September 2, 2010

Clothespin Love

Oh how I love the clothespins. I think they are one of the niftiest inventions ever. Did you know that the first clothespin was invented by David M. Smith in 1853? The Shakers actually used a version of a clothespin before that though. Wow, clothespins have been around for a long time. Growing up, we hung laundry out on the line any time that weather permitted. I remember my mother provided me with a step stool so that I could reach the clothesline to hang out clothes. I must have been a youngin' to have been that short. And every morning before school, it seemed that she had a fresh load of laundry for me to hang out. I can remember scurrying to hang the last items before the bus arrived. I was so embarrassed that my friends got to see my entire family's underwear hanging on the clothesline.

But somehow still today I have acquired a love of clothespins. I use them for hanging out laundry obviously.....but I also use them as chip clips and on opened ends of chocolate chips and crackers. Recently the girls ask me for clothespins on game days so that their uniforms stay on the hangers nice and even. You've seen my love for them on my craft projects too. Like the post here, and here, and here, and here, and here....and here. Wow, I use clothespins more than I thought! Any shape and size, I love 'em!
(Pictured: Mini Clothespins, Small Clothespin, Large Clothespin)

And recently our friend Greg installed me a new clothesline. A real clothesline with poles and everything. I was so excited for this surprise. The hubster finally came through for me. :) Now I can hang clothes and vintage goodies til my heart's content.
Just hanging on the line....
All pretty like...
Just a blowin' in the breeze...
All lined up in a row....totally makes me happy. It's the simple things in life, right?
And now I'd like to share my favorite little goodies with you. Along with my Rustic Clothespins, I will be carry Mini Clothespins and Small Clothespins in my Etsy shop.


These are the Mini Clothespins which measure about 1" long. Totally cute by themselves in a little jello mold or jar.....or use them to clip papers together, use them on cards, hang a cute pennant clothesline, hang photos, etc. I'll have some cute projects on the blogaroonie soon.
And here are the Small Clothespins that measure about 1-3/4" long. Use them for the same ideas as above.....or embellish and clip to treat sacks or a bundle of cards. Oh how I love them!
And here's a new color in the Rustic Clothespin lineup. The new color is Marigold. Ohhhh so pretty for this time of year. And there's still a few of the Rusty Pumpkin Rustic Clothespins available too.
The Mini Clothespins and Small Clothespins will be sold in sets of 10 and will be packaged in small glassine bags with a label. The Marigold Rustic Clothespins will be sold in sets of 5 and also packaged in glassine bags. Stay tuned for more fun projects using all sizes. Thanks for stopping by today! Time to go hang out some laundry.....oh and now.....I try to hang our underwear to the back just in case we have visitors. ;)

10 comments:

wandykj said...

I too have a love for clothespins! My son actually purchased me a giant pink one from WalMart for my birthday-love, love it:) As for hanging out clothes, I remember doing that too-I always hung the underwear in the middle of the umbrella-style clothesline so the neighbors wouldn't see it-LOL!!!

Don't ya just love the smell of fresh hung out sheets:)

Keep the ideas coming!
Wanda

Debra said...

I love my clothesline, except it is a bit off kilter...the boys ran into the pole with the golf cart. They were avoiding our black lab who was chasing them...sigh..not to mention they shouldn't have been messing with the golf cart...sigh .And now I can't hang out my quilts because they drag on the ground...sigh

dolcreations said...

I love clothespins too! I loved your post today!!!!You have a way of making your posts the BEST!

rebecca said...

I love clothes off the line. When I was a kid, and living on the farm, one of my favorite memories is my Mom bringing in my Dad's long John's in the middle of winter....they were frozen solid, and she would finish drying them on the backs of chairs....we used to try and make them stand up....thanks for the memories....

Unknown said...

we use to hang our clothes on a clothesline..luckily living in the desert it didn't take long for them to dry! also we use to hang the undies on the inside lines!!! that way no one could see! sorry - but i'll take a dryer anyday!! the clothes are softer...to me anyway.

Turtle In The Sand said...

Oh the memories. Monday was wash day (wringer washer and all). We had rows of clothes lines with notched poles. We would hang our clothes on the lines and then use the notched poles to raise every other line up in the air so the clothes would get more air and dry faster. I love the dryer for most things now, except the sheets. Wandykj is right. There is nothing better than the smell of sheets fresh off the line.

Do you believe my homeowners won't let us have outside clothes lines. I guess they did like people looking at their underwear too! :)

Anette Eakins said...

Your clothesline with all your pretty white doillies (sp?) looks so pretty! I was waiting for a shot with your family's undies though - Just kidding! -LOL!
I remember hanging out clothes on the line when growing up, we never had a dryer. I grew up in Germany and I think even today a lot more people dry their clothes on the line over there. I remember one thing I used to hate though- my jeans were always hard as a rock after drying outside and in the winter it was a big pain to get all the clothes to dry in the laundry room in the basement.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane! I love your blog, you always have such creative and pretty ideas for packaging up little presents!

Monique said...

Great post... I smell the fresh doilies in the wind!!

Karen said...

I'm not someone who's overly keen on household chores, but hanging laundry on the line is definitely the exception. I find it so soothing to be out in the fresh and breeze, listening to the birds, pegging up the laundry. It's so satisfying to see it all out drying in the wind. thanks for the great blog post about one of my favourite things!

Mary Q Contrarie said...

I hang all my clothes on a wooden clothes drying rack for drying. I have been looking for a large clothes pen that will clip onto the arms. Let me know if you find one that would work for that.

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