When our identity as the Craft Corner lady is revealed in public, we are often asked if coming up with projects each week is difficult.
| Plain masks in various styles
Specialty feathers, faux butterflies and silk-flower leaves Rhinestones, beads and sequins Hot-glue gun |
While making a featured item and writing the instructions for a weekly column may put the pressure on at times, coming up with new ideas is not a problem.
There are so many new craft products, kits, magazines and classes around that the supply of project ideas is endless – not to mention that the above resources often lead to combining techniques or modifying skills for original creations of our own.
And then there are the ideas that come to us via readers, friends and co-workers, such as the craft featured in this week’s column: a beaded safety pin night light.
A friend, returning from a recent vacation, brought us a night light adorned with a small, beaded shade made from safety pins, and suggested that it might make a fun project – especially for the holiday season.
We agreed, and after constructing a shade by studying the original, came up with the following instructions (with the help of notes from our friend’s sister) for creating a shade of your own.
To make the night light shown in our photo, you’ll need 13 large safety pins (No. 3), 6mm round and 6mm tribead (or twirlies) plastic crystal beads, craft wire, wire cutters or old scissors and a night light (switch or sensor).
The light used for our sample is a standard switch light, but be aware that night light sizes may vary, so you may need more or fewer pins to go around the light.
Also, when we purchased the materials to make our own sample, we found that even at $7.99 per bag it was less expensive in the long run to buy a large bag of No. 3 safety pins than to buy several bags of assorted sizes to get the necessary number of large pins.
And you may need to purchase several bags of beads to get the necessary number of same-color beads; the store we tried sold bags of mixed-color beads only.
Once your light, beads, pins and other materials are assembled, you’re ready for step one, which is to open the safety pin and string beads on the open side in the following order: 2 round beads, 1 tribead, 1 round, 1 tribead, 2 round.
When the beads are threaded, close the pin (this may be a little tough to do, but the pin will close with a little pressure), and each pin will form one bar of a little “cage” that bows slightly in the middle to fit around the light bulb.
Repeat the process of beading on all 13 of the safety pins.
The next step is to cut a length of wire (about 10 inches is good) and thread the wire through the heads of the pins, placing a round bead between each pin around. Twist the ends of the wire together, trim to about inch and tuck the twisted end to the inside of the shade. This will form the bottom of the shade.
For the top of the shade, cut another length of wire and thread it through the holes in the ends of the pins, placing a tribead between each pin. Twist the ends of the wire together, trim and tuck as above.
Place the shade over the light with the heads of the pins at the bottom, and you’re done.
As always, use the basic instructions for this project and your own imagination to create a variety of different looks.
Check out the bead section at your local craft store (or a store devoted solely to beads) for an array of bead choices: glass, pottery, wooden, metallic and those with unusual shapes.
Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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