How to Make a Patriotic Fourth of July Clothespin Wreath

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When it comes to decorating for holidays, I’m a big believer in going all out for Christmas. However, for this Fourth of July, since we were in town, I thought it might be nice to add a little bit of red, white and blue to celebrate.

If you’re like me and like to browse around Pinterest for crafty decoration ideas, you’ve probably seen that clothespin wreaths seem to be all the rage right now. I finally decided that I’d try my hand at making one, too.

Materials

I’ve included affiliate links to some of my favorites:

• 14.25-inch Wire Frame Wreath
• 85 clothespins (28 red, 28 white, and 22 blue)
• Red, white and blue spray paint
• 13 Wooden Stars (assorted sizes)
• E6000 glue
• Ribbon

I was very picky in wanting all my spray paint to have a satin finish so I used Rust-oleum’s Painter’s Touch. You may choose to use semi-gloss or a mix of the two.

This was also my first opportunity to use my new spray shelter and turn table that my dad got me for my birthday. What a great dad, right? I have to tell you I am in love with my spray shelter! What a great invention and I don’t have to worry about getting paint on the driveway, the cars, or my plants! I did use four bricks in the corners to weigh it down since it was windy, but it worked great especially with the turn table.

1. Spray paint your wire wreath frame.

I used blue because I thought it faded into the background. You can use white or red if you choose.

2. Spray paint your clothespins.

Take three empty boxes (one for each color) and clip the clothespins to the flaps. I put each box on my turn table inside my spray shelter and was able to turn the box and move the flaps up and down to get great coverage! I would love to say it was my idea, but I got it from The Krazy Coupon Lady. Genius!!

3. Spray paint your stars.

The number is really up to you – thirteen seemed like a good number to represent the thirteen original colonies. Some have used one size of stars. The three different sizes added some dimension that I liked. I used a sheet of craft paper to put my stars on my turn table in the spray shed. Of course, I painted a few extra, just in case.

4. Place clothespins.

If you look at your wreath like a clock, I place the blue clothespins from 8 o’clock to 11 o’clock. The first clothespin goes on the inside two wires, the second on the second two wires.In other words, if you number the wire rings 1-4 from inside to out, the first clothespin gets put on rings 1 and 2 and the second one gets put on rings 2 and 3.

Continue to alternate the clothespins’ placement. Some people also pin one towards the inside and one towards the outside. I liked mine all facing inward, but again, it’s up to you.

Once you’ve placed all the blue clothespins, it’s time for the “stripes.” Start at the top part of the blue section by adding four red clothespins (again alternating how you attach them to the wreath), followed by four white ones. Continue adding clothespins until you reach the bottom of the blue section. You may have to adjust your placement just a little bit, but it worked out almost perfect for me in terms of spacing.

5. Attach stars.

I will admit I love my glue gun.  I used the same glue gun for almost 20 years.  When it finally broke last month, I thought I would cry. Then I found a newer version of the exact same glue gun and everything was OK. However, the glue gun was an epic fail for this project. The glue doesn’t seem to like adhering to the paint. E6000, my back-up glue, worked fine.

6. Hang wreath

What do you think? I’d love to see some of your patriotic decorations. Maybe next year, I’ll add to my wreath!