Pretty pins

Look at these beauties! I was over at Sharon Johnson's blog last week and saw her "Something Pretty" post. Her card had a beautiful stick pin in the ribbon which really added elegance to her card. I ran to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's for some jewelry/bead supplies and made a few of my own. I checked the clearance isle first and found some of the beads there. It wasn't until I got home that I realized I had magnetic beads (no wonder they were marked down to 64 cents from $2.99). I had a hard time lining them up to take a picture because they kept attracting each other. Oh well they should be fine by themselves on a card. So be careful if you get yours at Hobby Lobby. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them for better detail.

Before I knew it I had two dozen of them finished. The headpins weren't that straight to begin with and by the time I pushed the earring backs on the ends they looked rather uneven. I had to do a little straightening before I could take some pictures and it looks like I missed one. I also realized after I finished that I didn't add any beads at the bottom before the end goes on. Take a look at the one on Sharon's blog. I think I like it better with the extra beads. I still want to make some more to share with my friends so I think I will add a bead or two at the bottom. Of course you know there had to be one with a dragonfly. There are different kinds of headpins. Some have just a little ball on top, others have a fancy head. They come in silver, gold and copper/bronze. I chose the silver because that is the color of earring backs I found. You could glue a bead on the end also. The combinations are limitless but feel free to copy mine if you like.

Just a few pointers if you are going to try to make some yourself. Try to get the longer headpins because by the time you put a few beads and spacers on, it doesn't leave much room for the shaft of the pin to be inside the bow. What I mean is- some of your beads will be hidden in the bow. Also since these are headpins, they have a blunted end which is great for the fingers, but you can't poke it through the ribbon easily. You will need to tuck it through the center of the knot; depending on how tight your knot is you might have to take the end off and put it back on once you have it in place. The earring backs are rather hard to push on so you might just want to leave the bow a little loose and push the whole thing through. Also be careful pushing the earring back on because like I said I actually bent one in a 90 degree angle. You will need to add small dabs of glue to keep the beads from sliding down.

Have fun and enjoy!

~Kim