It’s been quite a while since I worked on a project for myself.  Since we are in transition, it is just challenging to have any “real” projects to do.  So, that probably explains why I took the opportunity to make a cute clothespin basket for myself.  There was a clothesline pole here at the house we are renting, so I decided it would be nice to string a line so that we have the option of hanging our clothes outside.  My Mom always hung clothes out and I had a nice clothesline at my first home by myself, but at our last house we didn’t really have the space for it (and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be generally approved in the neighborhood).  I know I had clothespins in a plastic basket, but I’m sure they are in storage somewhere.  So, I went ahead and just bought clothespins for a buck at the store.  I had been using them in a plastic Ziploc container, but it was a pain with no handle, and the container wasn’t actually big enough for all the pins.   I found this little Christmas colored basket at a yard sale.  It was supposed to be 25 cents, but with the other stuff I bought, the guy threw it in for free.

I planned to use it as a clothespin basket all along, but I knew I wanted it to look cute and not like Christmas.  So, I got busy painting it.  I used chalk paint that I had in sample sizes, as well as other paint that I turned into chalky paint using BB Frosch chalk paint powder.  It did take several coats to cover the red and green.

And, I just used a brown on the inside, because it wouldn’t be seen, but I didn’t want to look at the red and green myself.  I used Annie Sloan Provence and Arles as the two main colors.

But, I couldn’t stop there!!  All along, I envisioned something stenciled or attached to the basket.  I dug through my craft supplies, and my first attempt failed.  I found an old shower curtain and cut out pennants and then tried to write laundry on it using fabric markers.  It looked like a child did it!  So, I kept digging through my supplies and found fabric leftovers from the one chair and pillow I made.  The fabric colors were a perfect match.  I cut out little pennants and then was trying to figure out how to attach to the twine, and I stumbled into mini clothespins that I had leftover from some craft I made long ago.  The colors weren’t perfect, but this was a work with what I had project, so I just went with it.

Nothing is permanently fastened at all, so it will be a test to see how long it holds up. I think it looks pretty cute.  And, most importantly, it functions well for easy access to the clothespins while I’m doing laundry.

And, while I was out at the line with my camera, I had a pretty little visitor on one of Bob’s shirts.

I took down the wash and then carried my clothespin basket into the laundry room, where it will hang out on the washer.  It adds some nice color to the room.  I’m sure it will look even better in the new laundry room when we move.

Not too bad for a free basket and using what I had on hand, right?  Do you hang your laundry out to dry?  I just discovered a new trick to keep the towels from getting so stiff hanging out…pop them in the dryer for just a few minutes and then hang them out to dry.  They are much softer then.  Today, I did all the sheets and the duvet cover; I can’t wait to hop into bed with fresh, clean sheets and the smell of the great outdoors.