Holiday Decorating Starts Now! With DIY Snowflake Ornaments

When crafting wizard Laura Kaesshaefer sent me a bag of clothespin crafts last year, I was surprised at how artful—not to mention unrecognizable—they were. "The humble clothespin takes on a new life when disassembled!" she wrote, an action accomplished by just twisting the two halves until the metal clip springs off (some wiggling might be required).

Stacked on their flat sides and glued back together, the pieces naturally take circular shapes, one loose and star-like and the other more tightly configured.

We dubbed the first a snowflake ornament (pictured above on the tree) and the latter a trivet (pictured below)—and then rounded the set of wintry crafts into a trio with an idea for a simple clothespin wreath (above, hanging). Since clothespins are mostly the same pale, unfinished color, we also experimented with tea-dying a batch to get an antiqued look.

We loved these crafts, like so many of Laura's, so much that we even installed them at our 2015 pop-up. Here's how to put them all together in just a few minutes:

What you'll need:

• Clothespins of all sizes (We used a variety between 2" and 5" long.)
• For antiquing: Black tea bags and a pot
• For snowflakes: Hot glue and twine
• For trivets and coasters: Wood glue and heavy books
• For wreath: Cardboard, a large mixing bowl, and a barely smaller mixing bowl

How to antique clothespins:

Bring 4 or 5 tea bags to boil in a large pot of water, then turn off heat, dump in clothespins, and let steep overnight. Drain and rinse the clothespins before drying out. For a range of tints, steep some of your clothespins for longer and shorter amounts of time.

How to make clothespin snowflake ornaments:

Dismantle all clothespins, discarding hardware. Dabbing a bit of hot glue between each piece, configure the halves in a snowflake shape by gluing the flat part of the "nose" of each piece to the back side of another. Continue until the circle is fully formed, then string a bit of twine through the center hole for hanging.

How to make clothespin coasters and trivets:

Dismantle all clothespins, discarding hardware. Dabbing a bit of wood glue between each piece, stack the clothespins in a circle by pressing the flat part of the "tails" (that's the pointy side) together. Hold to dry for a few seconds before adding the next piece. Eventually the design will come full circle, then let it rest under a heavy stack of books to be sure it dries evenly.

Smaller clothespins will form coaster-sized rounds, while full-sized clothespins will make trivets.

How to make a clothespin wreath:

Using two mixing bowls, trace a pair of concentric circles about 2 inches apart on cardboard, then cut out the shape. Clip clothespins all around it to make a wreath, then hang with ribbon.

Here are the snowflakes and the wreath installed at our pop-up! Many thanks to Laura for taking the simplest of objects, the humble clothespin, and using it as a building block for decorations we love.

We originally ran this post last holiday season, but brought it back today for a post-turkey ornament-making session.

What are some other ideas for repurposing clothespins (or for what to do with the little metal hinges)? Share your ideas in the comments!