple angles.

Safety was a priority. Even though the mobile is lightweight, we used three heavy-duty brass-plated plant hooks with long screws (two hit ceiling beams) and heavy-duty anchors where needed. We suspended the branch with strong, nearly invisible fishing line knotted at three support points—both ends and the central branch junction—so the branch appears to float over the crib. This keeps the mobile well out of baby’s reach and also makes it easy to raise if needed. Once the baby becomes more mobile, we’ll lower the mattress to increase clearance.

The finished mobile measures roughly three feet wide, 16 inches deep, and about 25 inches from front to back. At first I thought it might need to be larger to fill the wall more, but its current size feels right for safety and practicality—any bigger and it might crowd the crib opening.

We’re considering a few more design updates for the wall behind the crib, including ordering wallpaper samples (from Spoonflower) or adding an accent paint color between the built-ins. Either option could add depth and make the mobile pop. We’ll decide once the samples arrive and test them against the mobile in place.

The room is nearly complete. Remaining tasks include possibly tweaking the wall behind the crib with wallpaper or an accent color, adding an overhead light on a dimmer, reconfiguring the closet for baby clothes (paint, add a second hanging bar, or incorporate cubby storage), adding a few finishing touches and small accessories, and of course, welcoming the baby.

• Possibly tweak the wall behind the crib with wallpaper or an accent color
• Add an overhead light on a dimmer (none installed yet)
• Redo the closet for baby clothes (paint, add second hanging bar or cubbies)
• Finishing touches: small art pieces and accessories
• Just add baby

It’s comforting to be in the home stretch—both for the pregnancy (I’m still dealing with morning sickness at 33 weeks) and for the room. Mostly we’re excited to meet our little guy, who’s doing quite the workout in my tummy. A reader tip suggested checking the mobile’s appearance from below, so we made sure the composition is interesting from a crib-level view: spinning slices of color against the natural branch background. For now we opted for simple disks rather than adding flat animal silhouettes, since the bedding already includes elephants and we wanted the sleep area to remain calming. We can always evolve the design as he grows if he shows interest in creatures or other shapes.

Is anyone else finishing up a nursery or making a mobile? It’s a sweet project that really changes the feel of a room.

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