Monthly Archives: July 2015

50 Button Crafts: idea #29 – button & wire pendant

Posted on by
Rebecca Clampton's button and wire pendant

Rebecca Compton’s button and wire pendant via Flickr

Got a box or jar full of buttons carefully saved by your mother or grandmother? For 2015 I’m in search of great ways to put those buttons to use. Here is this week’s idea:

What an elegant way to accent a single button and make it into a beautiful pendant. Who wouldn’t enjoy getting something like this featuring the button of an ancestor along with a story or a bit about that person. Such a great idea. It would probably take a bit of practice to learn to shape the wire but it would be well worth the effort.

It would be a good idea to document where the buttons for your project came from and any relevant stories or information about that person or family. If you are looking for more button crafts, check out my Pinterest board.

Advertisement

Pupdate: Fable

Posted on by
Fable after her surgery

Fable after her surgery

We got the news a couple of weeks ago that Fable is no longer being considered for breeding. So Tuesday she had spay surgery. The vet said the surgery went well and Fable was a very good girl while they had her. She seemed a bit miffed at me when I picked her up. While she was perfectly willing to go with me, Fable didn’t acknowledge me until that evening. She was really tired Tuesday night and kind of nauseous. I didn’t clue into it until she threw up the dinner I encouraged her to eat. After Bill got home and spend some time cuddling with her she felt some better. But a good nights sleep did the trick and by the end of the day Wednesday she was feeling good and by Thursday night she thought she was ready to go at life full blast.

We have two extra dogs (a working guide, whose handler had foot surgery and a pet dog we are watching for family) now and Fable wants to play with them. She has spent the last two days at work with Bill, which limits the amount of time we have to keep her separated from the other three dogs. As long as she doesn’t overdo it for the next week and think things will be great. Fable has an official evaluation next weekend. I think she will do great, I sure hope so.

p.s. Galaxy is doing great. I’ll try to get an update written on her soon.

Family Tree: word art family tree

Posted on by

personalized family tree art by KinAndCaboodle on Etsy.com

Love this family tree made up of names. KinAndCaboodle on Etsy.com will custom make one just for your family or if you have the right skills you could probably create your own, it should be doable in software like Adobe InDesign. I want to try this sometime, partly because I’ve never done anything like this before. If you are in the market for a word art style family tree check out KinAndCaboodle they have several styles to choose from.

 

50 Button Crafts: idea #28 – button & cross-stitch Christmas ornaments

Posted on by

primitive Christmas ornaments via HowDidIDoIt.com

Got a box or jar full of buttons carefully saved by your mother or grandmother? For 2015 I’m in search of great ways to put those buttons to use. Here is this week’s idea:

I know it is only July but this project will probably take more than a weekend so now is a great time to plan ahead and get started on something special for Christmas. Along with the pattern for the cross-stitch ornaments above on HowDidIDoIt.com there is a bit of history of how pioneers decorated their Christmas trees. It would be great to share some of the traditions of frontier Christmases along with a hand stitched ornament adorned with buttons from an ancestor. Also a great way to focus on family and not on the more commercial aspects of the holidays.

It would be a good idea to document where the buttons for your project came from and any relevant stories or information about that person or family. If you are looking for more button crafts, check out my Pinterest board.

50 Button Crafts: idea #27 – button resin bracelet

Posted on by

button resin bracelet from resinobsession.com

Got a box or jar full of buttons carefully saved by your mother or grandmother? For 2015 I’m in search of great ways to put those buttons to use. Here is this week’s idea:

As a teenager I played around with resin and had lots of fun with it, so when I saw this button resin bacelet it took me back a bunch of years. Most of my creations were with sea shells, I never thought of using buttons or making a bracelet. This could be a fun project to do with a small group and teach them the craft of working with resin and sharing stories and memories of those whose buttons you are using or ancestors who also enjoyed crafting with unusual materials. Have you ever worked with resin? Click on the photo above for a step by step tutorial.

It would be a good idea to document where the buttons for your project came from and any relevant stories or information about that person or family. If you are looking for more button crafts, check out my Pinterest board.

50 Button Crafts: idea #26 – button snowflakes

Posted on by

  button snowflake by EmilyDawnWright.wordpress.com

Got a box or jar full of buttons carefully saved by your mother or grandmother? For 2015 I’m in search of great ways to put those buttons to use. Here is this week’s idea:

Maybe it is all the heat we’ve had lately but I couldn’t resist these button snowflakes this morning. Summer is a great time to prepare for Christmas and I can visualize these snowflakes in all the lovely white shell buttons I have in my stash. I found two tutorials one using Popsicle sticks for the base and the other wire. Depending on the size of you buttons one might look better than the other. I already have snowflakes on my tree so a few of these button snowflakes would be great additions.

If you have family stories about winter or snow or even your own memories, these button snowflakes would make the perfect little gift to go along with a copy of the story or if given in person the culminating gift at the end of a family story time. Then every time they see their button snowflake they will remember that story. Great way to make connections between family members.

button snowflake from Crafts-for-all-seasons.com

It would be a good idea to document where the buttons for your project came from and any relevant stories or information about that person or family. If you are looking for more button crafts, check out my Pinterest board.

Pupdate: introducing Galaxy

Posted on by

Galaxy

Late Monday night we picked up our new little puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Her name is Galaxy! (Thankfully a name I can easily live with.) She is a fun loving pup who has done great on learning to relieve outside. (Yeah!) And last night she went to bed quietly in her kennel and slept until 6:30 this morning. (Another Yeah!) Galaxy holds her own with Fable and Tamara (who we are puppy sitting for about a week) and she really, really loves air conditioning. She knows exactly where all the air vents are in the house and lays on them any chance she gets. Galaxy often makes funny little growly, whinny, barky noises when she plays with a toy in her kennel or an x-pen. Being only 7 weeks old when we got her, she works hard to eat the 3/4 of a cup of dog food she gets at her meals. I feel like we hit the jackpot again with Galaxy. These puppies from Guide Dogs for the Blind are amazing little souls and we feel privileged to be intrusted with the care.

Fable is being an awesome big sister. I’m so proud of the progress she continues to make. She will be a year old on Tuesday. We had our doubts about her at times a few months ago and at least three of her six siblings have already been dropped from the program and I suspect that another one was too. She has been challenging to raise in many aspects but it is all coming together. Currently she is expected to return for the next stage of her training the end of October.