Beaded Safety Pin Craft for St. Patrick's Day

   Beaded safety pin crafts are very inexpensive and fun to make. All you need is some beads and safety pins, and your creativity! To get you started, here are two patterns for St. Patrick's Day, the Irish flag and a shamrock.

If you have never made a beaded safety pin craft before, I recommend you read my short article short article in the Tips and Techniques section first, before beginning.

It is easy to experiment and come up with new patterns. To make your own pattern, use a spreadsheet program like Excel and blacken in squares to see how it will look, then try it out on your own!

This craft is easy for older children, with an adult's help for the threading, which can be a little confusing until you get the hang of it.

There are also other patterns within this website for different holidays, check out Valentine's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, and Christmas!

                   

Step 1: Begin your beaded safety pin craft by following the bead pattern shown on the right. Each column on the pattern represents one of the smaller safety pins, with green, white, or orange beads threaded on it. Begin with the color on the top of the pattern, and thread that bead on the safety pin first. You may find some beads have an opening that is too small for the pin, but most should fit. When you are finished loading the beads, close each pin. Continue with each pin, following the pattern. Below the pattern photos is a text version of the patterns in case you cannot see the photos.



                     

    Pins are going left to right;  the bead order is the bottom bead first and moving up,     the same way you would thread it on to the pin.

Pin 1:  9 white
Pin 2:  3 white, 3 green, 3 white
Pin 3:  3 white, 3 green, 3 white
Pin 4:  4 white, 1 green, 1 white, 2 green, 1 white
Pin 5:  9 green
Pin 6:  4 white, 1 green, 1 white, 2 green, 1 white
Pin 7:  3 white, 3 green, 3 white
Pin 8:  3 white, 3 green, 3 white
Pin 9:  9 white

    Pins are going left to right;  the bead order is the bottom bead first and moving up,     the same way you would thread it on to the pin.

Pin 1:  9 green
Pin 2:  9 green
Pin 3:  9 green
Pin 4:  9 white
Pin 5:  9 white
Pin 6:  9 white
Pin 7:  9 orange
Pin 8:  9 orange
Pin 9: 9 orange

Step 2: Take your large safety pin, and open it. Using a flat head screwdriver, wedge the flat head in between the safety pin loop at the bottom of the pin. Once inserted, twist the screwdriver to pry the loop open a little, as shown. The goal is to be able to have enough room to allow each little safety pin to be threaded through this loop to the other side.


                   


Step 3: Thread each little safety pin's loop onto the big safety pin. Thread it around the large pin's loop to get it onto the other side of the pin. This way, when you wear the pin, none of the pins will slide off. You may need to experiment with the small safety pin orientation at first, but once you get the hang of it you will be putting on the safety pins in the right direction and order easily. When you are all done, use some pliers to scrunch down the big safety pin's loop tight again.