When Alex was only four, he and I made this mobile at his Waldorf playgroup. It's really easy; both for young children and adults who question their craft skills. I love ours so very much that it's been hanging up year-round ever since. (He's ten now.)

You'll need:

• Four sticks, straight as you can find them. Two of them should be about three inches long; one should be about four inches, and the last about eight inches. (Of course, you can scale up or down as you choose.)
• Thin satin ribbon in a width and color you like.
• Felt squares.
  
• Glue
• Scissors
• A heart template, which you can make from construction paper or any paper with a little weight.

Trace and cut out 14 heart shapes from your felt. Match up the pieces so that you have seven pairs of hearts. Then measure and cut the ribbon: you'll need one long piece (24" or so), two that are about twelve inches, two that are ten inches, and four about eight inches (that ought to give you nine).

Start with the longest ribbon. Tie a secure knot near one end, leaving a little loop you will hang the finished mobile from later. A couple of inches down from the loop, tie the ribbon around the center of the longest stick. Make sure your knot is snug; you want the ribbon to stay centered so the mobile will balance. Secure the two eight inch lengths of ribbon to either side of the biggest stick, about an inch from the end.Next, tie the end of one of the outside ribbons to the center of one of the shortest sticks. Do the same for the other side. Now you can add the fourth stick, by tying that long center ribbon around the middle of it. Let it sit two or three inches below those two smaller outside sticks. (You will have roughly six inches of the center ribbon left, hanging off the middle stick you just added.)

Now get the four short ribbons, and tie them to the ends of the short sticks, again near the edge of the stick and tight enough to stay put. Take the two remaining ribbons and tie those to the ends of the middle stick. If I figured this all correctly, you should have seven ribbon ends ready for felt hearts.

Put glue on the insides of a pair. Try to use enough to make it stick securely, but not so much that you get glue bubbling out the edges. Press the two sides together around the tail of one of the ribbons. Having the end of the ribbon reach the center of the heart works well; you can put a decent glop of glue to secure the ribbon without worrying about the ooze factor.

You should end up with something really charming and sort of kid and folk art ish. I think it would be fun to glue buttons or other decorations on the hearts, or let your kids write little Valentine notes (like the little heart candy) on them with a marker.

Have fun and let me know if you have improvements to my directions!