Craft Tip: How to Make Your Own Eye Pins

Some paper models, such as the Disneyland Pirate Ship Restaurant, may require special parts that will either need to be purchased or made by hand. In this case, it’s eye pins, which are used in jewelry making. We prefer to purchase eye pins (2mm head) because they look nicer and are more photogenic.

Alternatively, these can be made by hand using the wire found in twist ties, which many people have lying around the house. Simply scrape away the plastic side of the twist tie and pull out the wire. Some cleanup may be required if any of the paper/plastic sticks to the wire.

Wrap the center of the twist tie wire around a round toothpick (or similar item) a couple of times to form the head of the eye pin. Be sure to keep it tight and close together so that the eye will look nice and tidy.

Depending on what your aesthetics are, you can loop the wire more or fewer times. We found that 2 loops generally provides the right amount of strength and thickness for most uses.

Carefully twist the remaining wire ends together to form the neck of the eye pin. Keep it as tidy and uniform as you can. Avoid letting the wire bunch up as this may cause unsightly bulges and bumps (depending on how they are used). In most cases, you will not need the neck to be longer than 1 centimeter.

Slide the eye pin off of the toothpick and trim the neck to the desired length with a pair of wire cutters (or an old, gnarly pair of scissors). When gluing the eye pins in place, the necks do need to be lightly sanded so that the glue has something to grip. In cases where the eye pins are sandwiched between two pieces of paper, you can try gently hammering the necks flat to minimize any unsightly bulges in the paper.

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