How to Make Clothespin Skier Ornaments

This brigade of cute skiers would make anyone giggle. They're so simple, you can make a clothespin ornament for every member of your family.

Here's what you need:

• Wooden clothespins
• Ice-pop sticks
• Bow-tie-shaped sticks
• Paint and paintbrush
• Glue
• Markers

Optional supplies for accessories: patterned and colored washi tape, eye hooks, yarn, pom-poms, wire and cutter, hot-glue gun and glue sticks, buttons, needle and thread, scissors

Here's what to do:

• Paint the clothespins and ice-pop sticks in a variety of desired colors; let dry.
• Glue ice-pop sticks to clothespin's open side for skis; use bow-tie-shaped sticks to make snowboards, if desired.
• Draw eyes, nose, and a mouth on your skiers.
• Decorate skier and skis with patterened washi tape, if desired.
• For the knit hat, hand-screw an eye hook into the skier's head. Wrap the base of the eye hook with yarn and glue end to secure. Glue a pom-pom on top.
• For earmuffs, cut a short length of wire and bend it around the head of the skier. Sandwich wire between the side of the clothespin head and the side of your small button; do this on each side. Hot-glue into place.
• For the pom-pom hat, pull a thread through the eye of a needle and double it up. Push the needle through the center of the pom-pom, but don't pull the thread all the way through. Leave the two open ends on one side and tie a knot on the other; double knot and snip the needle off. Hot-glue pom-pom to skier's head. Use this thread to hang your ornament, or tie a decorative string to the threads to hang.
• For all skiers, thread decorative thread or twine through their "hat" or head accessory of choice, then knot at the top. Hang proudly from the tree for a fleet of slick skiers!

• By Brooke Bunce