Making handmade pins is an “on-hand” project aimed at using up those bits, pieces and lone beads you already have in your craft and sewing stash. I had everything I needed already, so the cost of all my mini hat pins was free!

These cuties inspired by vintage hat pins are made using corsage pins or T-pins and buttons or beads! Pictured are a few I made to inspire you.

Vintage is all the rage now, but I've long wanted my own set of old-fashioned hat pins. I just haven’t yet scoured the antique shops to find them. But with all the blogging and pinning I've seen with decorative straight pins, my mind turned to making my own look-a-likes to grace my pin cushion.

You can use vintage (or vintage look) materials or new-fangled plastics to create your own set of lovelies that are as unique as real hat pins. Use beads, buttons and lace from your mother’s or grandmother’s stash to make a memory craft (crafts using materials or items made by your family members that you would like to see every day) for your sisters, daughters, granddaughters or other family members. Almost everyone has a place this small memory can be pinned – in a pin cushion, in the top of a photo frame or even in a hat. (If placing in a hat, be careful not to get stuck!)

I also have a tutorial on a cookie cutter pincushion that uses steel wool as the stuffing material. You can also use the instructions to make the tea-cup pin cushion pictured.

Wouldn’t a few pins and a pincushion make a nice Mother’s Day or anytime unique gift for that special friend?