Cute Clothespin Decorations

Mommy and Kiddie Craft :)

I think for every few crafts I post there will have to be a mommy and kiddie craft since my 9 and 4 year old love to craft as well.  Tonight my little helper was my 4 year old girl, Keilani.  We are making cute little clothespins that can be used for many different purposes.  To use on a fridge as a note or photo holder glue a magnet to the back.  You can also loop a ribbon to the back to hang on the wall in the kiddies room for photos or their art work.  I recommend using a glue gun that is cool to the touch.  I have burnt off alot of skin from my hot glue gun when my kids got to anxious or were running around with the puppy and let me tell you it is not fun at all!!!! Here we go....

Materials:

Clothespins

Acrylic Paint

Paint Brush (smaller work best for details,

one medium for all over color)

Waxpaper or newspaper

Ribbon

Beads, gems or other embellishments

Glue Gun

Glue Sticks

Skewers (sticks)

Start by having your child paint the entire clothespin...



As pictured below, I used the skewers(stick) to hold down the clothespin once it had alot of paint on it (keeps things a little bit cleaner).  I also used them while my daughter was adding her design.  She chose to do polka dots in three different colors.  When doing dots you can either use the opposite side of the paint brush or the flat end of the skewer.  Make sure to do a test dot on waxpaper just in case there is too much paint on the stick. (kids tend to go crazy on the dipping :P)

While waiting for the design to dry cut about a 4-5 inch ribbon....if you would like a second color cut the same length and glue the ends to the bottom ribbon.

Fold the ends to the back and glue together.  The smaller the circle the smaller the bow will be.

Pinch the center of the ribbon together to shape the bow seen below.  Secure it by gluing and wrapping a skinnier ribbon aroung it a few times to hold it in place.  Embellish the bow with a gem, pearl etc. Than once you have done that glue the bow to the top of the clothespin.