How to Make a Clothespin Toy Soldier

Creating a toy soldier out of old-fashioned clothespins is a fun and easy craft for children. This little soldier could be a Christmas tree ornament or could hang anywhere to display your child's handiwork. You could also use these instructions to make other characters from the clothespins.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Round top clothes pin
• Craft paint (red and black)
• Markers (red and black)
• Thin gold cord
• Small black pompom
• Tiny red pompom
• Black felt
• Glue (either craft glue or a hot-glue gun)

1. Use a round-top clothespin to make your toy soldier. You can find these clothespins in most craft shops. Paint the top of the clothespin red up to the ball, which is used as the head, on top of the pin.

2. Paint the bottom half of the clothespin black to resemble the soldier's pants.

3. Cut two small ovals from black felt for your toy soldier's arms. Using a hot-glue gun, attach your felt ovals to each side of the clothespin. You could hot glue some gold cord to the outsides of his pants for embellishment.

4. Give your soldier a hat by gluing on a small piece of the gold cording around the head to make your soldier a chin strap. Then glue on a black pompom to the top of the clothespin, topping it off with a smaller red pompom.

5. Mark his face and buttons on his shirt with markers. And your toy soldier is complete.

Tips & Warnings

• To make your clothespin toy soldier into an ornament, just hot glue a small loop of the gold cording underneath the back of his neck.
• Don't let the children use the hot-glue gun. Craft glue works just as well and is safer for the kids.