Quick and Easy Clothespin Crafts

For some people, clothespins have become obsolete, but don’t throw those pins out yet. There’s lots of crafts you can make with them, and some of them are nice enough to give as gifts. One such clothespin craft is a mini wishing well. Start with a baby food jar, minus the lid. Remove the spring from 17 clothespins. Use hot glue to attach one clothespin half to the outside lip of the baby food jar, sticking straight up. The squared end of the clothespin should be pointing upward. Glue another one directly opposite that one. These two pin halves will hold the roof to a little wishing well.

Use hot glue, or tacky glue, to affix clothespin halves all the way around the jar. Wrap a rubber band around the arrangement to hold it still while it dried. While that’s drying, use hot glue to attach five of the clothespin halves together in a row. Set aside and make a second arrangement of five. These will become the roof of the wishing well. Glue the tips of the two five-piece sets together, forming an inverted “V” and place over the wishing well, making sure to glue them to the two “poles”, which were the original two clothespin halves glued to the jar. Decorate the wishing well by attaching novelties to the front and/or roof of the well, like wooden roses or even a ceramic bird. Place flowers in the wishing well to hide the baby food jar beneath.

Use a wooden base to make this next clothespin project. Attach any shape, like a heart, a kitten, or a dolphin, to the base. Paint the base and the novelty then allow to dry. Glue a clothespin on the back side of the arrangement but make sure it stays hidden behind the novelty. Now put a photo – or 2 or 3 photos – in the clip. This makes a cute and easy photo holder that can be created to suit any theme.

Choose any novelty that’s the approximate size of the clothespin to make a chip bag closer. At a craft store you’ll find dragonflies, alligators and other long shapes that will nicely cover a clothes pin. Paint and allow to dry before gluing the clothespin to the backside. Use the creation to keep bags of chips closed.

The old-fashioned clothespins, that have no spring but simply slide over the clothing and clothes line, are perfect for making magnetic dolls. Paint the bottom half of the clothespin to make pants. Stop just above the “feet” of the clothespin, and leave them natural-colored. For the top half of the pin, paint it a different color, stopping just before the rounded part, and include dots of another color for buttons. Paint eyes and a mouth onto one side of the rounded part. Now glue fake hair onto the doll, tie it up in pigtails, or just glue in a bow. You can also glue a small felt hat on instead. Use a pipe cleaner, folded in half, to make the arms. You can also add a halo and wings to a solid-white-painted clothes pin to make an angel. Glue a button magnet to the back, at the “waist” area, to hold to fridge or other metal.

There are lots of things you can glue clothes pin halves onto to make it look different, like wire baskets, clay pots, tin cans, and glassware. The arrangements make great holders for toothbrushes, pencils and pens, silk flowers and more.