When Elizabeth and I were making our Princess and the Pea projects I ran to the craft store to look for some felted wool balls…which I had never before purchased and had no idea where to find them. So while I was wandering from aisle to aisle I ran across packages of old fashioned wooden clothes pins and decided to buy a pack. Later that night Grace and I turned them into clothes pin people.
We each painted our own.
I started off with two casual girls for summer.
And I finished with 3 fancy friends.
Grace chose to turn her ladies into people that she knows.
Here we have Simon, Grace, and me.
They are perfect.
And all are loved.I wish I would have taken a photo of the clothes pin packaging but we just ripped into that thing and went to town. But I will tell you a package of like 20 was right around $4. And that we just painted them with acrylic craft paint and then covered them with a coat of clear gloss.Also—these were made to be played with outside.
I know by the end of the season they will be beat up…and peeling…and sad. But we made them to be played with and not for an heirloom. And besides that the rounded points at the end of their feet make them PERFECT for standing up in the grass and the flower beds!
(Flower beds are the most fun—it’s like the people are on a fantastic safari!)
And all are loved.I wish I would have taken a photo of the clothes pin packaging but we just ripped into that thing and went to town. But I will tell you a package of like 20 was right around $4. And that we just painted them with acrylic craft paint and then covered them with a coat of clear gloss.Also—these were made to be played with outside.
I know by the end of the season they will be beat up…and peeling…and sad. But we made them to be played with and not for an heirloom. And besides that the rounded points at the end of their feet make them PERFECT for standing up in the grass and the flower beds!
(Flower beds are the most fun—it’s like the people are on a fantastic safari!)
So that is that!
HooRaY! For Clothes Pin People!
(I might even like them better than the peg people…maybe…)
-liZ
PS—The pattern for the toddler apron is finally fixed. (Elizabeth saved the day again and got it working for me.) So if you wanted to print it out now you can.
I’m in my 40s and this totally reminds me of my gran. She always had wooden pegs like this and my cousins and I used to steal them to make ‘people’ out of. I live in Sydney, Australia and may need to go out and find some now! Thanks so much for bringing back great memories.
What do you use as a brush to paint these little people so accurately? Thanks
When I was a kid, I read in a book about the kids making or having clothespin dolls, probably with these peg type pins. I promptly went out and got my Mom’s clothespins (the rectangular spring kind) off the clothesline and tried to make dolls out of them, and didn’t understand what the appeal was. So less cute. Mom also didn’t appriciate me putting paint and glue on her clothespins. 🙂 It was only a few years ago that I realized that there was another kind of pin, and they were much cuter…