As I sat at my craft desk today, waiting for inspiration to strike, I started to sort through my bottom drawer. It's where all sorts of odds and ends are swept, or stored, waiting for a future project. Right under a ginormous bag of clothes pins was a box of small red and silver Christmas ornaments. Some are shiny, some are sparkly. All of them were beautiful.
The clothes pins were a pick up I found at Goodwill, probably close to a year ago now. I saw them, that huge, beautiful bag of clothes pins, and I just knew they were a crafting gift from some former crafter, right to me, a present crafter.
But alas, inspiration never hit, and they got stashed away in my bedroom. When I recently started to really go head first back into crafting, I rediscovered them.
I'm rambling again, aren't I? All right, let's get on with the tutorial.
Christmas Magnet Clips
You'll Need:
Small ornaments, buttons, or bells
Hinged Clothes Pins
Hot Glue
Magnet Strips (Tip- save all those odd-ball, flat printed promotional magnets you get, and cut them up to use for projects like this!)
Ribbon
- Start by cutting out strips of both magnet and ribbon the length and width of the clothing pins. If the ribbon is prone to fraying, use your favorite no-fray method. There are products available, or you could just use a dab of glue on the ends.
- Spread a thin layer of hot glue on one side, and smooth the magnet onto the pin.
- Spread another thin layer of hot glue on the other side, and smooth the ribbon onto it.
- Position your embellishment on top, and figure out how much and where to put the glue, then spread thin layers of hot glue to the places where you need it. Press the embellishment firmly into place, and let dry.
These clips are super easy, and while not original, they are fun, and cheap to make. You can use them to showcase your child's artwork, photos, shopping lists, or just about anything, really!
My total cost was FREE, because it was items I had on hand. To go out and purchase the items, though, would still be pretty inexpensive.
Christmas Ornaments- $1 for 12 at Dollar Tree
Clothing Pins- $1 for 24 at Dollar Tree
Ribbon- 3-4 yards for $2 at Walmart
I picked up a multi-pack of Christmas ribbon over at the Target Dollar Spot- $1 for 6 spools of thin Holiday printed ribbons. The downside is that each spool contains just 18 inches of ribbon. Right now, they have 2 sets. The first is traditional Christmas- red, green, white, with some solids and some patterns. The other is pinks, purples, blues, with checkered material, and snowflake material. At 18", it's just right for small bows, or making one of these clips! Or rather 6-8 of these clips per ribbon. I only used a small section and made 3.
It would be easy enough to make a dozen of these for around $2-$2.50 total.
Good luck! Don't forget, if you see something here that you like, and make, share your photos with us! I would love to see things I've helped inspire.
In the above photo, you'll see my lovely little snowflake Christmas candle holder, again, right? Well, note the small one next to it! I was at Goodwill (yes, again) the other night, and found that little guy. It's a picture frame that can be hung as an ornament, or it has the stand on the back to stand it up. The enamal is a really deep red, but unless it's directly under a bright light, it looks black. I just love it next to the big one, though, since it matches it so well!
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