Baby Cot Mobile Using Origami Flowers

Welcome to this instructable!

In this I am going to show you how to make cot mobile using modular origami flowers. This is an easy project and babies are always ready to see this in action.

Materials

24 coloured paper squares of size 4"x4" [Paperchase has got a memo block with nice bright colours]
6 Pipe cleaners
Sewing Thread
Hook
Cotton/Plastic Thread/String
Blue Tack
Sticky Tape

Tools:

Paper cutter
Scissors
Scale/Ruler

Make Modular Units for the Flower

Info: One square will fetch you 2 units of the flower. So, 24 squares will fetch 48 units.

Pick a coloured square and cut this into half
Pick one half and valley fold it in half along its breadth. Now the top edge should be aligned with the bottom edge. Note, that the bottom side has got the loose ends
Valley fold the left bottom corner to the top [centre line]
Valley fold the right bottom corner to the top [centre line]
Repeat above two folds on the other side
Fold the bottom edge to meet the top edge, thus folding the model in half breadth-wise. Repeat this on the other side

Your first unit is now ready!

Repeat the above steps on other squares until you have 48 units

Tie the Units Together

From 3 pipe cleaners, cut out 6 pieces of approx. 4" length
Pick 8 units, 4 of one colour and 4 of another colour and stack them alternately against the sides with the loose ends facing up [You may use more than 2 colours here]
Tie these 8 units using a pipe cleaner piece in the centre. The way to do this is to loop the pipe cleaner around these units and bring the end back up and twist it tightly against the top part
Repeat above steps on other units until you have 6 tied units in all

Shape the Flower

Pick one tied unit
Spread the petals to form a circle. Hold the petals as shown in the picture and pinch near the pipe cleaner. Repeat this on other petals (Note: At the end of this step the petals may not be equally spaced)
Open out the petals. The way to do this is turn the unit with closed ends facing you. With your right hand index finder push the petal up at the base of the petal. Repeat this on all petals. Slightly adjust the petals so that they are equally spaced
Bend the tip of the pipe cleaner so as to make a reverse U shape. Later this will be used for hanging on to the thread
Adjust the pipe cleaner as required to make it perpendicular to the flower

Your first flower is ready!

Repeat above steps on other tied units until you have 6 flowers in all

Make the Hanger

Pick 2 piper cleaners and form X shape out of them by twisting one over the other at the centre
Pick another pipe cleaner and form * [star] shape out of them my twisting the 3rd one on the other two
Adjust the arms of the * shape so that they are equally spaced

Hang the Hanger

Make 6 thread loops of approx. 8" and 1 thread loop of 5"
Tie one end of this 5" thread loop at the centre of the hanger [where the pipe cleaners are twisted together]
Pass a hook thru this thread at the other end
Tie a cotton/plastic thread to this hook and stick some blue tack to the other end. Length of this thread depends on how low or how high you want the mobile. So, needs to be adjusted accordingly
Stick this blue tack to the ceiling [over the baby at a position suitable for him/her to watch]

Info: One may tie plastic thread directly to the hanger but I have found that the whole assembly [mobile] spins better when a thread is used between the hanger and the hook. So, here I have used 5" thread loop for this.

Hang the Flowers

Hang flowers [U shape pipe cleaner tips] on each of the six 8" thread loops
Now hang these threads on each of the hanger arms. See that these threads are 1" inside from the hanger arm tips
Adjust the hanger arms so that the flowers are one same level

Spin and Enjoy

Assembly is ready! Gently blow on to the sides of the petals to give it a spin. I am sure the baby and you are going to love this in action. Even without the spin this mobile looks quite amazing. So make one and give it a try!

And do not worry about the flowers that they will fall. As these pipe cleaners have hairy surface, they hold these threads from slipping out and prevent the flowers from falling