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Clothespin Christmas Card Wreath

I first saw this adorable idea for a clothespin Christmas card wreath when I was looking for cute craft ideas for our local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group over the summer. 

Make a Clothespin Christmas Card Wreath to display the cards you receive!

I pinned the image, figuring I’d look at the instructions as it got closer to Christmastime and our December craft.  As is the case so often on Pinterest, I found that the link didn’t go anywhere.  So I started searching, since I really wanted to give credit where it was due.  I finally found the original clothespin Christmas card wreath on Craftiness is Not Optional.

This craft worked out slightly differently for me, considering the fact that I was planning on prepping the craft for 20 women, not just to make one.  Because of this, I did a few things differently, to save time.

Instead of using clothes hangers, I bought a spool of wire, which ended up being far cheaper than buying 20 hangers (with either, make sure that the wire is thin enough to fit through the clothespins- I found that most actual clothes hangers were too thick).  I also chose to dye the clothespins rather than spray paint them.  I love spray painting as much as anyone, but when it came to spray painting 720 clothespins in December, I just didn’t think it sounded like a great time.  I also bought the pony beads in a large package from Amazon.

Learn how to Dye Clothespins at Coffee With Us 3

So we’ll start with dying the clothespins.  If you’re only doing a small batch, you can follow the directions from Rit Dye. I figured for a mass quantity, this was the way to go.  I started by mixing one box of Rit dye with 2 quarts of boiling water in a huge bowl in my sink (apparently you can actually do this in the sink, so if I ever do this again, I will dye them in the sink).  I then added as many packages of clothespins as I could fit in the dye, while still being able to move them freely. 

I stirred the clothespins around every few minutes, letting them dye for 10 minutes.  Then I used tongs to pull handfuls of clothespins out at a time.  I spread them out over paper towels on a cookie sheet (I didn’t want to chance dying my counter top).  After I pulled those out, I put in another batch. 

After the second batch, the water was cooling off, so I added another box of dye and 2 more quarts of boiling water.  Then I put in even more clothespins, since there was more water, and did the same thing over again a couple more times until all the clothespins were dyed.  Then I let them dry well.  I would recommend letting them dry overnight at least- several days would be better.

Each woman got 36 clothespins (that’s how many came in a pack at our dollar store), pony beads, and a piece of wire about 34 inches long.

Bend the wire into a circle, and then start threading on one clothespin, one pony bead, etc.  I started and ended with a clothespin. 

The original instructions say to overlap the two ends of wire and then hot glue them together, but I couldn’t get that to stay.  So I overlapped the wires by about 1 1/2 inches and used masking tape (or duct tape) to tape them together.  It doesn’t matter if it’s not pretty- it will get covered by the ribbon.

I used hot glue to get the ribbon to stay in the right spot over the masking tape, and then tied a bow.

Make a Clothespin Christmas Card Wreath to display the cards you receive!

Do you get or send Christmas cards?  If so, do you display the cards you receive?



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Make a Clothespin Christmas Card Wreath to display the cards you receive!

Jessica

Wednesday 10th of December 2014

that is BRILLIANT! I need a larger one so when I remake it, I'm totally dying my clothespins! awesome!

Jamie H

Friday 12th of December 2014

Thanks Jessica! It was such fun to make, and I really enjoyed learning to dye clothespins-- I see many dyed wood projects in my future!