More Cute Button Crafts!

 

 

This is a cute little button bouquet I found at WhiMSy Love.  Go have a look, there is a tutorial, too!

A cute button, chalboard clip board at BHG

How about these cute button rings I found at Rick racK and long with the tutorial...

Look at this cute button Pillow plus tutorial at Buttons Galore & More

More Cute Button Crafts!

Thank you for stopping by :) 

Free St. Patrick's Day Printable Scrapbook Paper and Tags

If you would like to have some free printable scrapbook papers and tags for St. Patrick's Day you don't want to miss this one...for the tag above plus more freebies, go to:

Free St. Patrick's Day Scrapbook Paper and Tag Printables

St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Decor

St. Patrick's Day burlap wreath@meandmyscraps

Do you have any burlap and some green scrap material?  You could use it to make one of these super cute St. Patrick's Day burlap wreaths! This wreath is so darned cute, I can't stand it!  Go to the link under the photo for the tutorial.

Interested in more super cute crafts and home decor ideas for St. Patrick's Day? Go to:


St. Patrick's Day Craft and Home Decor Round-Up


Thanks for stopping by and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Buttons, Buttons and More Buttons... and a Vintage Button Guide

I shared a few weeks ago that I had purchased a bunch of buttons basically for using in crafts but also just to see what neat buttons were in the box.. well, it was 10 lbs. of buttons from Ebay.  The description read just a 10lb. box of good, old buttons.  I figured it would be a wonderland of old pretty buttons but when I finally got the box and started looking through them I had a feeling it had already been picked through which is fine but what surprised me was just how old some of these buttons were.. it intrigued me and I knew that I didn't want to ruin old buttons that may be collectors items so I did some research and wrote a guide about antique buttons.  I'm glad I did it because I learned LOTS of fascinating things about buttons.  I know buttons are a favorite among many crafters so I wanted to share some pictures of the buttons I acquired.  So here we go:

Shades of Red

Oranges

Shades of Yellow

Lots of shades of Green

 These were hard because there were so many different shades of greens to even aqua colors... which looked almost blue to me but when put up against blue they looked more green.

Shades of Blues

Just like with the greens, some of them looked more green but when I would add them to green they looked more blue.. go figure!  I thought about just making a whole new color pile of aqua-ish colored buttons but I haven't yet.

Purples

Some of these could have gone into the dark red pile but I think I'll just make one pile of maroon-ish buttons. Who knew separating buttons by color would be so challenging!

Beige, Off white and Light Browns

Shades of Pinks

Some of these were a coral color.. almost an orangey pink but when I put them with the oranges they looked more pink.

Antique Vegetable Ivory Buttons

Antique Wooden Buttons

Antique Metal Buttons

These could be my favorite buttons of them all.. I really enjoyed cleaning and shining them up.  They turned out to be so pretty and shiny especially the copper ones.. Some had this greenish patina ( I guess that is what it's called) and I'm just not able to get it off.  Some of these metal ones are very, very old. I was really surprised at how old some of these buttons were.

At first when I started researching I realized I may have some Bakelites in this 10lb box of buttons so I started testing, and testing and testing and I had a small pile that seemed to test positive for Bakelite but after a while of doing it, I gave up.. it just took so much time and it was almost as if there was one Bakelite button out of every 50 buttons.  I still am not sure if I am going to sell some of these plastic buttons or not but if I do, it's just going to have to be a mixture of Celluloid, Lucite and Bakelite and the purchaser can figure it out.  Maybe they would be better at testing Bakelite than I am. 

If you are interested, please feel free to read this Vintage Button Guide.  It tells about different buttons, how to test to see what material they are made of and how to clean them properly.

DIY Coasters!

Here is a small round-up of DIY drink coaster tutorials.  I saw this first set and couldn't help myself from seeing what other ones were out there..

curling ribbon coasters@ChicaandJo

I happened upon Chica and Jo today and found these super cute coasters! I love the bright colors and they are so easy to make.. or at least they look easy but best of all they don't cost a ton to make.. Curly ribbon comes in tons of bright beautiful colors and they do not cost a lot either.

re-purposed coasters @ Evie S.

I love these DIY re-purposed coasters that I found at Evie S. These were made by covering an old set of coasters and they turned out great!   If you don't have any old coasters to re-purpose, you could always use some of those round coasters from Chilis or other restaurants. I don't see why those couldn't work as well.  Of course, you could always get some thin cork board and cut it in whatever shape you like or maybe glue a couple layers of it together and cover it with pretty paper like these were. 

DIY coasters @ Craft Envy

Take a look at this pretty set of coasters I found at Craft Envy!  You will not believe how easy these are to make.. it's almost mind blowing. Go have a look and be amazed..  I already have everything needed except 4 blank tiles... hope I remember these next time in Lowe's.

duct tape coasters@ Natalie's Creations

 Look what you can make with some cardboard circles and decorative duct tape! The more things I see made with decorative duct tape, the more I want some... it comes in all different colors and designs, too.  I found this clever DIY coaster idea at Natalie's Creations!  P.S. Be sure to see the cute bulletin board she made, too.

DIY Coaster Tiles @ Purplest Pecalin

I found these gorgeous DIY coaster tiles at Purplest Pecalin along with another fabulous pair....   As I sat looking at these tiles, I quickly determined that they would look just as pretty hanging on a wall as they wood laying on a table.   They turned out amazing.... love them!

travertine coaster tiles@Hey, Let's Rock!

Look at these pretty tile coasters I found at Hey, Let's Rock! These are a little different than the other tiles in that they are made with the travertine tiles. I LOVE the rustic look of them.  It's interesting too that even though the designs look painted on, they were actually stenciled and then colored in with a black Sharpie.  That's pretty cool!

I hope you have enjoyed this coaster small coaster round-up  as much as I loved gathering them.   Happy Coaster Making!!

Lovely Paper Chandeliers

I have been thinking about paper chandeliers lately... and when I did a search, this one came up.  Look at how pretty:

butterfly chandelier @ Carina Gardner

I really am smitten with this pretty butterfly chandelier.. I love how the butterflies just seem to flutter around each other! I found this at Carina Gardner and she's even shared free printable butterfly templates to use if you would like to make your own!


So I did another search and look:

image via The Green Kangaroo

These look to be made with some sort of metal form with circles hung in rows from some sort of see thru thread or fishing line.  I think these would be very easy to make.



One last photo:

photo via ULLABENULLA

This is a beautiful chandelier which apparently is located in Paris... Isn't it gorgeous!  This one might be a bit harder to make.. since it's so huge!  Maybe one like this... but scaled down some :0)  Interesting is that it looks like the paper strips are fastened to the wire frame by those metal type paper clips.

I hope these photos may have inspired you to make a paper chandelier of your own. I'm going to  :0)

♥Valentine's Day Crafts♥

Valentine's Day is just around the corner... I am excited to gather a few more cute Valentine's projects.  These are not only great for adults but kids would have fun making them too.
♥♥♥

I ran across this very cute project today at Karla M Curry. These cute heart shapes are simple to make and guess what they are made out of?  Toilet paper tubes!  I ♥ it.

heart shapes out of toilet paper rolls@Karla M Curry

hanging heart strings@Karla M Curry

 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥  

These pretty hearts that I found at martha stewart are made using crayons

 

crayon hearts @ martha stewart

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This heart garland was made by grace and light  using a punch and some paint sample cards. How easy is that and oh so pretty!  Visit to see a photo illustrated tutorial showing exactly how she made it.

heart garland@ grace and light

I hope you ♥ these projects as much as I do! 

Happy Valentine's Day

Xyron 500 Sticker Maker

Xyron 500 Sticker Maker

I want to show how neat this little machine is... but first a little bit of background on how I got it.  A while back I was looking on a site called Craigslist. In case you haven't heard of it, it's a pretty popular online classifieds ads site.  No matter where you are in the world, there is a link for your area in the world and you can click to see what people are selling.  There are different sections such as furniture, appliances, etc.. there is even a  "FREE" section and I often look to see what people are giving away.  So I responded to an ad that said lots of free craft stuff.  When I got home with the box of goodies there were two of those Xyron 500 sticker makers.. among LOTS of other really neat stuff!  I ended up giving my daughter one of them and I kept the other.  The machines were empty and just needed the refill cartridges. I got the refill and have been playing with it today and I have to say this is a really nifty little machine!!!!!!  I love it..... have a look at all the stickers I made:

Playing with this machine is so much fun! All you do is stick whatever you want to make into a sticker right on the front of the machine on the flat feed and push it back a bit, then roll the knob away from you and it feeds the shape into the machine and out the back where you tear off and Wallah!! The entire back of your shape will have a film of permanent adhesive. I give Xyron 500 an A+ :0)

Oh, in case anyone is interested here is Craigslist. 

The Best Glues for Metal, Glass, Paper, Plastic, Vinyl, Etc....

I am sure you probably may have a favorite glue that you use most often. I usually use E6000 which usually does a great job and seems to hold together just about anything.  Sometimes I wonder what other glues are out there and if some work better gluing certain things together like gluing glass to glass, for example.  I often want to experiment with different glues so I did a bit of research. I found some great charts and even webpage where you enter what you are gluing to what and then it will bring up a list of glues that are optimal for the job.. plus a few tips, too.   So if you often wonder about what the best glues are like I do, here's a few helpful resources.


This to That - This is a very neat website focusing solely on picking the best glue to get the job done no matter what you are gluing together.


Glue Chart - This is an excellent glue chart showing which glues adhere to different surfaces.


Comprehensive List- Here is a long list of glues at JewelsDesignsCreativeCorner and it explains what glues are good for certain surfaces plus lots of great tips.


Glue Strength Testing- Okay, this site is more of carpenters website and confused me a bit just with all the numbers (I'm terrible with math) but it does show how different glues were experimented with for gluing wood together. 

Some of these glues can be expensive but it's usually worth it because you can use less and it will take a long time to use it all up.  The one I use (E6000) is very inexpensive and a large tube lasts me forever.  If you are a fan of E6000 did you know there is another glue called Household Goop that is the exact same glue (same company) and it is inexpensive as well.  You can usually even find the Goop at the Dollar store.   Over the years, I've heard LOTS of great stuff about Loctite brand glues.  So if I ever get around to purchasing and using it, I'll let you know how it works.

Do you have a favorite glue? I would love to know.. please feel free to share.

I ♥ comments!

Antique Button Crafts and Decor

antique button heart wall hanging

antique button bouquet

I made both of these with some antique buttons that were in a jar that I acquired after my grandmother on my dad's side passed away.  The buttons are so pretty..  many of them were more fancy rather than just ordinary buttons.  Some were glass and metal, too.

Photo #1--The top one was made by cutting a heart shape out of card board and then I hot glued the buttons to the cardboard. On the back side of the cardboard I hot glued a piece of wire to it for a hanger.  The frame was just a dollar store frame that I took the back and glass out of. I then connected the wire to the top of the frame for a hanger and tied a raffia bow and stuck a button in the middle of the bow.   I first hung the button heart, and then hung the frame around it.

Photo #2-- I threaded wire up and back through layers of buttons and then twisted the wire together to make the stems.  It's very easy to do and they turn out so cute!


Hope you have enjoyed these button crafts/decor projects.... Happy Button Crafting :0)

More Storage Ideas: Fabric Covered Flower Pots

I ran across some of these and really think they are so cute.. and appear to be very easy to make.  If you have some Mod Podge, fabric and flower pots, that is basically what you need.  I can picture these with pens, pencils, markers, etc..  Another idea for craft storage!  Can you picture these in your craft room?  I sure can, if I had one that is..   Have a look:

@ Marie, Oh Marie

 DIY fabric covered pots @ Emmaline Bride

@ Hello, Good Gravy!

@ 1st Bar

These are very easy to make and it tells how they were made on each of the links.  There is also another tutorial at Christine Chitnis.