wizard of oz crib mobile

Christopher and Emily welcomed a sweet baby girl, Lillian Paige, to their family exactly one month ago! We haven't met her yet, but we are hoping to visit soon. She just looks so sweet and snuggly in all of her photos with her tiny mouth and her big eyes (and her even bigger bows).

Of course a new baby means a new crib mobile! I had so much fun making the Harry Potter and Avengers mobiles for my nephews, and I was really excited when Christopher and Emily chose The Wizard of Oz for their nursery theme this time.

I decided to make four characters: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. I considered adding the Wicked Witch or the Wizard in the center position but ultimately opted for a little rainbow. On the last two mobiles, I added a little felt star above each character. This time I got more creative and made Scarecrow's diploma, Tin Man's heart/clock, and Lion's badge of courage. And of course Dorothy wouldn't be complete without her little dog Toto!

I really struggled with selecting a cohesive color palette for these characters. After many hours trying to find the perfect combination of felt colors, I've decided that I'm going to blame the original costumer from the movie for my struggles. DON'T HATE ME. Dorothy's costume is perfect: the blue gingham, red shoes, white accents are absolutely iconic. However, the scarecrow is kind of a muddy mix of brown, green, and beige. Same for the lion. His movie costume was made from a real lion pelt... how cool (and/or cruel) is that?? But again, it's beige! So, I took a few creative liberties with the scarecrow's hat and patches to bring in a little more color. I love how it turned out.

I ordered the plastic mobile and music box from Amazon. Colin let me borrow his crib for a photo shoot of the assembled mobile.

I tried to think of a way to make Dorothy's dress from felt, but couldn't come up with any way to replicate the gingham besides embroidering an allover check pattern. Instead, I ordered a swatch of 1/8" blue gingham and sewed a teeny tiny dress with gathered skirt. I hand-stitched the dress to her white felt bodysuit.

Emily even sent me an action shot of Lillian enjoying her mobile. Isn't her nursery SO CUTE? The letters over her bed are sparkly like the ruby slippers, and they even have a "yellow brick road" wall. Plus, those gingham sheets are just perfect!

I wanted to make sure that this gift and our huge pile of hand-me-down baby clothes were delivered to Emily before the baby arrived, so Mom, Dad and I met at a little park half way between us to make the hand-off on a sunny day at the end of February. They brought Oliver and Archie juuuuuuust in case Emily went into labor that day! Dad and Archie were able to open their birthday gifts, and Mae enjoyed the brief visit with her cousins. We can't wait to meet the newest cousin now!!