Project Nest! Clothespin chandelier

By Published On: February 15th, 2013

Who knew clothespins could be so cute? Create a chandelier-type […]

ProjectNest-500x150021513bb-inspirationWho knew clothespins could be so cute?
Create a chandelier-type hanging for your little one’s nursery.

021513bb-suppliesCost: Less than $10
Total time:
About 2 hours
Supplies:

  • Clothespins
  • Embroidery rings
  • Twine

The clothespins can be found at any discount or craft store (you’ll find them cheaper at Wal-Mart or Target than your will the craft store as a general rule—I paid around $3 for 200 clothespins and only used a little over 100); I’ve also heard of people picking them up at dollar stores. Embroidery rings can be found at a craft or sewing store (around $1.50 a piece). I order my twine online, but if you don’t already have some at home and don’t want to deal with shipping, etc., you might be able to find it locally; if not, yarn, fishing wire or pretty much anything else will work just as well.
Instructions:
Step 1: Remove the outer layer of your hoops (the ones with the hardware) and put to the side. 021513bb-rings
Step 2: Put your larger two hoops aside for now, and start adding clothespins to your smallest hoop.

021513bb-addclips 021513bb-addclips2 021513bb-addfinalpins

Keep going until you have clips all the way around.
Step 3: Cut three long pieces of twine (or whatever you’re using). These are going to hold the entire chandelier together, so go long. Really long.
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Step 4: Fold your piece of twine in half, and slide the loop part over the top of the hoop and the side with the ends under the bottom. (You might have to wiggle around the pins a bit to get the twine right up against the hoop.)
021513bb-loop 021513bb-looptightSlip the ends of your twine through the hoop and pull tight.
Step 5: Do this two more times, spacing your twine pieces so your hoop hangs fairly evenly when you pick it up. (From here on out, you’ll be flipping your project upside down and working with your hoop on top.)
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Step 6: You’re ready to create your next hoop, but this is where things get tricky. You’re going to need to elevate your hoop, so find a few same-size items to prop it up on.
Note: Take into consideration how far apart you want your layers to be, and you’ll need to pin a couple of clothespins on the empty hoop to figure that out. So I grabbed three small jars, then attached three pins to the hoop and propped them up on the jars to give me the right height. Use whatever is handy, but the more level your objects are, the straighter your final product will hang.021513bb-nexthoop
Step 7: Working carefully to keep your hoop balanced, wrap the twine from your smallest hoop around your middle hoop, too (just a general wrap around). You’ll want to go straight up and drape it over the top …
021513bb-overthetop
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… then loop it around.
Now take that piece of twine and stretch it straight across the hoop, looping around that side too. This will give your finished product more stability.021513bb-stretchacross
Step 8: Do that with all three pieces of twine, and then pick the whole thing up by the pieces of twine to see how if it hangs evenly. Make adjustments if necessary.
021513bb-allthreetwine
Step 9: Time to add your top (and largest) hoop! Find something even taller to prop it up on with a few clips—the same process we used in step 6. As you can see, I used a couple of glasses and spools of twine.021513bb-hoopthree
Step 10: Repeat steps 7 and 8, looping, wrapping and stretching your pieces of twine across the top.
021513bb-pulluptwine
So you should have something like this, when you pick it up:
Time to finish adding pins to the hoops! 
Step 11: Clip, clip, clip on pins. I found that it was easiest to hold with one hand and clip with another.
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Tip: See how the twine is kind of loose and stretched out in the picture? You’ll want to clip two clothespins tightly around it so it doesn’t slide.
021513bb-clipstogether
I don’t recommend clipping on top of the twine, though, because that makes it hard to “jiggle” the final product around and get it hanging exactly like you want.
Here’s what my final project looked like.
021513bb-final
I love it! It hangs just a little wonky, which is perfect for my family. (We’re wonky folks.) If you’re a perfectionist you could go back and line up the pins a little more uniformly.
You could also add all your clips to each ring up front and then twine it up—I tried it both ways and found that it was easier for me to adjust the twine to my liking without all those clips already hanging on, but it works either way!
Of course, you could also dress up the pins before adding them on, if the plain wood doesn’t do it for you.
021513bb-embellishsupplies
021513bb-allcuteclipsYou could add a couple strips of washi tape …
… or cover the whole thing with tape! The kind they sell at Target (usually on the office supplies aisle) is the perfect size to cut in half and cover both the front and back of the pin.
Paint on some stripes …
… use the end of your paintbrush to add some dots …
… add a layer of shiny metallic gold …
… or fancy it up with a little glitter paint.
All so pretty!
I’m debating whether to leave mine plain and hang it in the laundry room, or maybe go metallic and hang it over my dining room table. My daughter is pushing for a coat of bright yellow spray paint so she can hang it in her room. I think we might have to make a few more so we can both be happy!
Happy crafting, mamas!