Mushroom Squares

 Now you see him...

 now you don't!

 How cool is it when you can match your felted mushrooms...

 to your new painting hobby!

The Rejected Button Bouquet

The original instructions were for a button bouquet but the bridesmaids would have silk sunflowers with white flowers. After making up the silk flower bouquets I found a way to combine both these looks. I feverishly started cutting circles of white tulle and singeing yellow fabric. (Not over dramatic at all.) I used a yarn and wool felted ball base. (Also from a rejected idea, are you seeing a trend?) I used strong thread to sew the button flowers in place. I cut a piece of red dogwood with the bark intact and sprayed it with a poly coat. I made the end that goes in the ball pointy and then dug a hole in the ball to fit it. An exacto, small scissors and tweezers helped with hole making. The leaves are from the sunflowers and were hot glued in place. They were then neatly covered with the satin ruffle and a bow added under that. I'm waiting for further instructions from my lovely bride-to-be. Will I use these flowers on the table or will she want others???

She told me she was easy to work with... sheesh.

Wonderful Trees

Button Brooch

When it's time to make a special gift I often turn to an admired project that someone else does. This is one I've wanted to try myself.

Of course that means trying to figure out how they did it.

Something that looks simple isn't always! The button is 1 5/8".

My advise, I started with a flat piece and then rounded it. Instead work on a rounded piece so your art doesn't get over worked.

Make Made Buttons

I used to have a subscription to Craft Magazine and my husband got Make. Craft went internet only but Make survives. Thank goodness I like it also. It's a publication of makers for makers and they do just about everything. They had a TV show also! Here's their address: http://makezine.com/

There are lots of projects they do that I'd like to try but I don't always get to them. This one I did. I can use these little babies in my projects.

Let me tell you a few of the easy steps. First you need a branch. I'm fortunate enough to have a vice grip on our work bench. You'll need a coping or pull saw. These have small teeth that grip and cut well. I went for a rustic look so don't get hung up on perfection. Anywhere between an 1/8th of an inch to 1/4 will be fine. Are you gonna ask me what size drill bit I used? I figured I'd be using my buttons with fairly thick yarn so keep that in mind when drilling holes.

I need to sand my buttons and put a clear coat on them. The family was concerned about washing and such but I'm thinking that I'll use them for bags and decorations. I like when they get involved.

Pink Bear's Done

Yes, I'm going back and forth between projects. Anyway, I must have spent 20 minutes in the button department, but it payed off. I found these great sun burst buttons that I think look perfect on her. All she needs now is a big ribbon which I will pick up this week when I'm buying ribbon for my son's flowers. It's his sophomore dance on Friday. I'll show you the flowers when I'm done, I don't want to spend a ton of money on flowers when I can do them myself!

Add a Temporary Nose

I cut out a piece of felt for a temporary nose and play for a while. I eventually find a look I like.


This is after I've spent some time in the fabric store pouring over all their buttons. Now you may have noticed in another department there are some screw together bear eyes. These are safety eyes for bears that you would give to young children. One of the reasons why I wouldn't use these eyes is that it makes such a big difference when the eyes are pulled into the face instead of simply laying on top. It gives the bear an expression. Besides there are so many cool buttons that do look like eyes. There's no reason you couldn't paint some of these buttons to have really unique eyes. I'm gonna try it!

But not this time, the buttons I'm using, I use a lot. This happens to be my last pair. The red ones were cute too.

Another note about buying buttons, if you find a style you like buy several sizes. What happens is you buy the bigger size thinking they would be perfect but you wind up needing the smaller size. You'd also do yourself a favor to start collecting the buttons you think would look good for eyes since each bear looks good in something different. This is an area that I invest in.

I'll show you how to sew them on tomorrow.

What Do You Think?