June pulled out a book she had picked up and wanted to try. It's called Button It Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects for Necklaces, Bracelets, Embellishments, Housewares & More. You see, June had recently come into a huge button stash, and wanted to put it to good use. Since I come from a long line of button hoarders myself, I was game.
We decided to make the cute little owl on the front cover. Unfortunately, the book didn't provide a template, so just traced the picture in the book onto plain white paper, folded it in half and cut it out.
Since we wanted to reuse as many previously loved materials as possible, we cut our owls out of retired jeans. Then we added our buttons and sewed them up. Instead of machine sewing the pieces together, we opted to use a blanket stitch for a decorative touch. We even found buttons to use as beaks!
They came out really cute, though clearly my template needs some work. I made the one the left.
This project is quick enough to hold the interest of fairly young kids and easy enough for beginners. Judging by the number of hugs and giggles my little guy got when I pulled him out of my purse for my daughters and their friends, it's definitely a hit! In fact my girls want to make their own this afternoon. And June plans to perfect her pattern to make some for gifts and, perhaps, even sell at craft fairs.
I can't wait to check out the other projects in the book. There are tons of jewelry ideas I can't wait to get my hands on. Button crafting could make great summer projects for the girls.
If you want some other fun project for buttons, there are plenty of ideas out there. For example, All Buttoned Up: 10 Fun, Functional, and Funky Vintage Button Projects has some simple projects to get you started.
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