For the Love of Buttons

 love buttons! I love the enormous variety of colors, shapes and styles and I enjoy sorting them. Buttons are one of my favorite go-to embellishments. Is there anything you cannot make with them? Well, today I got out some buttons, all shades of pink, and I made this little Valentine box. What do you think?

Buy this Valentine Box

I used an unfinished birch container from the craft store and painted it white. Then I used my Silhouette die cut machine to cut out a nice big heart that I lightly traced on the lid of my container. Then I filled in the heart shape with loads of buttons. You can't skimp on the buttons here; I had to layer some smaller buttons on top of others so my heart shape was filled in completely. After the buttons were attached, I used some adhesive pearls to cover some of the button holes. Then I wrapped two styles of ribbon around the edge of the lid and used some rub-on transfers around the bottom. And there you have it!

So while we're on the subject of buttons and all you can do with them, I thought I'd dig through my archives for things I've made with buttons.

 These are some push pins I made with a variety of colorful buttons that I stitched and added a flat tack to the back.

This is mini notebook that I added a row of colorful stitched buttons along the edge.

Buy this Notebook

And the last one I'll share with you are these floral magnets. They are made from silk flowers and an assortment of old mother of pearl buttons with a magnet attached to the back.

Buy these Magnets

So, what do you make with buttons? I'd really like to see some of your projects. Send me a link so I can take a peek. Thanks again for dropping by! I enjoyed sharing my projects with you. :) Kathy

Class Valentine's Cards

Are the kids ready for Valentine's Day at school? Did they pick out their packs of Valentine cards yet? If not, here's a super simple Valentine design you can whip up at home in a hurry. With some colored construction paper or scrapbook paper, cut into 2 1/2" by 6" rectangles. An 8 1/2" by 11" sheet makes four cards. Use a two inch scalloped punch to make the white part of the card. A circle punch, heart punch or scalloped scissors will also work. The foam hearts I used are a Target Dollar Spot item and I didn't even use half of them! They are self adhesive so they're easy for kids to use. You could use other types of stickers too. Then with a rubber stamp, add a Valentine sentiment. The sentiment can be hand written as well. I added my sentiment by running my card stock through the printer before I cut it. Use whatever you have on hand. Finally I added a button to each heart to give it a little more pizazz. Happy Valentine's Day!

Take Note

Why carry a plain pad of paper around in your purse or glove box when you can deck one out? I purchased this mini composition book from Staples and added some lovely patterned card stock to the front manufactured by Scenic Route and then embellished it with a row of stitched buttons and a cool little rub-on quote. Now when I reach into my purse or across my nightstand for a piece of paper, I feel like smiling! Please note that this mini composition book is for sale in my Etsy store at http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/ for those of you who don't have the time to dress one of these little guys up.