Projects to Personalize, Decorate, Embellish, and Otherwise Jazz up Your Clothespins

painted clothespins image via ShutterstockPlain wooden clothespins are as versatile as they are inexpensive, but unlike their plastic cousins, plain wooden clothespins are…well, plain!

If you’d like a little more variety in your clothespin stash, check out these simple crafty projects that will show you how to decorate, embellish, paint, color, and otherwise jazz up your clothespins:

  • Decoupaged with Scrapbook Paper: I don’t like to throw even the smallest leftover bits and bobs of scrapbook paper into the recycling bin. Small bits of pretty paper can be punched into confetti, glued into a collage, or, as this scrapbook paper clothespin tutorial from John and Sherry Petersik from Babycenter shows, used to cover clothespins. Clothespins like these work well in your crafting studio, in a child’s bedroom or homework center, or as gift tag holders.
  • Embellished with Doodads: Nap Time Journal demonstrates how great clothespins can look when they’re embellished not with paper, but with actual stuff. This particular project results in Halloween-themed embellished clothespins, but I’m also thinking how awesome clothespins would be embellished with Scrabble tiles, vintage keys, buttons, tiny animal toys snuck away from my daughters’ immense stash, acorns, LEGOs…
  • Stamped Clothespins: For stamps that are decorative, and yet still allow the beauty of the unfinished wood to play the major role, check out these stamped clothespins from Pin and Paper. Whether they’re holiday-themed, personalized, or simply labeled “to-do” and “bills to pay,” they immediately become a far more efficient organizational tool.
  • Fabric-Covered Clothespins: Here’s a special project just for your sewing room: fabric-covered clothespins from Creature Comforts (scroll down to her second tutorial in the post). These clothespins not only use up those teeny-tiny scrippy scraps of fabric that otherwise almost inevitably end up in the waste stream, but also, the results? Are gorgeous! What a wonderful way to show off a truly special fabric.
  • Painted Clothespins: If you’re more artistic than me, you’ll want to try painting clothespins. And not just with a couple of coats of acrylic, either–I’m talking detail! Quiltycat painted herself a set of kittycat clothespins; with a few tiny brushes of your own, you could make a set of dinosaur clothespins for a kiddo, or clip-on labels for the toy baskets that actually show the kids what toys go in them. Now they have no excuse not to tidy up!
  • Magnetic Clothespins: Do any (or all!) of the above to your clothespins, and then glue on a magnet for instant double-duty on a refrigerator or magnet board.

[Image Credit: painted wooden clothespins photo via Shutterstock]

8 thoughts on “Projects to Personalize, Decorate, Embellish, and Otherwise Jazz up Your Clothespins”

  1. I wonder if others have had the same problem as I. I use clothes pins for everything. But when I shop to get more, I find only plastic ones, not wooden. I love the wooden. Are they edging toward being obsolete?

    1. I’ve had my current stash for about five years now, but I did buy them at Target, yikes. My Target has a good selection of laundry stuff–mesh laundry bags, clothesline stuff–does everyone’s? I’m also thinking that a more upscale-y store like The Container Store or Whole Foods might have them in their laundry section? Otherwise , that’s why they invented the internet!

  2. Pingback: How-to: Dyed and Glittered Clothespins

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top