Crafty Obsessions - Button Crafts round up

I cannot believe it is the end of January already!

All month I have been busy drooling over buttons, mostly on Pinterest it has to be said, and coming up with ideas and projects to make use of the huge collection of buttons I already have.  Did you see my cute Button Hoop Art project?  I have some more hoops and I am planning a whole collection of these to fill up a wall space in my home :-)

I am still working on another button craft project which, due to a massive underestimation of the sheer number of buttons I would need, is not *actually* finished yet... It will be very soon but I think I may be adding it to my February WIPSLinky post as a 'very nearly finished' work in progress (tune in next week for that one!)

So, back to Pinterest - if you have visited my Crafty Obsessions - Buttons board you will see lots of lovely buttony inspiration and a fair few tutorial and diys too.  I thought it would be nice to share my favourites here with you as my Crafty Obsessions round up...

image:: creativepixie.wordpress.com

I love these book marks by Creative Pixie - perfect for using up scraps of fabric and buttons. This great tutorial, including a free pdf pattern download can be found here

image: MarthaStewart.com

A button clock! Genius!! Well it comes from the grand master (or mistress?) of crafty home making, Martha Stewart (just search 'button crafts')  I love this idea so much but may make mine using an embroidery hoop and buttons stitched on.... I'll be sure to share it with you when I get around to it!

image : simplydesigning.net

Button art in many forms appears on my Pinterest board. I love the button tree idea and this tutorial from Simply Designing shows how you can get the kids involved from sorting to sticking (don't forget young children MUST be supervised when handling buttons AND glue!).

image : iheartnaptime.net

Top marks here for the simplest tutorial EVER! So easy, so effective and the method could be carried over and used for hair clips, pin brooches, in fact anything that stays still long enough may find itself having buttons attached to it...   find out more here

image: craftapalooza.typepad.com

 Here's another super simple but very effective idea - A Button Wreath from craftapalooza! I really love how she has used a belt buckle and a lovely piece of velvet ribbon as a hanger too...

And finally...

image: oneluckyday.net

Not a tutorial as such but a whole post on incorporating buttons into gift wrapping. There are some absolutely gorgeous ideas here . I don't know about you but if I received a gift wrapped up like that I'd almost be reluctant to open it! *almost*

So there you have it - my pick of the button projects I have found and pinned this month. There are loads more on my board and I am sure I will continue to add to it (an obsession is for life not just for one month after all...)

Next week I shall be moving on to my next Crafty Obsession. I wonder if you can guess what it might be?

Happy Crafting!

Simple Button Hoop Art Tutorial

I love collecting buttons - I have even been known to buy stuff from charity shops simply for the buttons!

Sometimes it seems a bit of a shame to hide them away in a tin where their multicoloured buttony gloriousness cannot be appreciated...

So here's a simple idea to show off your button collection - pick out a few of your favourites, a scrap of fabric and an embroidery hoop and whip up a little piece of art in next to no time.

 

You will need

Some buttons
Embroidery Hoop
piece of fabric to fit embroidery hoop
piece of felt to back (optional)
fabric glue







First cut a circle of felt, if you are using, the same size as the inner diameter of your hoop. You can glue this to the back of your work to neaten it when you are done and believe me it's MUCH easier to cut it out now!

Place your fabric into your embroidery hoop - make sure it is stretched nice and tight.

Arrange your buttons any way you like until you are pleased with the layout them simply stitch into place. (you could glue them on for a completely no-sew make but I like to see the stitching)

When you have sewn all the buttons on,  trim the fabric all the way round leaving about 4cm or so to wrap around the hoop.

Apply a thin layer of glue to the inside of the inner ring of the hoop and stick the fabric down.

Then add the backing felt with more fabric glue and leave to dry

Ta da!

What could be easier than that? I used a tiny 10cm hoop but you could use any size you like.

Group buttons by size, shape, colour or material or go completely random. Contrast, clash or match - it's entirely up to you!!

I am loving obsessing over buttons this month - my Pinterest board is filling up with gorgeous button images and crafty ideas and I have a couple more projects to share with you before the end of the month too!

Happy Crafting x

Crafty Obsessions :: January - Buttons

Here's something I have been meaning to introduce to the blog for a while...  Crafty Obsessions!

Each month I plan to focus on one particular material or craft and share lots of ideas, beautiful pictures and tutorials with you, lovely readers. All 'Obsession' posts throughout the month will be tagged and there will be a library page here on the blog so you can refer back to posts at a later date if you want.

So without further ado lets start with January's obsession...

Buttons

I believe I have written about my love of buttons on this blog before - in fact I even took part in a Button Swap which was great fun and something I would love to do again ( I may even organise one... what do you think?). I use a lot of old, reclaimed buttons in my Forest Flower products and have quite a large collection (including lots of gorgeous vintage buttons I inherited from my Other Half's nan) and it seems such a shame to leave them all sitting in a tin. So I been searching around for ideas for lovely things to make and do using buttons.

I have three or four projects to share with you over the month including a button lampshade, easy accessories and button pictures. I have also set up a Crafty Obsessions - Buttons Pinterest board - just shout if you'd like to join in pinning and I will add you to the board!

But for now here is a little button porn for you...

adorable pastel buttons - I have a special project in mind for these!

Lovely muted tones

Gorgeous vintage pressed glass buttons from nan's button box. Most of them are clear but I found a couple of pink and pale green ones too!

A closer look at that pastel prettiness...

My absolute favourite button from nan's button box - I can just imagine this beautiful pale blue embossed button gracing a coat or jacket saved for weddings and special occasions...

The first button project will be posted next week - I do hope you'll pop back and join in my January Crafty Obsession!

Handmade Wedding bunting idea...

The other day I received a call for help from a friend of mine.

She has a family wedding coming up and the bride and groom, wanting a rustic, handmade feel for their big day, had requested that the guests each send a handmade bunting flag. Their idea is to stitch all the flags together to make a beautiful and totally unique addition to their wedding decorations.

What a wonderful idea!! Not only does this get everyone involved in their wedding preparations but at the end of it they have a gorgeous keepsake to remind them of their special day and all the people that came together to make it even more special.

But why did she need my help?

Well to use her own words "How does one sew?...(The whole family) know I can't even sew on a button!"

I hate to leave a friend in need and, lets be honest I don't need much encouragement when it comes to sharing crafty stuff!  I arranged to pop over and give her a hand. I wasn't going to make it for her, just give her a few pointers. Plus we get to drink lots of tea and have a natter too. Sounds like the perfect morning to me :-)

I took along a little bundle of materials and trimmings that fitted in with the 'rustic' theme. Fran wanted a natural look...

pretty crafty things....

Pretty natural fabrics, lovely cream and sage spotty ribbon from the Jane Means collection, some pretty pompom trim and a selection of vintage lace, buttons and embroidery threads.

We sat and talked ideas and Fran chose the base fabric she wanted. Then we set about appliqueing a gingham heart. Poor Fran's hands were shaking as she applied the first few stitches but she soon got the hang of it!

first tenative stitches

She added three rows of vintage lace trim, then we made a little bow with the spotty ribbon and attached it to the flag with a heart shaped wooden button.

buttons and bows

Now confident that, yes, she could actually sew on a button, Fran added a couple more and finished off the flag with some cute cream coloured pompom trim from Seamstar .  Once she was happy with her work she cut out the flag.

steady....

Fran was so pleased with her finished bunting...

proud crafter!

...and so she should be! The girl who said she lacked creativity and had absolutely no idea what to do and how to go about it, I think she did a pretty damn fine job, don't you?

The lucky couple have received the flag now and they love it too - it's going to look so pretty strung up with all the other handmade flags from their other guests!


It's such a fabulous idea and the perfect way to celebrate such a happy day :-)


ps - Fran agreed to have these pictures taken of her work in progress, just to prove to the rest of the family that actually, she can sew on a button. And more besides!

Giveaway - Boost your crafty stash!!

I promised you a little giveaway earlier in the month, just as a thank you for your continued support and as a little celebration of the fact that I have been writing in this little corner of the internet for four years now!

This one is for all you crafty people out there - or perhaps those of you who want to have a go at sewing some cute little things but don't know where to start. Or those of you who's main purpose in life is simply to build a stash... (or is that just me?)

I have put together a little bundle of goodies from my own stash just for you...

What's in the bundle?

 

A set of six fat quarters of lovely Tilda fabrics - perfect for patchwork, doll making and any number of small projects.

Ten 1 metre lengths of assorted ribbons, ric rac and some lovely vintage lace trim from my stash.

50 assorted buttons in pastel shades - mostly vintage/reclaimed but with a few new buttons too. There's hearts, flowers, shiny, matt and even one that looks just like a sweetie...

All together a pretty collection of items I think you'll agree!  

 

Want to know how you can be in with a chance of winning this beautiful bundle of crafty goodness?

How to Enter

• Leave a comment below - why not tell me what you would do with all this crafty loveliness!
• Tweet 'I'd love to boost my craft stash with @forestflower23's giveaway' with a link to this blog post
• If you are on facebook, visit my Forest Flower facebook page, hit 'Like' and leave a comment on the 'Boost your stash Giveaway' post pinned to the top of the page. 
• Share the facebook post with your friends for an extra entry too!

That's a total of four chances to win!

This competition will run until midnight on June 30th. I will announce the winner on Monday 1st of July so make sure you keep an eye on the blog, facebook page or my twitter feed to see if it's you!

Good Luck!

NEW :: Upcycled wool fabric needle books

You may remember a few weeks back I showed you a lovely wool fabric skirt I picked up from a charity shop £1 rail. Although I didn't know exactly what I was going to make with it I knew the lovely fabric would lend itself well to a variety of projects and the colour offers the perfect backdrop for many different colours

The first thing I made was a cute little needle book as a gift for my dad who loves to do cross stitch.

I used some lovely ribbon from my Jane Means stash for the button loop and decoration. If you watched the Great British Sewing Bee you might recognise the narrow grey stitched ribbon - it's the same one Anne used to great effect embellishing her blouse in episode 1 .  I adore the simple red, grey and white stripe ribbon too - a decorative touch without making it girly!  The button came from Nan's button box.

I lined it with a pale blue and white striped cotton and made the 'pages' with black felt.  Then I finished off the gift by filling it with a selection of gold plated needles.

He loved it!

So did I!! In fact I loved it so much I made a couple more...

This one uses Jane Means stitched gross grain ribbon in sage and the same narrow ribbon as before but this time in green. The lining fabric from my stash matches beautifully - right down to the stitched lines as part of the pattern!

I have used pale green felt for the pages and another vintage button holds it all together.

On this needle book I have used Jane's beautiful red ribbon with grey polka dots - it looks like it was made to go with this fabric!  The narrow stitched ribbon comes in red too and once again has been used for the button loop. A lovely etched button and matching red top stitching finish this one off nicely.

Inside I have lined it with gorgeous Lama Love by Monaluna Organics sold by one of my favourite fabric suppliers Seamstar (stay tuned - I have an upcoming blog post all about their great new monthly craft club!) It's cute and quirky and goes with the grey and red theme perfectly! Bright red felt pages hold your needles safely.

Both these needle books are available now from my Folksy shop priced £8.00 each. I am still offering free post and packing on ALL UK orders through Folksy so why not go take a look?

I feel there are few more needle books to be born from this fabric/ribbon/vintage button combo yet - perhaps you have a colour combo you'd like to see? I may have to create some matching pin cushions too...

Ribbon and Button Corsage - Tutorial

Due to the overwhelming response to Jubilee Ribbon Corsage I made as part of the Abakhan 'Creative Budget' challenge, I have decided to add a tutorial for those of you wish to make one for yourselves. (For those of you who don't or feel they can't, but would love one anyway, keep an eye on my Folksy shop where I hope to be listing some for sale very soon . . . )

So here you go - How to make your very own Ribbon and Button Corsage

Assemble your ingredients

You will need:

12 x 10cm lengths of ribbon
6 x 6cm lengths of ribbon
button centre piece
brooch back
needle and thread


I used ribbon that was 15mm wide. You can use wider or narrower but the effect will be different.







Thread needle with approx 1m of thread, double it up and tie a knot in the end. Take 6 pieces of 10cm ribbon lengths you want to make the first round. You can use the same colour or alternate the colours and/or patterns as wish.

Fold the first piece of ribbon in half an sew a line of small running stitches across the open end.

Do the same with the other five pieces of ribbon. Pull the thread tight to gather the ribbon petals and stitch the last piece to the first to form a circle. Secure with a couple of stitches making sure the thread ends up on the correct side of the work to begin the next row of petals.
















Repeat this process for the second round of petals but once you have secured the circle, stitch through the two layers of petals to hold them in place. Try and keep the stitches fairly small and close to the centre but don't worry too much as they will be covered by the next layer...














 The third round is worked in exactly the same way but using the shorter lengths of ribbon. Join the circle, secure the petals and stitch into place.













Now add your button centre piece. Use one big focal button or layer up two or three for a different look. Make sure your centre piece is big enough to cover up the stitching on your ribbon petals!














Finally stitch your brooch back in place and you're done!


* If you are at all concerned about the security of your stitches or ribbon fraying feel free to add a little fabric glue to the corsage before you attach the brooch back







There you go, couldn't be easier! Try experimenting with different coloured ribbons and different widths too. Why stop at three layers? Start with larger pieces of wider ribbon for the first round - say 16cm lengths - before doing the three rounds shown here for an absolute show stopper of a corsage!

I really am rubbish at not doing anything...

Sunday. The day of rest.

Yeah, right!

Usually Sunday is pretty much like every other day, except I have the Other Half under my feet as well as the Little Man and the cat! Today I decided that I was going to... take it easy *gasp*   I wasn't going to rush out of bed. I wasn't going to try and do any washing/ironing/tidying/gardening/cleaning or any other housework related duties. I was going to 'chill'.

In reality I have discovered that I am crap at doing nothing. I had planned on chicken pie and roasties for tea so made a batch of pastry before 10am, swiftly followed by a batch of chocolate cookies (coz I had the mixer out and I fancied some...) Then, because it seemed sensible and would save rushing around and doing it later, I made the pie filling. And prepared the spuds. And then, as I had made a bit of a mess, I cleaned the kitchen. Like I said, crap at doing nothing.

When I finally sat down at around midday (after making several rounds of toast/coffee/banana milk) I managed to hold off doing anything at all for, ooooo, about 10 mins. Then I got twitchy fingers so I grabbed a crochet hook, some lovely dark red merino wool I had in my stash box and made a lovely heart from The Crafty Seller magazine I picked up the other day. If you haven't come across this one, it's worth a look. Most of the designs are pretty basic and I would be wary of outright copying them (even though they are allegedly copyright free and the intention of the magazine is that you should make and sell these items yourself...) but perfect as inspiration and ripe for adding your own twist to.

As you all know, I am fairly new to crochet so I am always looking for little projects to have a go at and the little hearts in this months issue are just perfect for me. I tweaked the pattern slightly, adding a pretty scalloped edge, and a crochet chain loop to hang it with. I also added some dried lavender to the stuffing and a lovely vintage button from the bundle I was sent by my Button Swap partner, Michelle at My Handmade Haven . I love the finished heart. I may even make some for my next craft fair...

So, by planning on doing nothing, I actually managed to start something AND finish it the same day. Now that doesn't happen often. Maybe a should plan on doing nothing more often...