- 1). Cover your work table with a plastic sheet or scrap paper to make cleanup easier and protect the surface from paint spills.
- 2). Apply washable silver, green or blue paint to wood or plastic clothespins with a paintbrush. Use a paper towel or cotton swab to wipe excess paint off the hinges to ensure they will still open and shut easily when the paint dries.
- 3). Use pinking shears to cut a 3-inch square of silver, light blue, light green or white mesh fabric or tulle to become the dragonfly's wings. The zigzag edge of the pinking shears will keep the fabric from fraying and give it a decorative edge.
- 4). Fold one side of the mesh or tulle fabric up 1/2 inch and making a crease with your fingernail. Flip the fabric over and fold the same edge up 1/2 inch and make another crease. Continue flipping and folding until you have a 1/2-inch-wide strip that resembles a folded paper fan.
- 5). Cut a small slit in the center of the folded strip with scissors. Push the first inch of a 4-inch-long white, green, blue or black pipe cleaner through the hole and twist it around the fabric. Affix the pipe cleaner along the clothespin with adhesive dots, positioning the mesh or tulle wings near the end of the clothespin that will open and shut.
- 6). Affix two plastic wiggle eyes to the end of the clothespin near the wings to create the dragonfly's head. Form the dragonfly's tail by curling the end of the pipe cleaner resting along the other end of the clothespin around a pencil.
- 7). Turn the handmade dragonfly clips into magnets to hold notes, pictures or artwork on a refrigerator or magnet board by affixing a 1-inch-long piece of magnetic tape adhesive to the back of the clothespins.
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