Button Sorting (another button post)

If you follow me on twitter, you already know that I bought 19 pounds of buttons and they arrived on Saturday. I have to say that this is the BEST button collection I have ever seen, there are a lot of fancy buttons and I have to look at them all! The buttons arrived in zip-loc bags, to sort them I put a handful on the gold lid and look at them. Once I am finished with that batch it gets dumped into the gold tin and another handful is added to the lid. When I finish a bag the tin gets dumped back into the original bag and I start a new bag. I have been picking out all the glass, fancy plastic, fancy metal, carved mother of pearl, and other random interesting buttons. I am also picking out marbles, beads, pennies, pins and tacks (it’s a very interesting collection). I am not even half way done, but it is sooooo much fun!
Am I the only one who could sort through buttons all day? What is you favorite kind of button?

End of the School Year Crazies!

Wow, there has been a lot going on, I’m going to blame it on the end of the school year and my mad rush to do EVERYTHING before the kids get out of school.
First, we have adopted another cat. Our kitty, Kiki, has seemed lonely since the loss of our other cats (we have lost 3 in the past 5 years to old age) and we felt it was time to get him a new companion, they are still adjusting to each other with supervised time, but I think eventually they will be best friends. We have also (finally) got our fish tank up and running and have welcomed Bubble, Goink, Rex, Stabby, Mysterio, The Collective(of 3), and Zoidberg. They have been great fun to watch.
Second, I have been madly knitting baby hats in preparation for professional photos to be taken, I can’t wait to share the finished results.
Third, starting in June I will have booth space in a local vintage store. That is where all of these fabulous button projects will be available. I have been watching the X-Files on Netflix and embroidering hoops.I have also been crocheting these garlands:I used my foam marshmallow button stamps (using this technique) to make the custom display cards. I also have been hitting every yard sale I see and I have found some fabulous stuff!!!
Fourth, working in the yard, there is so much to be done. We are having a privacy fence installed very soon and I am hoping to spend a ton of time in the back yard this summer, but now we must do prep work, removing bushes, relocating flowers, and picking up all the fallen sticks (nine bundles so far).
And fifth, random life stuff - appointments, meetings, and haircuts. We won’t even discuss cleaning, there has been very little time for that.
Tomorrow is the last day of school for Little Miss and Little Sir, I can’t wait, there is so much fun stuff for us to do. This summer vacation is going to be GREAT!!!
Do you find yourself spending less time on the computer when the weather is nicer or is it just me?

Embroidery + Buttons

Finally, this has been on the to-do list for a while. An embroidered button display for those special buttons, to showcase them more than just with the common buttons in a jar.
Still a WIP, my embroidery style is definitely folks-y, but I’m okay with that, I think it looks great with these vintage red buttons.I was heavily inspired by this post on doe-c-doe I wanted more of a sampler look. I used a circle template to trace four differently sized circles onto my fabric (I know they look a little wonky, I hope to fix that when everything is properly stretched) and I embroidered each size with a different stitch. The stitches used were the split stitch, the chain stitch, the fly stitch and the palestrina stitch (here's a great stitch resource).
I need to sew the buttons in place and finish the back of this piece, it will remain in this hoop. I could see having a wall of these in different colors.
*Also, bonus points for using an embroidery hoop from my stash of what seems like a thousand!

Button Garland

Oh how I love buttons. I am launching a new idea at the beginning of June and it’s all about vintage sewing notions and especially buttons, so be prepared to see A LOT of new button projects (and some old ones too).
Today it’s a crocheted button garland. There are always plenty of white antique buttons in every lot I buy and this garland is the perfect way to showcase them.I used white crochet thread to make the chain and a teeny tiny hook to pull the thread through two holes in each button. I love how it turned out! I used a variety of sizes of buttons for this one. I think I’m going to make one that uses all the same sized buttons from that button rope in the center of the picture. The varying shade of white and cream should make it really interesting!
This would look great draped across a mantle, over a curtain rod, or on a Christmas tree.

Less Pinning, More Doing

I love pinterest, but honestly it is a time sucker. I could waste the day away and while I am getting a lot of ideas and inspiration I’m not making anything.
This weekend I tried to do a little more making. Ribbon bookmarks.
A lotion bottle cell phone charging caddy.
And, my most favorite, giant buttons from domed cheese boards!
If you look closely, you’ll see that the paint isn’t even dry. Believe me, this picture does NOT do them justice and they’ll look even better once I add the string and get them hung up! I am on the hunt for more domed cheese boards, I NEED a large collection of these for the craft room walls.
You may have seen this one on the Facebook page: I also started cutting out and sorting letters, eyes, lips, and textures for visual journaling, I’m calling it a ransom note kit.
I have a huge board of journaling ideas pinned, now to start doing. It will be nice to have this ready to go.
I will be marking the pins I have done with a * at the beginning of the text. I want to make sure that I am really doing and not just wishing the hours away.
Have you been making things from your pinterest boards? I'd love to hear about it, share some links in the comments :)

Five Pounds of Buttons

I won the auction for five pounds of buttons and they arrived last week.  I carefully sorted and admired them all.They have all been added to my button jars and are just waiting for the perfect project to come along, I have several in mind, I just need to find the time.1.  Dictionary flowers with button centers from MyLittleBirdie on etsy, she seems out of stock, but maybe could be reached for a custom order.
2.  Embroidered button display from Haylie Waring on Design Sponge for an excellent way to display those special, fancy buttons.
3.  Isn’t this button filled ball ornament wonderful? from Wendy’s Hat, I think my Mom would really love one or twelve of these.
4.  Button edging on an art journal page from Ingrid Dijkers, I find all of her work so inspiring, make sure you check out the other pages of her gallery.
5.  The emergency button from sheepBlue on craftster.  This is part of a fabulous Teesha Moore inspired bag and includes a lot of buttons, but this one was my favorite.