I have been searching all over on kid's craft sites and still haven't found a decent instructional about how to make a mobile. Anyone have suggestions? I haven't made one since grade school and really am uncertain as to the necessary tricks to make it all balance properly.

Thanks!

i don't have an answer, but the gals on the "discuss crafts" board are generally brilliant will this sort of question. maybe they will have ideas? i'm curious as well...

I'm sorry if this is not the kind of advice you're looking for...but it's worth a shot anyway. I have a very specific theme in the new nursery (asian-y fantailed goldfish) and I wanted a mobile. of course I couldnt' find one, so I purchased one which was on clearance at Winners ($3) and took it all apart. I used the support (arms, motor, music box) and then made my own little goldfish (4 exactly teh same) and a lily pad for the center.
just something to think about?
~jhen

i often make this mobile for my friends and some clients as a baby gift. it is super easy. go out into the back yard/woods/ beach/wherever and find a nice sturdy, but not too heavy branch with some branches coming off of it. attach string to it (i use fishing because it is strong and clear) and hang it while you work. this lets you balance it as you go, plus the branch usually looks natural at any angle. make a bunch of origami birds (or whatever, birds are easiest and instructions are usually in any pack of origami paper) and thread them. do this by threading your needle with a good sized knot at the end and going up through the belly and out through the back. hang these in different spots and at varying lengths from your stick. you can also hang a few from one piece of string. i use different sized origami paper to make differnent sized paper cranes too. i also hang feathers that my gals bring home. the prettiest one i have made was with drift wood and i hung wire-wrapped sea glass too. another nice thing about making this project is that you can build it right over the baby as this is as amusing to the little one as the completed mobile. check out the other one i'm posting too... good luck.

here's another idea. take two small branches or dowels and cross them and tie together with twine, colored yarn, or ngold thread then hang cross horizontally. again, this helps you to balance as you create your mobile. now you are going to make an angel or fairy.
tissue paper angel: cut a piece of tissue paper about 12cmX18 and round off the corners. draw a line in gold all arounfd the edges of the paper. shape a cottonball or some fleece into a marble sized ball and place in the center. with gold thread tie head off. make little twists in the tissue paper at each side for hands. i like to arrange the "dress" in sucha way that there are two folds at the back. for the wings i like to use pretty white feathers from nature or from the fabric store, but you can also make them from the tissue paper. either way. tie them together and then from the thread at the angel's neck. tie gold thread around the angel's head as a crown and affix a tiny gold sequin on it above the brow.
suspend the angel from the center of the mobile. next take lengths of gold thread and tie to the ends of the branches. affix gold stars together (with the thread in between) to make "star chains". done.