In December, 2001, my friend Belinda and I traveled to New York City.  We did lots of after Christmas shopping which included a trip to Macy’s.  There on a beautifully appointed Christmas tree were cute little red rose clip-ons.  I do not recall the exact price per clip, but it was expensive.

Literally, they were just a painted clothespin, a little ribbon, and a red rose hot glued together.  Wanting to save some money, I went home and made about 20 for my tree.  I think I spend about $20 for all of them!

These are a great way to add a bit of color to your tree.  You can use any type of flower or glueable object.  Maybe you just want to put big bows on the clips.  Or birds would be really cute!

The other thing I like about these adornments is that you put it exactly where you want it on the tree.  I always have problems with ornaments not hanging exactly where I want them.  It seems like the hangers are always too long or too short.  Since the rose is clipped onto a specific branch, it is exactly at the position and height you choose.

To make the clips like mine, you will need:

Clothespins.   You need the wooden ones with the spring in the middle.  Click here to locate them on Amazon.com.

Ribbon.  How much you need will depend on how many clips you make.  I like to use the kind with wire in the edges so that I can position the ribbon once on the tree, and it will stay in place.

Silk flowers.  I purchased bunches of red, open flowers so they took up more room on my tree.  Small buds would have looked skimpy on my big tree.  If I had used the buds, I could have put two or three on each clip.

Spray paint.  It will be used to paint the wooden clothespin.  I used silver to go with my tree.  You could use dark green if you want the clips to blend with the tree or an accent color.  Not much of the clothespin shows, but some might…depending on the openness of your tree.

Hot glue gun with glue sticks.

Wire cutters.

Scissors.

 

First, take the clothespins apart.  You will have two wood pieces and spring for each clothespin.  Paint the wooden pieces with the spray paint.  You will need to spray one side, let them dry, then turn over and paint the other side.  Once they are painted, put the clothespins back together.

Decide what you want your clip to look like by making a sample.  Either make a bow with your ribbon or just cut a strip longer than your flower is wide so that about an inch peeks out on either side of the rose.  I had a limited quantity of ribbon, so I did not tie bows with my ribbon.  I cut strips that were 12 inches in length.

Glue the strip or bow of ribbon to the clothespin.  Place it next to the spring, but a little closer to the clip end.  See the photo. Let the glue dry a bit before proceeding.

Using your wire clutters, clip a set of leaves off and glue them next to the ribbon.

Next, using your wire cutters, clip a rose off the bush.  Make sure you don’t clip so close to the base of the rose that the petals are no longer secure. Hot glue the rose on top of the ribbon, at the same spot the ribbon was glued to the clip.  You may have to try a few positions before you find one that allows the rose to lie as flat as possible.  Let dry.

If you aren’t happy with the look, make some adjustments.  Once satisfied, do an assembly line to make the rest of your clips.

These can be used on your Christmas tree, wreaths, on the hanging loop of stockings, as a package clip-on, and so much more!  Since I made red roses, I also use them with Valentine’s Day decorations.

This is a fun and easy project to do with your kids.  Let them pick what they glue on the clips.  I could see Matchbox cars on a little boy’s tree or bright Gerber daisies on a little girl’s tree.  Just be sure you do all the gluing if they are young.  The hot glue hurts when it touches skin!

I hope you enjoy this craft which is so easy and fun!