Tuesday, April 15, 2008

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!

15 comments:

  1. WOW! What a cool idea! Seriously :O) I love that you're teaching people how to do something you love. I'll have to try that sometime. I'm always trying to think of new interesting posts.

    AND I like your bouquet! How very creative. Do you sell a lot of these on Etsy??

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  2. hey nikki!!! i am SO inspired!!! i am going to out tomorrow (or the very next day!) and buy supplies for these boquets - they are the cutest! i should be able to S&P shakers from thrift stores, plus it's the school holidays on friday - a great project for my girls! thanks so much!

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  3. I love this tutorial! I just added a link from my blog to yours!

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  4. oh I have always totally loved your buttons flowers and now I know how to make them, dear Nikki you are so awesome I may have to try this out soon, I will keep you posted.
    kara
    xx

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  5. I can't wait to start digging through my button collection! What a wonderful idea! Your colors are so super juicy!!

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  6. What a cute idea - Thanks so much for sharing.

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  7. Thank God up Above for your button tutorial......I have the FamilyFun issue and made a few of the flower buttons for a fun craft with the girls at church....BIG FUN!!!! AND then my oldest daughter wanted to get married and have a very small ceremony and reception. Tabitha knows i like to think outside the BOX...so she wanted me to come up with something different for the bridal bouquets and two bridesmaids. Thus.....came the button flowers....and they were just toooooo adorable!! Tabitha loved the idea so much that we made them for the table centerpieces at the reception. Along with the button flower stems....we took coffee styrofoam cups....painted them different colors.....shrink the cups on a cookie sheet in the oven...which made them look like tiny ladies' hats which we decorated with leftover buttons...beads...tiny stick on flower embellishments....and added stems to the hats and stuck those in mason jars with the button bouquets. It was the hit of the wedding. Since then.....i have asked to make some of these adorable bouquets for a couple of young ladies who are getting married in June this year. The best thing about buttons...they won't die and never fad. I LOVE your website. And the music!!!This is where i go to find my happy place!

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  8. My daughter sent me your blog post since she thought it was neat! I have to agree - IT IS!! Love what you did and I have a ton of buttons to try this with! Now...to go shopping for vintage salt shakers! TFS!

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  9. I loved this tutorial sooo much that I've been scouring op shops (Australian thrift stores) for vintage salt and pepper shakers. I finally found two gorgeous white ones and each will adorn my daughters' rooms. Thanks so much for you interesting and fun blog!
    Deb.

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  10. I'm also using a button bouquet at my wedding and I love this idea of how to have them on the table too. But I need to figure out how to get all my ideas put together so it's not a crazy mishmash of ideas! Thank you!

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  11. LOVE it. I've been collecting buttons for years and I absolutely love your idea. Thank you for sharing :)

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  12. wow you're awesome. this is like so creative idea!

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  13. Really useful post here, I like the way its very easy to follow too. Thanks!

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  14. Your little button bouquet's are too cute! I hope you don't mind I featured it on my blog today. You can see it here:

    http://crafteronabudget.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-cute-button-crafts.html

    Thank you so much for sharing the tutorial!

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  15. Jamie, You are the Queen of cupcakes!!!!! And I still love making those button bouquets...best therapy out there!!!! Love much, laugh often!!!! Still love your web site!!! And I need a cupcake!!! lol!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Every time you do, I do a little happy dance. For reals.