Button Day Crafts

Button Day is on Nov. 16, and while there isn’t a clear meaning to what this day means, it likely is a day where you get creative and use buttons to create crafts for your house or apartment. Putting a few buttons together can create a beautiful and colorful picture that adds character to your home. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Kid Art
This is an easy idea for a kid’s bedroom. You’ll need buttons of varying sizes and colors, a small tree branch, glue, hot glue gun and white construction paper. Have your child help you with this project. First, find a tree branch that will fit across the construction paper diagonally. Remove any of the leaves, but leave the smaller branches on it. Carefully hot glue this branch to your paper. Have your child spread glue around the smaller branches and place the buttons in these areas. The goal is to make it look like a tree. Lay flat to allow the glue to dry.

Another use for buttons for a child’s room is to create a picture frame. Purchase a wooden frame from your local crafts store. Choose a paint color and paint the wooden frame. Next, glue the buttons on the frame until the frame is colored. You may choose buttons that go along with the color scheme of the child’s room. This is a kid-friendly project.

Monogram
Using buttons to create a monogram to place in your entry way is a unique and colorful piece to add to your space. For this project, you’ll need a canvas (a square one is preferred) of the size you desire, acrylic paint, paintbrush, buttons of varying sizes in the color that goes well with your home, glue, stapler, pencil and ribbon. An optional item is fabric to cover the canvas if you don’t want to paint it.

Paint or cover your canvas. Choose a neutral color that will allow the buttons to pop. Once the paint dries, use your pencil to write the first letter of your last name. Randomly lay out your buttons on the letter to make sure you have enough buttons. One by one, glue each button securely to the canvas.

An optional step is to use thread and needle to secure each button in place. It will also give off the appearance that the buttons were sewed onto the canvas.

Add ribbon to the back of the canvas, and secure using staples. Find a spot in your home and hang up the finished product.

Candle Holders
Add character to your boring candle holder. If you have glass candle holders around your house, take them out. The other items you’ll need are buttons and a hot glue gun. Semi-transparent buttons are ideal, as they will allow the light from the candle to shine through.

Carefully apply glue to the buttons and press onto the glass handle holders. Repeat this step until the candle holder is covered.

Scarf
Scarves aren’t just for keeping you warm during the colder months. They add flair to your outfit, but with a boring white, black or brown scarf, you’re not making a big statement. To help with this, add a few buttons to your scarf. You can do this by securely sewing three or five buttons to the bottom of your scarf. For an infinity scarf or one that you plan on wrapping around your neck, line three buttons in a vertical line and sew to front of your scarf.

Holiday Décor
Another use for buttons just in time for the holidays is filling ornaments with buttons. Purchase fillable ball ornaments and fill with different colored buttons. This will make a wonderful addition for the Christmas tree or on garland.

A Christmas tree might be too big and too messy for your apartment, so a faux Christmas tree made with buttons can be the next best thing. Purchase a 12 inch Styrofoam cone. Paint the cone with green paint. Once the paint is dry, begin pinning green buttons to your tree. The buttons can be any size and any shade of green. Using pearl head long sewing pins to pin your buttons to your tree will give the illusion that the tree has ornaments and lights. Use white and gold pins to top the tree off.