Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?

 

Courtesy Button Lovers, Pinterest

Buttons!

What would we do without them?

We sew them on to keep things closed,

or to keep things open.

We add them to our clothing for fashion. 

We use them in our home decorations.

We give them to children to play with, or to learn basic skills.

We make them into jewelry.

Oh what a wonderful thing -

Buttons!

In Walt Disney’s animated movie 

‘Alice in Wonderland’

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum ask if Alice wants to play “Button, Button”?

We dye them to all the colors of the rainbow.

We make them out of plastic, horn, bone, twigs, metal, and precious gems.

Buttons made from coconuts 

Humans have been in love with buttons for a very long time.

. E stepp N.

In fact, for a very long time!

The oldest button found so far is one made of shell from 7000 BCE in Pakistan.

Feel free to count those zeroes again!

Archeologists found more discs with holes drilled in them made from ivory, clay, stone and bone. These dated back to 4000 - 5000 BCE.

Recyclart

In ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ 

Willy references the game “button, button”.

Being the crafty person I am, I became curious about what others were creating with their buttons, besides utilitarian uses?

Handmade by Taylor Friese

Is it anything I would like to do? Is it anything I think I would like to teach at my local Senior Center?

Courtesy Carol Cahill, Pinterest

Well, I found a plethora of button projects! Let’s look at just a few.

The first 2 fall into the category of 

‘Useful objects’

Courtesy Leslie Price, Pinterest

Courtesy Crafts and Creativity 

What cute ideas to put in your sewing/craft area! They are both so simple I’m not even going to give directions.

In season 2 of ‘Dexter’s Laboratory’ Dee Dee says “Button, button, who’s got the button?” before pressing a red button to take off in a hovercraft.

Many of the button crafts I have to show you don’t even have to know how to sew.

Here’s another one that only needs glue:

Courtesy StylesatLife

You could make this with anyone’s color scheme and give as a charming gift.

Wouldn’t it be great filled with jelly beans?

Another no-sew project:

I found many postings of this on Pinterest; no idea of original idea.

I would add a backing cut slightly smaller than the finished coaster. You could use stiffened fabric, leather scraps, thin cork sheets…

The title of the Twilight Zone episode ‘Button, Button’ is a reference to the childhood game.

Next I have a few simple ornaments:

Dana; Sara Srogi; Pinterest

Glue some popsicle sticks together for the base. (Do this on wax paper to prevent messes on your table!) Then glue on different sizes of buttons. Add thread or ribbon for a hanger.

A simple craft for young ones to do also.

firefliesandmudpies.com

There is a tutorial for this, but really you just need buttons, glue, ribbon for hanging and a stiffened piece of felt for the base. 

Budget idea: use poster board or shirt insert cardboard for the base instead.

Charlotte Prow; Pinterest 

You will need buttons, glue, scraps of felt and an old plaid scarf and twine to make the snowman ornament.

Are you in love with buttons yet?

Courtesy Carol Cahill; Pinterest

In ‘Lost in Space’ Season 2, Episode ‘The Curse of Cousin Smith’ Major West refers to the ‘old childhood game of button, button, who has the button

I found so many wonderful

 ideas of how to use buttons in your card making. Let’s start with Christmas cards. Here are a wfe :

Ellen Roberts 

Canadian Living

Scrapbook.com

Next are a few general cards wit:

Wordpress.com

Talita Rodrigues Nunes

H.Skelly for Splitcoaststampers Community; Pinterest

…and 2 more:

KEA

Archzine.net

There are many different styles of button flowers out there.

These are just a couple:

The Shabby Tree

Becky Crockett

Here is a diagram to help you make the above button flowers:

Julie Fitzgerald posted this on Pinterest 

Crochet, anyone?

Love Crochet 

Buttons and felt seem to go 

together so well:

chocolatecupcake 

Not On The High Street

Instructables

You could easily make these into pins or magnets.

In ‘Little Men’ by Louisa May Alcott (published 1871) the Plumfield children reference playing ‘Button, button, who’s got the button?’

So what is this game/nursery rhyme I keepreferring to?to?

It’s a children’s game that has existed well before 1871 (see above).

to play:

Children stand in a circle with 1 in the center. They all hold out their hands, palms up and next to each other. The ‘it’ player has a button. ‘It’ goes around the circle and pretends to put the button in each child’s hands. ‘It does drop it into one child’s hands, but everyone pretends they have it. Then the first child guesses who might have the button.

“Button, button, who has the button? Is it ____?”

You go around the circle with each child having a turn, until the real button holder is guessed. The child who guesses correctly is the new ‘it’.

Kathy Spitsen, Pinterest

Let’s get fashionable with our buttons!

Pinterest

If you can do jump rings you could use this same idea and make a necklace.

Here’s a project that takes embroidery thread and beads:

Patti Bishop posted this on Pinterest

Is your button not quite the right color?

Here’s a clever trick to custom paint wood buttons:

Threads magazine

I love this next fashion statement:

The credits for this are in Cyrillic. Sorry.

I have got to try this one.

Hot glue gun and Aleene’s Tacky glue here I come!

Okay blogspot has gone haywire on me and is doing really weird things with punctuation

and spacing GAAAhhhhhh

Time to stop!

Til next time

inkspired

I keep trying to fix the problem but have found no solution yet that works. I am so sorry for the messy look on this. It’s not how I typed it, truly!

😢 😭 😡

December meanderings

 Welcome!

I’m so glad you stopped by today!

I have started, and stopped, numerous blogs to you. Life has been a crazy roller coaster ride for a while. But, this too shall pass. That’s the adventure in life, isn’t it? Things change. They will change and they do change. And that’s ok.

Posted on Pinterest by Cheezburger

Pardon my lack of formatting today. If I wait until this blog gets ‘pretty’, it will take me another couple of months! At least at the rate I have been functioning.

I write about things that interest me. That might interest you. That made me laugh and I want to share the giggles. Things that are pretty. Or unique. Or just awesome! Things I never knew, that maybe you might like to know too.

Our sweet Nessie has decided to clone herself, starting with enough dog hair to make an exact duplicate. Every other day. Really.

Does she not realize Winter is approaching? She might need to keep all that fur to stay warm?

Oh. 

She has a favorite plushy blanket in practically every room in the house to curl up into.

Guess staying warm with fur is not an issue…

‘Nessie’

And there is a typical example of what my brain is doing these day! Bunny trails galore.

Some people call it ‘Chemo Brain’.

Ok, that works for now, but what was my excuse the last 25 years?!

😁

So let’s get started down a path for today.

I might find bunnies, or Easter eggs or even a dinosaur or two. Who knows? But let’s enjoy the time together, shall we?

Posted on Pinterest by Bored Panda

I love creating unusual, creative and beautiful greeting cards.

Little pieces of art, if you will. They are portable, easily given and a nice way for someone else to remember I am thinking of them. Care about them. 

It releases some of my creative energy that is always buzzing around inside me.

I have a plethora of cards, to say the least.

(Plethora - wonderful word by the way!)

I decided a few months ago if I wanted to continue making cards I needed to de-stash some.

Actually send them off to people! (Radical idea). So, I’ve been doing that.

Fun!

Here are a few samples I have made with micro-waved pressed florals, most from my garden.

My friend S and I are actually glad winter is upon us, so we can stop seeing all these wonderful florals, and feeling irresistible urges to pluck them and press them!

Our stash will definitely carry us through any and all projects til next Spring!

Here are a few more samples:

Using my Micro-Fleur press really preserves the color, and from picking to pressing to pressed it can be less than 2 minutes and you have flowers ready to create with.

No more old telephone book stuffed with dried crumbling flowers!

You can find the Press and accessories online. A bit pricey, but it lasts ‘forever’ and makes a huge difference in the outcome. Too many $? Check out some other brands. S found one at a local Fabric Store for $9.99 that is very similar. Clearance though. Just be sure it is micro-wavable.

I use 1/2 school glue (Elmer’s) and 1/2 water, mix thoroughly. Then 1 ply Kleenex, wax paper and a sponge brush onto a cardstock base. Iron after dry. Let me know if you want more specific directions. 

I have gotten positive responses to my Card Campaign. It works both ways. The receiver gets a note and a bit of unexpected cheer (I hope!), I feel good about myself, and I now have room for more cards I can create! Win, win.

I know the trend is everything is ‘online’. Save trees. Don’t waste paper. But it’s very hard to place an I-phone on your  dresser, or at the dining table, to be reminded that someone cares about you.  They thought about you, made something just for you. Wanted to let you know you are important. These things are why I hope we never as a society lose the personal touch of a card to hold in your hand.

Phone calls are good.

A card in hand is good.

Don’t get me started on texting!

Chemo effects:

- tired

- weird loss of tastes

- bloody nose

- blisters on face

- incredible water weight gain

- hair? What was that?

- dehydration

- bone pain

- die where I stand fatigue

Karen wins:

- naps, whenever I want

- oatmeal is good

- Kleenex with lotion is my friend

- this too is temporary. Kudos to makeup.

- minimize long needless trips

- hats, cute!

- water. Water. Oh yes, and water.

- Claritin - who knew?

- soft sofas and beds

I consider myself The Equalizer at the moment! Stuff gets thrown at me. I cry. I get a bit angry. I find the humor and laugh. I get on with life. So what? Did I think life would remain the same forever? Of course not! When has it ever?

And I write blogs with bunny trails.

Hope to see you again. I’ll try to make it sooner than later for the next one. I enjoy our time.

Sincerely,

Inkspired