Category Archives: My Projects

50 Button Crafts: idea #17 – Button Picture Frame

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custom button frame via YankeeMagazine.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:

This would also make a great Mother’s Day gift or birthday or anytime for that matter. All you need is an inexpensive flat frame. If the color of the frame isn’t similar to the color of the buttons you are using, it will look better if you paint it first. Then just glue on the buttons with hot glue or household glue. Slip in a favorite photo and you have a precious gift.

custom button frame from YankeeMagazine.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.

50 Button Crafts: idea #16 – Mothers are like Buttons

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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:

Mothers Day snuck up on me and it finally hit me a couple of days ago that it is just two weeks away. My sister hosts most of our family gatherings but Mothers Day is traditionally in my court since I’m the only one with both my mother and my mother-in-law still living. It simplifies things by having it at our house. I like to give all the mothers attending gifts so today I did some searching for a button themed gift. I’m still working on the ideas but I’m sure about part of it. I want to do some kind of wall hanging with the words “Mothers are like buttons, they hold everything together.” Here are some of the ideas I found during my research.

I’ll report back with what the finished product looks like. Hopefully next week.

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 #15 – dyed buttons

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dyed button from fiberluscious

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:

If your button stash could use some color here is a solution: Rit Dyes. Click on the photo above for a step by step tutorial. While not all vintage buttons dye equally, if adding some color gives these buttons new life I think it is worthwhile. Have fun with this.

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 #14 – button bikes

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button bikes from This that and everything in between

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:

No instructions for these little beauties but when I saw them I just had to share them. Can’t wait to have some time to try these out. As a small gift they would open up the opportunity to share bicycle memories or talk about how the use of bikes has evolved and changed since their invention. You must have some family story that could be trigger by these sweet little things.

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.

Emma Book: last page and back cover

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Though we are sad that Emma’s future didn’t turn out to be as a guide dog, we are so grateful to have had Emma in our lives. She was a joy to raise and we will always remember her droopy eye, snuggles and happy disposition. Emma has a bright future with Dennis. Time will tell if she will need an operation. Whatever happens Emma will live a good life and make a difference in the world. We look forward to seeing just where her new life takes her.

Emma Book: elated

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Finally in January 2015 Dennis Marino, a volunteer at GDB wondered why Emma was still in the kennels? He had walked her several times I thought she was a really nice dog. He wasn’t looking for a dog but his question started the ball rolling and Dennis adopted Emma.

Emma lives in San Francisco and goes with Dennis to campus when he volunteers in the gift shop. Dennis’s dog walking is now with Emma, twice a day. They are a nice pair and so far Emma’s back is doing great. She has adjusted to life in the big city and the hills of San Francisco.

On March 27th 2015, we met Dennis on campus and got to see Emma again. It was so fun to see how healthy and happy she is with Dennis.

Emma Book: elusive

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Because we want to keep raising puppies and Emma’s back wouldn’t be helped by an ongoing stream of young puppies we asked GDB to find the best place for Emma. Her mom’s family meet Emma one day when they were on campus and fell in love with her. But after talking to the GDB vet they decided that their lifestyle was too active for Emma’s condition.

In December Emma was assigned to a staff member to build rapport with until they could find just the right place for our Emma. She was well cared for and loved while she was in the kennels.

 

50 Button Crafts: idea #13 – button family tree

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button tree via Bonkers About Buttons

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:

While this tree was a temporary creation of an Ebay seller, the idea is a good one using buttons from your stash to make a family tree. I can imagine adding small tags to the buttons for names. Another option would be to write names directly on the buttons. That method would make it very easy to add more names to the tree as your family expands. Lots of possibilities with this idea.

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.

Emma Book: embryonic

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Emma was evaluated for her potential as a breeder when she got back to Guide Dogs. But her EKG showed TVD or Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia, so she was spayed to prepare her to start her training as a guide dog.

Before she was assigned to a training string, Emma showed some signs of having a problem. As they investigated they discovered the last vertebrae in her back moved around more than it should. That was when we got the call puppy raisers dread, Emma was career changed for a “luxating lumbar”.

In hindsight there were subtle signs of her back problem but we didn’t recognize them. When I talked to GDB’s vet he said that her condition was something she was born with. Now it was time for Emma to find a new path in life, a different one then we had expected or hoped for.

 

Emma Book: empty

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Our year and seven days with Emma was over before we were ready. We had hoped that there would be time for her to mentor a new puppy in training but alas, Fable came just two days before Emma’s recall to Guide Dogs for the Blind. The day we put her on the puppy truck for San Rafael was much like the day that she got off the puppy truck a year earlier. But we had mixed emotions. While were excited to see what her future would bring we wished we could have just a few more weeks with our sweet Emma.