Easy Clothespin Poinsettias

There has long been a standing argument in my family about how to pronounce poinsettia. My mother says it pwon-uh-set-uh. But after a quick Google search I found that my father, at least in this case, is right. But in the moment, at the store, I didn’t ask where I could find these pwonuhsetuhs because I was too embarrassed because I genuinely wasn’t sure how to pronounce it :)

Even if I can’t freaking say it, this holiday season I am super into poinsettias Checking out at Michael’s with my mom we saw the prettiest potted poinsettia in the online pick up area. Though we had travelled the whole store, we never saw them and seeing it right then I really wanted one.

And so as soon as I got home I ordered one to pick up myself the next day. There’s something about me that people think they need to explain everything to me and so I was informed on pick up that this was most definitely NOT a living plant that does NOT need to be watered. Um, okay, thanks! Maybe that’s a problem they’ve been dealing with this year? …people returning soggy fake Christmas plants? :)

Poinsettia Crafts Aplenty This Year

When I’m obsessed with something I want to see it everywhere including on my craft table! Noticing my shoebox full of clothespins in my craft closet it clicked in my head… and now clothespin poinsettias are a thing!

I love this craft because it’s cheap and great for all ages. Even as a fairly experienced crafter I had fun with this project. But it’s something even kids could get in on. Want to see how easy it is for all your crafters to make them?

How to Make the Top and Bottom Clothespin Poinsettia Pieces

There are a lot of fun shapes you can make with clothespins but I settled on 2 different designs.

The bottom design has the fat ends of the pins meet in the middle. The top, smaller design is open in the center. The 2 designs stacked make a little nest to hold the gold glitter balls so that they don’t roll away.

For the bottom flower, carefully remove the metal spring from 8 regular-sized clothespins. Glue 4 of the pairs back to back to form a dart shape. Glue the remaining 4 pairs together at the sharply angled section (where you squeeze to open) to form arrow shapes. For the top flowers remove the spring from 8 smaller clothespins and glue together all 8 pairs into the arrow shape.

Allow the pin pairs about 30 minutes to dry. Glue the pairs together to form the top and bottom layers of the clothespin poinsettias as shown above.

How to Make Clothespin Poinsettias

I decided that I wanted my two poinsettia layers to be distinctly different because I wanted them to be recognizable as clothespins. Feel free to paint both of your layers the same color if you would prefer their source material to be a little harder to identify :)

Paint your clothespins red, making sure to work paint into the nooks and crannies and allow to dry. An hour is good, overnight is best.

It’s a bit difficult to accurately gauge exactly where the two layers of pins are going to meet. I tried and failed and so my best effort was to put tiny dabs of Tacky Glue all around like you see above. Because Tacky Glue is thick and doesn’t run it will just dry anywhere it doesn’t connect with the layer below. It will also dry clear so that it isn’t noticeable.

Stack the smaller flower on top of the larger placing them so that the petals stagger.

Embellishing Your Clothespin Poinsettias

I think at this point you can tell what is being made but adding something gold to the center really makes them look like poinsettias!

I used gold ball filler that I picked up at Hobby Lobby that you can also purchase at Amazon. Chunky gold glitter would also look nice instead of the balls!

To apply the balls start with a larger one right int he center using a healthy dab of Tacky Glue to set into place.

Place medium-sized balls in each of the little gaps around the center gluing directly onto the pins. Finish with a last layer of the smaller balls glued to both the center ball and the two larger balls below that it touches.

Place somewhere flat to dry overnight.

That’s How You Make Clothespin Poinsettias!