Pinless Poppy

Intro: Pinless Poppy

The following is the reason that we wear poppies (or wiki's reason...):

The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. A Frenchwoman, E. Guérin, introduced the widely used artificial poppies given out today.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day]

The poppy means a lot to us Canadians (I can't speak for other countries other than Canada, maybe someone could fill us in on that), but there is one fundamental flaw with it, THE SHARP PIN! Luckily for you guys (unless you're from the states, where you don't wear poppies) I have found a solution that protects you from pain.

May I introduce the Magnetic Poppy...

STEP 1: Parts

For this Instructable you will need:
-A Poppy (of the fake variety)
-Two 3/8th inch rare earth magnets
-A glue gun

I suggest you plug in your glue gun now, because cold glue guns are useless.

STEP 2: Remove the Pin

Take the pin and carefully remove it from between the two layers of the poppy. Once this is done, you should have a pin, the centre part, and the red poppy part.

STEP 3: Place Magnet

I placed a bead of glue on the magnet for this, then put the magnet on the poppy. Looking back, it would have been easier to put the glue on the poppy.

STEP 4: Centre Piece

Take the glue gun and put a bead of glue on the magnet, then take the centre piece and place it plastic side down on the glue (My centre piece had a plastic side, the other seemed velvety).

Sorry that I don't have a picture of the centre on the glue but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

STEP 5: It's Finished!

Well, you're done. To wear it you put the second under your shirt, then bring the poppy close to it. It should stick, and it shouldn't poke you.

Comments

[oliverjenks]

its a big deal for us in the UK - http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/content/Remembrance-Sunday-508933.shtml

It based around the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month when hostilities ceased following the first world war - the first mechanised slaughter. It now symbolises that nobody and no sacrifice is forgotten.

I can't comment about the instructable though. Our poppies have a plastic stem with a nifty spur. They fit quite well in to a spare button hole.

[harry potter rules]

you're right because i also live in the UK as well and i live next to the British legion and there is always a 2 minute silence to remember the people who we loved and died fighting for us in the war.

[Kiteman]

Or through the weave of a jumper, scarf etc. If you can pick up British TV where you are, you will see that all the presenters of live programmes are wearing poppies. It's Parade on Sunday 11th - all the local youth organisations (Scouting, Guiding, the Cadet forces) will be marching with local veterans (or their relatives) from the War Memorial to the town's main church for a service of remembrance. I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it.

[RabidAlien]

Here in the US, unfortunately, its mostly about retail sales. You'll find some places are going to give discounts to vets (Outback Steakhouse!!!), but for the most part, if you ask the average citizen, they couldn't tell you what day it was (11-11...how hard is that to remember?) or what the significance is, much less why the occasional big burly man (or, in my case, average pudgy dweeb) is wearing a little red flower and getting misty-eyed when shaking another vet's hand. For my part, I'll be wearing something either poppy-related, or a flag if I can't find a poppy (again) this year. The local VFW and American Legion usually set up a table somewhere for a couple of hours and hand out poppies for donations, but I never can find em or I'm at work during those hours. So I'm stopping at a craft store on my way home today and picking up something on my own, if I can't get ahold of one of the aforementioned institutions and find out their schedule.

I would highly recommend, though, taking the few seconds required to walk over and shake the hand of someone wearing a military T-shirt, ballcap, lapel pin, etc. Not just on Veteran's/Remembrance Day, but any time you see em. Trust me, its worth the 30 seconds it takes, and costs you nothing.

[Kiteman]

+1

[RichMac]

The poppy is suppose to prick you, it reminds you how insignificant your troubles are compared to the sacrifices of our veterans.

[GreenDay]

I also realized that you can probably use these like LED throwies. They'd have a message, plus they wouldn't burn out...

[=SMART=]

Good Idea !!!!

[x gordy x]

Try using a little Canada flag pin. The one's with a backing.

[GreenDay]

Woohoo, 452 place in terms of ratings for the laser cutter contest!

[joemonkey]

cool.
Remember children on this site, poppys make opium, and opium is used to make herion. the moral of the story is dont do drugs!

[threecheersfornick]

This is good... but I think you could skip the gluing step. Wouldn't the magnets stick to the needle? Put a magnet under your shirt, put the poppy-needle on top of it and voila!

[GreenDay]

That's true, but my main problem with the pins is always getting poked. I hate the sharpness of them!

[tiuk]

Interesting idea. I just bend the poppy's pin in half with a pair of pliers, so it forms an elongated U shape.