Button Bouquet Tutorial

I've made these button bouquets for a few years now. They are made from vintage buttons & clustered into a vintage salt shaker. They were in my little shop at the antique mall before it closed down last summer. I've never had them in my Etsy shop---don't know why? But I've been re-inspired by them just recently.
Family Fun magazine had a "how-to" of these little button blossoms in the April issue. I decided to teach this craft for my MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group today. (And the vintage button bouquets will be for sale in my shop later this week!) Keep reading on for a short tutorial!

This is a really fun & easy craft that you can do with your wee ones too. Mother's Day is coming up--what a fun giftie! I'm also ALL about teacher's gifts---this would make a great one! I purchased inexpensive colorful buttons at Joanne's. You'll also need 26 gauge floral wire, & a pair-0-pliers to snippety-snip the wire.

I have a collection of vintage & vintage-looking shakers waiting to be used for projects like this. But the "how-to" in the Family Fun magazine also shows the button flowers being scattered in a cute little green & leafy potted plant. Use your imagination.

First, you'll want to snip the wire. I cut it in half. Adjust the length according to the project.

Next, stack your buttons onto the wire. Use as many--or as few-- buttons in a stack that you want.

After your buttons are stacked, make a loop at the top of the wire--long enough to slip back THROUGH the buttons & still have 1/2"-1" left sticking out.

See, it'll look like that.

Now twist the excess 1/2"-1" of wire that is sticking out the back of the buttons with your fingers until the buttons are secure & tight & all the wire is looped around. The wire I used for the flower pictured was actually 22 gauge, because the store I purchased supplies from was all out of 26 gauge. For kids, 26 gauge is definitely the way to go. But if you have a stronger, thicker wire like I had, just use pliers at the very end to twist that last bit around securely.

Ta-da! Stick them in a small jar, a shaker (like in the picture), tie a bow around them, do whatever you want with them! You can use whatever color combo you want too. I made my grandmother one for her birthday a couple years ago & I used really rich tones of brown, cream, tan & gold in a really ornate vintage perfume bottle. It turned out really beautiful!

I've SOOOO been missing my blog & blog friends lately. The girls were out of school last week for Spring Break. Whew! I forgot how busy they keep me!