50 Button Crafts: idea #20 – DIY button cufflinks

Posted on May 18, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

button cufflink tutorial from cremedelacraft.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:

Is it too soon to start thinking about Father’s Day? If not, here is a super simple idea to make cufflinks (if there is a dad in your life who wears cufflinks). Clink on the photo above for detailed step by step instructions from cremedleacraft.com. This idea would make a really cool gift for a groom to wear if the buttons where from his father, grandfather or great-grandfather’s buttons.

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 #19 – multi-strand crochet button necklace

Posted on May 11, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

crocheted button necklace from Ljeans on Etsy.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 really like the idea of using crochet to link together buttons into a multi-strand necklace. Many of our ancestors used skills like crocheting to make useful items and beautiful things to enhance their lives. A necklace like this is an opportunity to teach about those skills and maybe even teach a child or grandchild the skill of crocheting. Ljeans has a tutorial on Etsy that will take you through step by step how to make a necklace like the one above. It looks like it is mostly chain stitches so I bet the project would work up pretty fast, a great weekend project.

50 Button Crafts: idea #18 – Mother’s are Like Buttons (part 2)

Posted on May 7, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

Mother’s Day gift

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:

Well my ideas for Mother’s Day got scaled down a bit out of practicality and time. Instead of doing a frame and quote I just printed the quote with an image on paper. It will act as a tag for a lunch sack full of apricots, attached with a paper clip adorned with buttons. Below is a png of the quote so you can print it on your own background or print on plain paper and embellish it with real buttons. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

for personal, non commercial use only

50 Button Crafts: idea #17 – Button Picture Frame

Posted on May 4, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

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

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

Posted on April 27, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

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.

50 Button Crafts: idea #15 – dyed buttons

Posted on April 20, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

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.

50 Button Crafts: idea #14 – button bikes

Posted on April 7, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

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.

50 Button Crafts: idea #13 – button family tree

Posted on March 30, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

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.

50 Button Crafts: idea #12 – turquoise buttons bracelet

Posted on March 23, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

turquoise buttons bracelet via Pinterest

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 button bracelet puts the buttons on edge. While this takes many more buttons, I really like how it changes the buttons into flat beads and give a completely different look. I can imagine making a beautiful but simple bracelet with a variety of white buttons that I have in abundance in my stash. I looked for the original place this photo was posted on the internet but didn’t find it, so I have no information on the bracelet above. It could be made with a clasp or some thin elastic to thread the buttons on should work great.

50 Button Crafts: idea #11 – repurposed button charms

Posted on March 16, 2015 by tellingfamilytales

Repurposed Button Charms from ECT TV

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:

Here is another twist on using buttons for charms. If you have other family memorabilia or maybe just the odd piece of “junk” why not mix it in with your buttons to add more history and interest to the project? This also give more room to make the charm more masculine with some hardware from grandpa’s nuts and bolts stash. Here is the tutorial video.