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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!   Things Needed:
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. 
 
 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. 
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