What to Do With Beanie Babies: Repurpose DIY Mobile for Baby’s Nursery

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Well, Nicole and I were quite the collectors when it came to those TY beanie babies from McDonald’s back in the 90’s. Our mom humored us and allowed us to eat McDonald’s Happy Meals wayyyy too frequently just so we could collect one of every mini beanie baby. I mean, we were going to get rich later in life from this “collector’s item,” right? Well, 20+ years of holding onto them—still in the original bags—have come and passed, and their value still hasn’t risen over the cost of the Happy Meal that contained the toy. Suffice it to say, this investment didn’t pan out.

After moving several times during college and grad school with these bagged toys packed in their airtight plastic bin, I finally decided it was time to do something useful with them. So when I was pregnant, I did the unthinkable and cut open all the plastic bags! And then for a few of the animals, I cut off the tags too. Oh, gasp! My fifth grade inner self was dying slowly with each snip. As I write this post, I still feel a little anxious thinking back at that destruction of my childhood dreams of being a beanie baby collector.

Anyway, I was looking for a cost-effective way to make a mobile for baby girl’s crib. Store-bought mobiles are so expensive for something that has such a short lifespan in the crib! I saw a few ideas of mobiles on Pinterest made from embroidery hoops, and thus the idea of a beanie baby mobile was born.

DIY Beanie Baby Mobile Materials:

  • Beanie babies or other small stuffed animals, tags removed
  • Embroidery hoop
  • Ribbon
  • String (I used crochet thread)
  • S hooks and hook for ceiling (or any hanging apparatus)
  • Scissors and tape or glue

How to Repurpose Those TY Beanie Babies:

First, I started with a nice-sized embroidery hoop and taped the ribbon to one side and then looped it continuously around until there was no hoop showing through. The ribbon was then taped to the inside. It could also be glued, but I plan to disassemble the mobile after its use to get my hoop back.

I then securely tied string around the beanie babies. Allowing around 6 inches of string between each beanie and the hoop, I tied the beanie babies to the mobile. I used 4 beanies and then one owl Christmas ornament I had lying around that matched the decor of baby girl’s room.

Check out “Bones” here!

I then tied string to three places on the mobile and brought them all together to meet at an S hook on the top.  I had my husband screw a hanger into the ceiling, and I connected string from the hanger to one more S hook.

When I want to hang the mobile, I put the two S hooks together.  When we are done with the mobile for the day, I can simply remove it.

And here is my daughter’s view!

Gosh, I do hope one day that the price of beanie babies doesn’t skyrocket and I regret this decision! Just kidding. Now I need to find something useful to do with the other 9348901943 beanie babies that I’m still storing in my closet. I’m open to almost any ideas, guys.

Want to see how the rest of the nursery turned out?  Check out those posts here!

2 Comments

  1. Anonymous says:

    How cute! Awesome idea!

    1. Thanks!

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