Buttons Galore!

Button, button who's got the button?  Answer:  Buttons Galore and More!  Buttons go waaaaay back in history and have been traditionally used to hold parts of clothing together, but, creativity knows no bounds so with all the amazing button designs at our disposal, buttons have become a staple craft product.  With so many colors and shapes to choose from, there's something for everyone, in fact I'll go as far as to say, a button is one of the most versatile embellishments for all your projects, whatever they may be.

 

As I said in my previous post, March is a very busy month, but the best part is that the first day of Spring always falls in March - the time to think about planting Spring flowers which make everything cheery and bright after a dreary Winter.

This is a very simple idea for an outdoor decoration. It could be used for a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, shower, or a simple table decoration for your patio.   After having decorated for 2 weddings, it's all about simple, believe me.  This table decoration can be made in 5-10 minutes.  All you need are the following supplies, plus scissors and a craft knife:

A small plastic bottle (from the recycling bin), burlap, glue (I used these 3D Glue dots, but a glue gun would work well too), and buttons.  I used a "Bee" button and an orange stitched button.  (The lime green stitched button would have looked really good too.)

Let's get started:

1.  Lay the empty bottle down on a flat surface and carefully cut off the top part with a craft knife, so that the bottle is the same height as the width of the burlap.

2.  Cut a piece of burlap long enough to wrap around the bottle overlapping the ends about 1/2". Glue in place.

3.  Cut a 4" piece of burlap, pinch together at the center then secure with a twist tie for a "bow".  Fray the ends by removing 3-4 strands from each end.

4.  Fray the top of the burlap around the bottle by pulling strands from the edge.  Thread one of these strands up thru a hole from the bottom of a large button, thru the shank of the bee button then down thru a second hole in the large button.  Tie the ends together at the back to secure.

5.  Glue the burlap "bow" to the front of the bottle, then glue the buttons to the center of the bow.  You're done! EZPZ Quick'nEZ.

  

TIP: Take the top part of the bottle (which you cut off), turn it upside down and insert it inside the top of your "vase".  This will act like a "frog" and help hold the flowers in place.  You might also want to fill the bottom with small pebbles to weight it down in case it's a bit windy - after all, it is March!

Here's a quick bonus project:

Everyone seems to be handing out rubber bangles.  They come in all different colors and you can buy them at the party stores and lots of other places too, I'm sure.  My granddaughter loved this one because it was pink.  To jazz it up a bit I stacked some silk flower shapes together with a button on top to make it more secure then sewed them onto the bangle.  It took all of one and half minutes - her smile was priceless!   I even added a self adhesive pearl to the center of the button.  You can also place the decorated band around the metal ring on a mason jar for a quick decoration, then remove it afterwards so the jar is re-usable.....  gotta think ahead!

  

Using the blue, DCC logo in the sidebar you can hop forward thru Designer Crafts Connection blogs for more ideas.  You can also visit the Buttons Galore blog for more designer ideas and details of the PRIZES to be won!  Enjoy!  Y'all come back now........

Yours truly,

Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!