DIY Clothespin Birds
Clothespin Birds are for sure a thing in our house. Actually, sentimentally they are one of my favorite projects lately. Why?
See this guy? Yep. He made the original birds. Probably not what you were expecting! In case you don’t follow me on Instagram this is Dustin. (Wait. Whhhhaaaat?! You totally should. It’s full of fun stuff, if I do say so myself.)
Our story (Cliffsnotes edition)
I met him when I was 15 at my very first job. I was a florist at a grocery store and he worked at the meat counter. Gosh, I would flirt with him all the time. We lived in the same neighborhood and I was friends with his younger brother, so outside of work we saw each other here and there. Over the years, we grew up, had kids, got married, got divorced and reconnected. Now, we have a house, seven kids between the two of us, three dogs and he just quit his job to come blog with me full time. I’m pretty lucky to not only be with my best friend, but work with my best friend doing something that I love to do!
But the birds. This was the first DIY project I gave to Dustin to do. See, he’s an amazing cook. (Allllll these recipes? They are his. All the recipes on our slow cooker/Instant Pot site? Yeah. Those are his too.) Crafting though? Well, he’s getting better. Better-ish. But these cute little birds are so easy that literally anyone can do it. Even Dustin. 🙂
Our kids thought they were pretty cool too. So we seriously have a flock of clothespin birds at our house. Luckily, we’ve found some great uses for them. Sometimes, they are great bookmarks. Sometimes, we use them as chip clips in the pantry. We’ve added magnets to the back of some for the refrigerator so they can hold school papers and art work. And some, well, some are just put around our daughter’s room for decoration. And for holding notes. Notes are very important.
To make the clothespin birds, you will need:
- Clothespins (Buy them online. I thought these would be easy to find, and maybe it was just my stores, but it took me forever and I ended up buying expensive ones at the craft store. I tried big box stores and the dollar store without any luck. I wish I would have just picked them up on Amazon and been done!)
- Acrylic Paint – Your choice of colors (For small children you can use tempera paint)
- Paint Brushes
- Feathers
- Googly Eyes (Small ones)
- Orange foam sheet
- Glue (I used a low temperature hot glue gun, but Elmer’s glue would work too!)
Instructions for making clothespin birds:
- Pick out the paint colors that you wish to use. We used pastel colors for our birds.
- Paint your clothespins in the color of your choice. The paint will dry quickly, but be sure to allow it to fully dry.
- With the handle of your clothespin up, attach 2 googly eyes.
- Cut out a small triangle beak out of the orange foam sheet.
- Glue the beak onto your bird.
- On the back of the clothespin, glue a few feathers.
- Allow to dry.
- Attach your bird so he (or she!) can stand! You are finished!
Ta da! Aren’t they cute? Like I said, our flocks are everywhere!
You know we love literacy crafts! Remember our craft to go with Rot, the Cutest in the World?
Check out these fun books to read about birds that would turn this into the perfect literacy craft:
Speaking of literacy crafts, have you joined our kids’ virtual book club? It’s free and totally fun! Join here!
And don’t forget to pin our DIY Clothespin Birds: Crafts For Kids!