crafts, create

Button Crafts for Get Your Craft On Challenge

Every month we run a craft challenge on a theme – May is #ButtonCrafts.

button craftsShare your Button Crafts photos on Instagram, or over on Twitter, using the hashtag #GetYourCraftOn, add your link to the linky below, and we’ll pick the best ones to feature here on the host blog the following month. (and on our Pinterest board too)

The photos you share do not have to be of the finished article – let’s see your work in progress as well as your completed masterpieces! Anything related to the #Button crafts topic. Just tag them with #GetYourCraftOn and follow and tag us too so we know you’re taking part) Our team’s four Instagram accounts are: @incredibusy (that’s me!), @redtedart @bluebearwood & @missielizzie.

This month’s Craft Challenge is #Sheep Crafts in honour of the #ChineseNewYear #GetYourCraftOn, and add your link to the linky below and check out our Pinterest board too.

FOLLOW #GetYourCraftOn team’s Instagram accounts @incredibusy @redtedart @bluebearwood & @missielizzie

BritMumsoh, and if you have a couple of minutes, any chance you can vote for me for best social media expert in the BritMums BiBs awards HERE


crafts, google+ hangouts

Inspired by the button cupcakes we created for swing tags for Mother’s Day, we found some thin wire and got busy with this button flower craft.button bouquet

The wire needs to be quite a narrow gauge to make it ‘bendable’ for smaller fingers – and choose buttons within a sympathetic colour spectrum to make the flowers quite beautiful!

For this button flower craft, I found that the best way to do this is to arrange the buttons in the size order you’d like, ie, larger buttons at the back and then feed them onto the wire.

IMPORTANT – make sure you thread the wire through the buttons across the diagonal if there are four holes in the button, this way the buttons sit flat on top of each other – I cut a petal shape from some off-cuts of green felt to make the petals.

Google+ hangout with redtedartIf you’d like to see more button crafts, check out our button raindrops and giant paper pom pom clouds, our  Button Cupcakes and Christmas  Rudolph Greetings Cards, and watch the Google+ hangout hosted byMaggy at RedTedArt where myself, Anthea and Maggy shared our favourite button crafts.

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

create, google+ hangouts, kids

Button Crafts – eek and I’m in my element!

Button Crafts Cupcake tagsSo with Mother’s Day looming, I thought we’d make some pretty button crafts gift tags for Grandma and Granny’s parcels as we won’t be with them on the day.

It’s a life-cycle thing too, as we have LOADS of buttons in our button box which belonged to my Grandma – we LOVE buttons in our house, and have spent hours picking through the buttons in the tin, each one having a special childhood memory for me, and now for my own children too!

Combining two of my favourite things, Button Crafts, and Cakes, I took some rather fetching paper cake cases and cut them down to fit some parcel swing tags I had lurking in the gift wrapping box. These would make great Birthday cards too – I just loved the idea of making the gift wrap special too… 🙂

Instructions:

1) Cut the cake case down to size. You should be able to get four out of one cake case.

2) Position all of the buttons where you want them onto the swing ticket.

3) Ideally take a photo for reference, we did this, so that we could remove them all, and glue them all back on in place – it’s a great way of getting the buttons exactly where you want them! Button crafts can be quite fiddly, so this is a great ‘cheat’!

4) Glue the paper case into position, I put mine over the top of the buttons, to give a more 3D effect.

Google+ hangout with redtedartIf you’d like to see more button crafts, check out our Christmas Rudolph Greetings Cards, and watch the Google+ hangout hosted by Maggy at RedTedArt where myself, Anthea and Maggy shared our favourite button crafts. (Check out Anthea’s cookies – you won’t believe them!!!)

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello