Paper Crane Mobile

 

This is a fun gift that my husband and I made for a baby gift. To many people. the crane is a symbol of good fortune and longevity. What better way to greet a newborn?

There are two ways to fold an origami crane. 

Here is one way, from Wikihow.

Other good instructions may be found at Tiny Shiny.

We simply made a bunch of cranes using different colors and patterns of origami paper. Using the real paper instead of just cutting regular paper into squares is preferable because it is really thin and folds nicely. We criss-crossed two wooden dowels by wrapping yarn around the intersection where they meet multiple times. Then we threaded beads and buttons and cranes onto 4 long pieces of embroidery floss. We attached them to the dowels and added a long piece so the mobile can hang. After this you can balance the mobile as you need to by sliding the dowels around until it hangs well. Since ours was a gift we added some curly ribbon to the mobile as well. You could also take the high road and make a crane mobile that is more dignified using neutral colors, wooden beads, etc.