Hand Glittered Wooden Clothespins? Oh yes!
The glittered clothespins may not be an "original" idea but I bet you've not ever seen this adorable DIY Packaging for gifting a set to someone you know?! *wink*
I LOVE how this turned out and I'm going to show you how to make this…but first…
let's talk GLITTER!!
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Ella and I have been crafting together.
One of our most recent projects involved glitter…really pretty glitter in fact…and lots of it.
We were so excited when
Michael's sent us a box filled with a variety of
Recollections Glitter we moved everything off of the dining table and started crafting immediately. It was really hard choosing between the fine, tinsel and chunky glitter varieties, not to mention the different colors available. So instead of picking one or two, Ella and I used them ALL! *wink*
The jars start at $3.99 and can be purchased as a set or individually. I found myself reaching for the Raspberry, Peacock and Citron fine glitters repeatedly and
I actually have a favorite now!
It's this one right here
called "Bling"! Ella calls it the "rainbow" glitter and it actually reminds me of a disco ball! It's really pretty and sparkly and sort of has a touch of each color! LOVE!! *wink*
I decided to get out some wooden circles from my craft stash and we started gluing and glittering. I wasn't sure what we were going to do with them when we were finished (
magnets, banner, tic tac toe game pieces, etc.) but we couldn't contain our excitement for adding sparkle to things so we just went with it and knew we would figure something out along the way.
We got out some wooden stars and glittered those up too. We then added some of the Christmas Tree and Snowflake Glitter to some of the circles and then decided to turn them all into tree ornaments for Ella's little Christmas tree in her room.
We just glued on a loop of Baker's Twine, let them dry and then Ella was happy to add some sparkly ornaments to her already sparkly tree. I think these would be cute tied onto gift packaging too!!
My favorite ornament ended up being one Ella created -
by accident - when she partially painted glue onto a wooden star and then dunked it into the Raspberry glitter. She immediately recognized it as a buffalo - so that's what we are calling it! Our Buffalo Christmas Star Ornament! This is one of those "I'm keeping it forever" ornaments.
See the buffalo's head bent down on the left? It's a silhouette of the side of a buffalo - see it?
If you don't see it, don't tell Ella! I absolutely see it and love that she's the one that told ME what it was!
Over the course of a few days, Ella and I went on to experiment with adding glitter to other wooden objects I had around the house, like these
rock candy sticks from The TomKat Studio. All I did was add glue to the ball on the end of the stick and then I dipped the ball into the jar of green tinsel glitter. I then did another one dipped in red tinsel glitter. I twirled it around in the jar to make sure it was coated nicely and then pulled it out! Super easy and no clean up! *wink* You could use these for those adorable
Hot Chocolate Sticks Kim posted!
And that's how we eventually arrived here...
Mini Glittered Clothespins
I experimented with several different ways of applying the glue: painting it on with a paintbrush, dipping the clothespin into a puddle of glue poured on a plate, spreading a thin layer of glue on a plate and then dipping. I found the easiest way to make these was to designate my pointer finger as the "glue" finger and I just rubbed a small amount of glue onto each clothespin (avoiding the crevice) and then dipped the clothespin into whatever glitter I wanted. Really easy. I also kept a toothpick on hand to remove any extra glitter or glue that tried to attach itself to the crevice found on top of the clothespin. (where the metal spring is exposed).
I plan on using these pretty clothespins to string up the various works of art Ella creates. I'll also be using them to hang up a New Year's Eve banner in our home too and they will be so cute to mark magazine or book pages. When I was finished making them I wanted to gift them and share them with everyone. So that's when I decided to come up with a creative way to package them up!
(left to right: Peacock, Raspberry, Ocean, Citron and Bling)
So let's get to the how-to, shall we?
I've created a free printable so you can easily make your own packaging to gift your own hand glittered mini clothespins. These would be a great gift for the kids to make too. (just saying)
Print onto 8.5" x 11" white card stock and cut out the two separate packaging pieces.
(Fold-over printed packaging and Clothespin Attachment Card)
Fold back opposite edge using crop marks as guides
Insert Clothespin Attachment Card into the lip you created and staple the two pieces together.
(The concept resembles a book of matches).
Fold over the packaging cover and tuck inside the lip you created with the staple.
Flatten packaging using a bone folder or other item to create a nice crease.
Add the clothespins.
Open package cover and start adding the clothespins. It's easiest to start with one clothespin in the middle (should line up with staple) and then add the others to each side of the middle clothespin.
Keep them grouped close together so they fit nicely inside the circle when the cover of the packaging is closed.
I designed the package to fit five small clothespins.
I used "Small Wooden Clothespins" packaged as a set of 20 found in the Office Supply section (not in the craft section) of WalMart.
If you want to get all fancy and
protect the glitter on your clothespins you can add a piece of
clear cello film to the inside of the packaging to create a see-thru window. I just cut a square from a clear cello envelope I already had and used a glue stick to secure it. Easy.
Here's the finished packaging WITH the clear cello added to the circle window.
And here's the finished packaging WITHOUT the clear cello added to the circle window.
Either finish looks great! Personalize your little gift sets by including colors you think the person will love. OR just pick your favorite shade of glitter and create an entire set using it.
You know I'll be doing that with the "Bling" fine glitter! *wink*
I hope you love this idea and will use the FREE download to create your own packaging.
KEEPiNG iT REAL
It took me forever to get the packaging JUST right on this. I wanted to make sure you didn't have any issues printing or assembling it exactly the way you see it here so I tweaked it and tweaked it until it was just right. I may have been OCD about it too. But I'm not confirming that! *wink*
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