Are you old enough to remember the clothespin bag that hung from the clothesline on laundry day? My mom had one that she made herself from a pillowcase. She took a wire hanger and formed it into a circle and then sewed it around the opening of the pillowcase. This kept the clothespin bag open all the time. She then took the hook of the hanger and used it to hang the bag on the clothesline. Brilliant! Many things were made out of necessity back then. DIY was more of a way of life.
Clothes dryers are the more popular option for these days. There are not many outdoor clotheslines anymore. In fact, our HOA forbids it in our neighborhood. So, what do you do with your clothespin collection now? Let me show you! Yay! 😊
To be clear, I did not have a clothespin collection at my disposal. I had to buy mine new. Where do you buy these out-of-date beauties? At the DollarTree, of course! They have packages of 24 for one dollar. That makes 3 ornaments, Y’all!
Here is a list of materials you will need to make one ornament:
· 8 spring-loaded clothespins or 16 halves – I used two different sizes to make the large and the small star ornaments
· Baker’s twine – I used red and white twine
· Hot glue sticks – I used Sure Bonder brand
· A disposable cookie sheet or heavy tin foil – for embellishment
· Extra Embellishments – to decorate your ornament – I used small, medium and large red and gold berries, small jingle bells, mini pine garland and ribbon
Here is a list of tools you will need:
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun – I used the Surebonder brand
- Decorative paper punches – I used a 1”, 1.5” and a 2” flower shape punch
If you would rather watch the video on how to make this star ornament, click here
First you will need to separate your clothespins. Pull the two ends away from each other and twist until they release from the metal spring. Discard the spring (unless you can find a project for them – I have a whole bag I do not know what to do with! Lol).
Separate your clothespins pieces into pairs and then invert the pairs lining up the hole like this:
Glue the two halves together making sure the holes line up. You will have to be quick with this part. The hot glue sets up pretty fast and you won’t get a second chance to line it up properly. Trust me. I have messed up a ton on this part! 🙄
This is what it should look like. Repeat with the remaining fourteen clothespin halves.
Take four of the glued pieces and arrange them like this. Glue the left and right pieces together and then add the top and the bottoms pieces. Remember the glue dries pretty fast. Make sure to slide the piece around so that it won’t glue itself to your work surface.
Next, lay out two sections diagonally making sure to line up the pieces as straight as possible. Glue in place.
Line up the last two pieces and glue in place. Don’t worry about extra glue on the front of your piece. We will be covering that up with our embellishments. Yay!
Now, the next part is totally up to you! Choose whatever you would like to embellish your star. I made a smaller version of the star and glued it to the front of the larger one (see the feature photo). I love how it turned out! I also like to use my flower-shaped paper punches to cut out flowers from a tin disposable cookie sheet. This little bit of metal adds sparkle to your piece!
Cut a 10” piece of baker’s twine and knot the two ends together. Glue the knot onto the back of your star and hang your new ornament on your Christmas tree!
Or on a package, a doorknob, a kitchen cabinet… you get the idea!
If you decide to make this sweet ornament, please send me pictures. I would LOVE to see your take on it. Enjoy your holidays!
