floss-wrapped push pins: a tutorial

floss wrapped push pins tutorial

In chilly January, there’s nothing I like more than throwing on multiple sweatshirts and committing to a stay-in-and-craft day. My yearnings for hues beyond those to be found in the bleak January landscape lead me to appreciate the tiniest pops of color in unexpected places.

For those of you who share this urge to create something small and bright to complement the gray skies, I thought I’d share this little tutorial for floss-wrapped push pins. It’s a small craft that lends itself well to a cozy hour wrapped in a blanket. These thread spool lookalikes are perfect for a sewing room pin board, or tacking big inspirations straight to the wall!

floss wrapped push pins tutorial

For this tutorial you will need:

  • push pins: I found these darling wooden ones at Walmart, but plastic works too (there are plastic thread spools!)
  • Q-tips
  • Standard glue: Elmer’s or Elmer’s school glue, nothing fancy
  • A soda cap or a piece of scrap paper to hold your glue
  • A corkboard or a piece of corrugated cardboard to hold your pins while they dry

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Start by squirting out a small dish of glue to work with. Use a Q-tip to dab a dot onto the push pin.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Cut a piece of floss: 12-14″ should suffice, but be generous since you can always trim off excess when you’re done.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Press the end of the floss onto the push pin at an angle, as shown, so it will be locked in by the wrapping layers. Press it flat with the q-tip, and feel free to add glue on top.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Apply glue to the entire center section of the push pin, then start winding your floss. Work carefully to try and line up each row without overlapping.

    For this step, I held the push pin in my hand, using the pointy end as my handle. It’s much easier to work that way than with it stuck into the corkboard. Don’t stab yourself!

    Wind all the way down the push pin, then wind all the way back up to the top.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    When you’ve made it back to the top, hold the thread at a downward angle, as shown, and apply a dot of glue to the angled section of thread.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Trim the thread tail…

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    …then use a fresh end of a Q-tip to press the floss flat.

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    That’s it! Soon, you’ll have a whole army of tiny thread spools!

    floss wrapped push pins tutorial

    Tiny, bright things for holding tiny, bright things! A winning combination.

    Please share pictures if you make some mini thread spool push pins of your own!

2 Responses

  1. Sunshine says:

    What a fantastic idea. I use push pins for all kinds of stuff around the house – this will make them look so much nicer.

  2. Anna Oates says:

    These are great! And I think I’ve seen this kind of wooden push pins in the Target dollar bin before

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