Beaded Safety Pin Crafts

Just about everyone has seen one, and you may have even made one at an arts and crafts booth once. Beaded safety pins are a great way to personalize any accessory or holiday, and, in larger combination, make attractive and inexpensive jewelry. Safety pin jewelry comes in many different styles, some very basic and others so elegant that you might not even recognize the piece as being made of safety pins.

Although most of the information and examples of beaded safety pin art you will find are for jewelry pieces, there are many other other uses of this kind of decoration. From just a few safety pins with colored beads stuck through a purse or outfit, these designs can be amazingly simple. For example, binding a homemade book with industrial safety pins and large beads is a nice way to personalize a gift. Some of the more elaborate uses of beaded safety pin crafts are holiday themed items meant for home decor, specifically Christmas tree ornaments. It is easy to find free patterns online to help customize any decoration.

Of all the different types of beaded safety pin jewelry, lapel pins are perhaps the easiest and most common. They can be made by hanging several smaller safety pins from a larger one, and using the beads on the hanging pins to create a larger pattern, such as a flag. Though holiday-themed lapel pins have always been popular, the flag pin really became known after September 11, 2001. Known as the 9-11 Remembrance pin, citizens made these simple crafts at home and sent the sale proceeds to the memorial fund.

The next most familiar type of beaded safety pin jewelry is the bracelet. Necklaces are less common, but are basically extensions of the styles most common in bracelets. Bracelets come in a surprising number of forms, from basic trains of decorated pins to mass-produced luxury items like those made with gold safety pins. So-called punks, who decorated their bodies and clothing with safety pins, first popularized this craft with a simple chain pinned together and fastened loosely around the wrist. From here, beaded safety pin bracelets have become more elaborate, such as those made by fastening a number of pins to a band of elastic. Although they are still made at home, it is now possible find this style craft in most department or jewelry stores.

Although the original safety pin earring fad was perhaps started by those brave enough to actually wear them stuck through a pierced earlobe, it has become much more elaborate and comfortable. Beaded safety pins are arranged in various designs, sometimes as complex as a mobile, and fastened or tied together with wire when necessary. A traditional hook earring is placed through the top most safety pin, so that the whole arrangement dangles attractively, without pulling at the lobe. For anyone who likes dangle earrings and shiny metal, this is a style sure to please.

Perhaps the best part about beaded safety pin jewelry is that it is easily and cheaply made, which means you can do it at home. All you really need is a collection of safety pins of multiple sizes and several colors of small glass or plastic beads. Although wire is often used to hold together more elaborate pieces of jewelry, it is often unnecessary. The most elegant beaded safety pin accessories involve simply stringing multiple pins together in a larger design. For the most part, this is a very creative craft, allowing for much experimentation, but it is always a good idea to keep in mind the whole item, and not just the piece you are working on. When you connect two pins, note if you will need to connect anything else to this strand. Use colors of beads that look good together, and try to draw attention, with color, away from the more functional aspects of the pins. With a little time and effort, you can completely revitalize your accessory collection.