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Decorating with Buttons

By Kit Davey

There's something about buttons. I cant' get enough of them. When I see a jar of them at a garage sale I am compelled to buy it. This is not really a problem, because someday I will use all of them. In my quest to use every last one, I have found many ways to use buttons in projects around my home. Why not fish out your old jar and try one of these ideas?

• Fill a bowl. This is an easy one. A bowl or box of buttons on your coffee table can entertain your guests and be a fun conversation piece. Use a bowl or box which harmonizes with the color or texture of your buttons, for example: fill a black and white patterned dish with your black and white buttons or collect all your yellow, red and blue buttons and arrange them in a green bowl. Mound your tortoise shell-like buttons in an earth toned dish, or dump all your wood and leather buttons into a small wooden box.
• Dress up your pet. Your fashion-forward feline will look tres chic with pearl, glass and gold buttons adorning her collar. A rough- and-tumble pup might appreciate having his red collar punctuated with flat black buttons. (Caution: Keep your pet's collar loose! If your pet's collar gets snagged on something it should be able to slip over its head).
• Adorn your jar o' buttons. A treasure-filled jar can make a useful bookend or paperweight for button pack rats. Use a large mayonnaise or peanut button jar and spray paint the lid gold or silver. Glue on a length of ribbon or lace around the lid and apply a handful of buttons to the top.
• Include in a mosaic project. Broken tile isn't the only ingredient you might use in your next pique assiette (mosaic) project. Include old chess pieces, bubble gum charms, broken mugs or figurines, and of course, your best buttons.
• Create a Victorian heart ornament. Cut out a two to three inch tall heart shape from thick mat board and poke a hole at the top.   Layer and glue on your buttons, completely covering the front of the heart.  Use gold twine or satin ribbon to hang from a dresser knob or lay on a stack of antique books.
• Make an arithmetic aide for your child. If your child is still learning addition and subtraction basics, have him/her use buttons to count out the problems. Let your child pick out his/her favorite buttons from your collection and decorate a counting jar to store them in while doing homework.
• Embellish a blouse. Do you have a boring white shirt that needs a little pizzazz? Snip off the original buttons and replace them with an assortment of brass, black or pearl buttons.
• Keep your spouse from snoring. I have heard that if you sew several sturdy buttons with large shanks onto the back of your partner's pajamas that it will keep him/her from sleeping on his/her back, thus stopping the sawing of logs.
• Decorate your hat. Sew buttons onto a baseball cap or a straw hat. The hat will look less cluttered if you use buttons of one color.
• Make jewelry. Pins are a snap to make. Snip or saw off the shank of a large, ornate button. Use a glue gun to attach the button to a pin backing . You can make earrings the same way. Simply glue the buttons to posts (jewelry making supplies are available at Michael's and other craft stores). Make a bracelet by threading thin elastic through the buttonholes and stacking the buttons together until you have enough to go around your wrist. Create a pattern by repeating colors and shapes.
• Embellish a quilt. Stitch tiny buttons into the corners of each square, edge an image or cover an entire shape. (This is probably not a good thing to do to an inherited or antique quilt! )
• Use as game markers. Buttons work well as substitute markers in backgammon and checkers.
• Adorn a gift card. Cut a heart-shape from ivory-colored paper, write the recipient's name in calligraphy and sew a dainty little button onto the card. Punch a hole in the card and attach to the gift with satin ribbon.