Clothespin Message

My mom wasn't have a great day so I made this to cheer her up. This project was inspired by a pin from pinterest.com (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Da7lZcSD08/Tr-4jEpQBTI/AAAAAAAAAUY/1jgseQhU9gI/s1600/U%2527ve+got+mail%2521.jpg); when I saw it, I immediately knew it would make her smile.

These would work great as little notes left on desks or for treasure hunts. Or perhaps one of your friends is also feeling down, and you want to cheer him/her up. Any way, these are quick and easy gifts for any and all!

Note: You might notice that the images and words are almost exactly like the ones in this tutorial: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/clothespin-message. This is because I'm the author of that tutorial too, and I just recycled my old photos and words.

Materials

Gather these ingredients:

- pencils
- colored pens or pencils
- markers
- scissors
- glue
- paper
- clothespin
- pizzazz

Exterior Message

Using a pen, write something on the clothespin. You can choose to put "You have a message..." like I did, or come up with something else (such as "YOU'VE GOT MAIL!").
Note: Don't use a marker. I tried this and the marker's ink spread and made my words fat and too close to distinguish.

Envelope

Cut out a rectangle (future envelope) that fits on the jaws of the clothespin . Then let out your creative side and decorate the rectangle before cutting it in half lengthwise.

Glue each half to the clothespin so that the edges match like a puzzle.

Interior Message: Cutting It

Cut out a trapezoid that looks like the one in the picture. It should fit inside the jaws when you open the jaws as wide as possible.

Next, put that trapezoid on your paper and draw a rectangle around it. Using a pencil, lightly trace around the trapezoid in the rectangle before cutting the rectangle out.

By the way, can anyone guess what the book in the background is? (hint: comic of a Studio Ghibli movie)

Interior Message: Writing It

Write your message on the rectangle, making sure that the message is inside the borders of the trapezoid. Also make sure that the trapezoid looks like it is "pointing" to the right.

Then fold the rectangle in half so that the words are on the outside, not inside the fold.

You should then be able to see the pencil line of the trapezoid. Fold the paper along that line so that you get a "flap". Flip the paper over and repeat on the other side with the other trapezoid line.

Once done, erase the trapezoid pencil line.

Gluing

Put glue on both of your flaps (the pink parts in previous step) and place the paper sandwich on the bottom jaw of your clothespin.

Gently close the jaws, and then open them back up to make sure that your message is facing the right way and isn't upside down. Fix the message if it is.

Close the jaws, squeeze them together, and wait a bit for the glue to set.

DONE

Your clothespin message is finally done! Now go out there and use it to bring a smile to someone else's face. ;)