Have you ever spotted a decoration that your mom brings out year after year and wondered where it came from or the history of it? Thanksgiving isn’t traditionally a holiday with lots of decorations, but I can fondly remember these wooden Clothespin Pilgrims proudly displayed this time of year at my mom’s house.
Now that I have my own home and holiday traditions I knew I needed to have my own set of Clothespin Pilgrims. So, I decided to figure out how to recreate these beloved clothespin dolls for my own Thanksgiving celebration.
What is a Clothespin Doll
Clothespin dolls have been around for years and played with by millions of children over the years. Part of the reason these wooden dolls have been a favorite of children and parents is the fact that the items to make these simple dolls are readily available at home. All you need are a few scraps of fabric and a wooden clothespin.
How to Make Clothespin Dolls
I used flat wooden clothespins, scraps of black and white fabric, and pipe cleaners to make my little pilgrims. I love how they turned out and now I have my own set of Clothespin Pilgrims, just like my mom’s.
If you are interested in making your own Clothespin Pilgrims I have created a basic template for their clothes. Download the FREE template and basic instructions to create your own Clothespin Pilgrims.
Molly’s Pilgrim
The book Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen is a great book to pair with this fun and easy craft. This modern Thanksgiving classic is about an immigrant girl who comes to identify with the story of the Pilgrims and seeks to lead her third-grade class to discover that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving.
It has such a sweet message about differences, modern-day pilgrims, and accepting others and we always love combining our love of crafts and reading together!
Vanessa says
Those are cute! I've been looking for a thanksgiving craft. I've been wanting to do tutorials on my blog, but when it comes to crafts, I usually just figure out as I go along.
Lola's Bows says
Adorable – may I have your tutorial? Thanks
beesphoto@gmail.com
TIA NANA says
I am charmed with it, they are precious. In Spain we do not have this holiday but I am charmed with seeing the things that you do for the holiday (me encanta, son preciosos. En España no tenemos esta fiesta, disfruto mucho de ver las cosas que haceis para adornarla)
MalViv's Momma says
Just what we were looking!! May we have the tutorial to mommysrewards@yahoo.com we'd love it! Thanks so much & Happy Thanksgiving!
KK21 says
I would LOVE the tutorial to kimberlykay21@hotmail.com. Thanks so much!!!!
bharmon says
Can you please send me the tutorial to ecumaniac2@yahoo.com. Thanks!
Amber Johnson says
Please send me the tutorial at amberj6734@gmail.com at your earliest convenience my son has to do this for school and its due on Monday December 2, 2012. Thanks
Emily says
These are darling! Please send me the clothing pattern. emballing@gmail.com
Natalie says
These are the best clothespin pilgrims on the net! Could I have the tutorial?
ellen says
These are cute. I would love the template for the boy pilgrim . My son is doing a project on Pilgrims and it would be perfect.
Thanks!
sundee says
Could you please email me a tutorial on how to make these cute clothespin pilgrims? My son has to make one for school and is due in a few days. Thank u so much!!
Mike says
Please send me the tutorial. My son also has a school project.
Thanks.
Adrianna says
Hopefully easy enough for a non crafter like me, please send me the templates, thanks!
Natalie says
My daughter has to create a Thanksgiving diorama for her school project – due in less than a week. May I please have the tutorial? Thank you so much! I am afraid to go it alone…
Kim says
So cute! Could you please email me the tutorial on how to make these adorable clothespin pilgrims. Thanks so much:)
Kathy says
Hi could you please send me the tutorial and pattern to make these pilgrims. They are adorable.
Thanks!
Lynda says
please send me the templates!! please
Lynda says
oops sent wrong email at first
Christy Thistleton says
Just what I’m looking for! My son’s class project requires this and we need help! May I PLEASE have the tutorial and pattern sent to me at christy.t@live.com? Thanks so much!
Amanda Kandes says
So cute! Can you please send me tutorial? Thanks 🙂
Syed says
So nice ! Can you please send me your tutorial on aazaidi@hotmail.com
Amber says
I would love the tutorial please! agdavis13@hotmail.com
N sodhi says
These are adorable. Would love the instructions for my daughters school project.
Kim says
I would love the template for the pilgrims… thank you!
Mariah says
Thanks for stopping by Kim, I’ve sent the pattern to you via email. Enjoy!
mary says
Hey I am doing this craft for my daughter and I need a template? This one is so cute!!! Would u mind sending it to me?
Mariah says
Mary, I hope you and your daughter have lots of fun making these little clothespin pilgrims. The template has been emailed to you, but please let us know if you have any questions.
Laura says
I would love the template for the pilgrims. Thanks!
Mariah says
Laura, we just sent you the template via email. Have fun!
Allison says
Hi
These are great. Would love the template for the pilgrims. Thanks so much.
Mariah says
Thanks Allison! The template for our Clothespin Pilgrims has been sent to your email.
Ellen says
I would love the template for the pilgrim too! My son’s 2nd grade class distributed the clothespin but no real instructions. Thank you!
Mariah says
Thanks for stopping by Ellen, I’ve emailed the template and instructions to you. Have fun!
Tanya says
We have to make a pilgrim out of a clothespin for my son’s 3rd grade class. These are so cute! Could I please get the template for the Pilgrim Man? Thank you! jtscheib@gmail.com
Mariah says
Tanya, it sounds like a fun project. I have emailed the template to you!
colleen says
i would love the template for the pilgrims clothes. Thank you!
Mariah says
Thanks for stopping by Colleen, the template has been emailed to you!
Kristen Shill says
Hello,
Can I please get the template for the girl pilgrim? I would really appreciate it!
Thank you,
Kristen
Mariah says
Kristen, I’ve sent it to your email. You can also now find the template online in the blog post, thanks for stopping by Giggles Galore!
Jill Evans says
Can you please send me the tutorial? Thanks so much
Mariah says
Jill, the template has been emailed to you. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Courtney says
Can you please email me a copy of the template to cstegall4@yahoo.com
Thanks!!
Megan says
Can you please send me the template also? Thanks so much
Mariah says
Megan, we emailed the template to you. Have fun creating your pilgrims!
Kristy says
Hi, I would like this template too.
My daughter’s class is making these and I’m not the most crafty mama around. Help!
Thanks so much.
Mariah says
Thanks Kristy for stopping by. I’ve emailed you the template and hope you have lots of fun making these with your daughter.
Susie says
Can you please send me template or tutorial video. My daughter has a project. Thanks in advance 🙂
Mariah says
Absolutely Susie, I’ve sent the template to you via email. Have fun!
Sarah says
Hello Mariah,
May I have the template for the boy pilgrim doll?
Thanks
Sarah
Mariah says
Thanks for stopping by Sarah, I’ve emailed you the template. Have fun making it!
Brigitte Schmidt says
Could you please send me the template. My son was assigned to make a clothespin pilgrim and these are adorable!! Thank you!
Brigitte Schmidt says
My comment doesn’t list my email. It’s brigitte_schmidt@ymail.com
Mariah says
Hi Brigitte, thanks for stopping by. I’ve emailed the template to you, hope you and your son have fun working on this project together!
Pjpalk says
Could I possibly get the template, these are adorable.
Mariah says
Sure thing, it’s been emailed to you. Have fun!
Suzanne says
Can you please send me template, Thanks
Mariah says
Of course, it’s been emailed to you. Thanks for stopping by and have fun making your pilgrims!
Nana says
Could you please send me the templates? Thank you so much!
Mariah says
Of course, we’ve emailed the template to you. Have fun!
Jenn says
Can you please send me the template ??
Mariah says
Hi Jenn, I’ve emailed the template to you. Have fun creating your pilgrims!
Lindsey says
Can you send this to me please? I haven’t been able to find a template for a boy outfit anywhere. Thanks!!
Mariah says
Of course, I emailed the template to you. Have fun making your pilgrims!
Ann says
Please send me the tutorial. My daughter just came home with a clothes pin project for thanksgiving.
Geeta says
My son has this project that he has to complete by this week. Can you please send me the tutorial.
Thanks in advance.
Mariah says
Hi Geeta, the instructions and template for the clothes can be found here https://gigglesgalore.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Giggles-Galore-Wooden-Clothespin-Tutorial-1.pdf
Baltazar says
Hello there,
I printed out the template but if you have a video tutorial to help a NON-crafty Dad, that would really be helpful. Thanks, my email is aydensdad11@gmail.com
Thanks,
Baltazar 🙂
Mariah says
Hi Baltazar, unfortunately I don’t have a video tutorial for this project. If you have specific questions about the step-by-step instructions you can reach out to me at mariah(at)gigglesgalore(dot)net
Ss says
Thank you so much for the tutorial! My daughter had a thanksgiving project to do for class. This really helped.
Rhonda says
Can you please email me the template for my daughters school project? Thanks!
Mariah says
Hi Rhonda, the link to the FREE template can be found in the blog post. Or you can click on this link to download the file, https://gigglesgalore.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Giggles-Galore-Wooden-Clothespin-Tutorial-1.pdf