This is the Mobile that Killed a Baby Bird

 

 

Give me a minute and it will make sense. I promise.

 

Some ideas just don't work. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to make a beautiful "Driftwood Mobile" for Bright Eyes before she was born.

 

We rent our two-Bedroom house. When we moved in this Winter, we knew the girls wouldn't be able to share a Bedroom right off the bat. So one room would be for Nye-Nye (a "Can You See a Little Bear?" Inspired Bedroom). The other would be for the new baby.

 

Nye-Nye was still waking up several times a night in February. That's when Papa Bear took over putting her to sleep and co-sleeping. For the last 2 1/2 glorious months of my pregnancy I slept like a champ. It was amazing.

 

Daddy and His Girl bonded more deeply by developing their own sweet Bedtime Rituals and I wasn't disturbed by the toddler waking up at night. 

 

The Master Bedroom was transformed into Mommy and the Baby's Room. I didn't have the energy to paint the room, so blue it stayed. I was inspired by tree branches and driftwood and agonized over fabric for weeks. (Nesting...you gotta love it).

 

I wanted to use the heirloom cradle that I used as a baby.

 

I came up with a design for a Driftwood Mobile that could hang low enough over a cradle. Hanging the pieces from the ceiling seemed too complicated for me, so I devised an inexpensive way to anchor the pieces of Driftwood in a metal bucket. My solution? Plaster.

 

I filled an inexpensive bucket with plaster and arranged the branches the way I wanted. I let it set over night. I covered the bucket with some of the agonized-over-fabric. And hung the butterflies with fishing line.

 

The only problem?

 

It took up A LOT of room.

 

Actually, there were three problems...it took up a lot of room, it was difficult to get the baby into the cradle without hitting her face with the butterflies and the baby HATED the cradle.

 

So, it was removed.

 

I put it outside under our screened-in porch, thinking I could use it for Bright Eyes when we were outside.

 

I walked out one day to find a drowned Baby Bird floating in the bucket. 

 

Do you know how awful I felt?

 

I still get teary-eyed thinking about it. Poor Baby Bird.

 

Talk about a doomed project.