2 Tips for Working with Chenille Stems

Chenille Stem

I am thoroughly disappointed in myself regarding my Craft posts. I just looked back and I posted once in April, once in June, once in July and once in August. Nothing since. For several years, I posted almost daily. I hope to remedy this.

For years, also, my blog posts focused on two things: prayers/faith and crafts/crochet. I have worked on craft projects daily but have neglected to post things I've learned or things I want to share with you. I plan to get back into that mode.

Meanwhile, this Christmas season, I found myself working a lot with chenille stems. I'll write more about those projects in a future post. For now, I want to share some things I've learned the hard way.

First, chenille stems have sharp ends. Never allow your little ones to work with them unless you are around to instruct in some safe ways to handle them. If you need to cut them, again, the ends are sharp because of the wire center cores. Even if they are simply being bent into a shape, when twisting to secure them, crafters should be careful to hide/cover/secure the sharp ends.

Second, when working with the tinsel-variety of chenille stems, if there are pets in the home, try to work on a flat surface on something like opened sheets of newspaper. The tinsel "sheds" tiny flakes. These are metallic. If swallowed by pets, they become like glass in their stomach fluids and can cause internal bleeding. Using a newspaper underneath allows you to simply fold up the sheet afterwards and toss it away.