Bobbin Baubles

Hi, gang!  This is a flower ornament anyone can make! You won't need any special tools - or, in fact, any tools at all. Here goes:

I call it the Big Bold Bobbin-flower Bauble. 'Cause it's made from a sewing bobbin. It's kinda big and splashy - but I hope you think it's cute.

Start with a bobbin, some jump rings and fifteen little shirt buttons.


If you prefer, all your buttons can match. But a mismatched-yet-harmonious collection makes a really cute flower. When choosing the jump rings, keep 2 things in mind: they should be large enough to reach across from your button to your bobbin, and thin enough to open and close by hand.

Open a jump ring by swiveling the two ends sideways. (Don't pull the gap straight apart.)


Add a button; attach to one of the bobbin holes. Then swivel the jump ring closed.

Fill all ten holes on one side of the bobbin - that's ten buttons. Here's how it will look at the ten-button stage:

On the opposite side, do every other hole - that's the final five. It gives a layered look if the five on top are a bit smaller than the ten on the bottom.

You know what? You could stop right there! I think this is kind of a cool look, featuring the naked bobbin:


But if you desire, go on to one final step - adding a button centerpiece. Pick out something to compliment your flower.

Grab a little piece of twine or cord and thread it through your centerpiece button. Run it down through the center of the bobbin...


Then just thread the two ends through a couple of opposite bobbin holes, meet them in the middle and tie them off. Like this:


Now you're totally done! That's your Big Bold Bobbin-flower Bauble.

See how changing the centerpiece changes the look?


There are a million ways to use your bauble. Just a few strategic stitches will secure it to whatever needs be-baubling. (I'm sure that's a word, right?)

A watch strap...


Cute hat...

Wide cuff bracelets...


Vintage purse!


If you have something that's metal or mesh, like this chain link bracelet...

...use jump rings instead of thread to attach your bobbin flower. Even faster and easier than stitching it on.

Okay, that's it - hope you liked it.

p.s. The chocolate and vanilla-colored cuff bracelets? I made them from a deconstructed tennis ball.

Just a button.

Sometimes I find a two-dimensional piece that I love, and wish to turn it into a pendant. Here's a tutorial for a way to make flat art into a necklace, using, well...


...just a button.

These were a surprise gift from my sis-in-law, in a box full of little crafty doodads. (Notice: where most people would put a heart or a happy face, she drew an undead vampire cat. She looks sweet, that Bec, but she's kind of an edgy girl.)

Okay, here is some flat art:


They're also from Bec, some funny pressed-paper oblongs she found in Tokyo. I have no clue what they are - but they must be worn! I love them so much!

Next I chose these dark abalone buttons. And some cord, thin enough to go thru the shank.


Punch a hole in your art piece. Thread the cord through the hole and the button...


And pop the shank through the hole:


You have turned your button into a bail to hold your pendant! How quick was that? And, for bonus cuteness...


...use a matching button to make the clasp.

You could also use very fine chain instead of a cord:


Aren't they unusual?


I'm pretty darn happy with them. Thanks again, Bec.

Here's a different look, using a vintage enamel button. This one is particularly special to me:


My clever little Mom did this flower painting in her watercolor class. (The original is 18 inches tall.) I loved it - swiped it - and laminated a teeny tiny copy of it so I could wear her art around town.

That's the basic idea. Think how many ways you could change this up! I'm sure your wheels are whirring as you read this. Go forth, and transform 'just a button' into a unique and pretty pendant bail.

Something fun to try? Beads into buttons.

I wonder if any of you have tried this? Turning beads into shank buttons.

It's done using a basic wire-wrapping technique called a wrapped loop. You put a bead on a wire headpin, and if you wrap the wire at least one full turn after making a loop, the loop is sealed closed and it becomes the shank. You would sew it on the same way as any button.

There are tons of tutorials online, many with video, showing how to do a wrapped loop. Here's a good one from Beadstyle magazine.

Just to give you the general idea, this shows the steps along the way:

(click photo to see it bigger)

Not a tutorial - but I hope it conveys that it's not all that difficult!

My main tip for the most successful bead-into-button is to use a flat or disc-shaped bead. (If it's round it sometimes works, if the buttonhole is just barely big enough to pass over the round bead), but the more button-shaped it is, the better it will hold. Here's a rondelle (disc-shaped) example:


You can have so much fun with this project! I know there are a gazillion buttons out there, but there are at least two gazillion beads. And sometimes it's cool to create your own custom buttons, just for the bragging rights. You might even be moved to do something a little special or even luxurious...say, buttons made of semiprecious stones?

I found this gorgeous coral-colored cashmere sweater at a thrift shop:


Here it is with real coral buttons.


Decadent, just a bit? Might turn an inexpensive store bought item into a charming, truly custom gift. Hmm...Mother's Day comes to mind.

SuperSecretStashBusting Challenge.

Okay, people. I think I am ready to give this a shot. I have two projects to show you, derived from a little pile of random junk in dusty rose.

As explained earlier, I'm supposed to create something fun, show you how I did it, and feel good about recycling/renewing stuff I already have, as opposed to going out and buying MORE STUFF. That's the thought behind 'Stashbust April,' a happy concept sweeping the land. During April, the idea goes, those of us who buy way too many knicknacks and gewgaws - those of us with boxes and boxes of 'someday I'll use it' - have pledged to purchase not one single new thing to feed whichever creative addiction we have.

So from Dollar Store Crafts, I have received a bunch of lovely whatzits, and I am determined to find ten interesting ways to re-purpose them into whozits. The only rule: I may use stuff from this stash, plus stuff I already own; I may not buy, beg, borrow or steal anything else.

Once again, here's the stash:


What would you do? Anything jump out at you? For me, it was two simultaneous, completely unrelated ideas. Project one is kind of a quickie, so easy it doesn't need a tutorial. I'll just show the objects I plucked from the pile, the resulting art project - and, if you act now, I will include a valuable bonus in the form of pictures of cute puppies! The second project is going to be my first tutorial ever. Bear with me, I hope I can make it clear.

Stashbust Project One





Now, the bonus puppies! I made these tags for a pet adoption event, held by the wonderful animal rescue people at Bark Avenue Foundation. I spent most of yesterday volunteering at the old Farmer's Market here in L.A., where this great organization holds adoptions once a month. By the way, I put a link to their website over there on the left...hint, hint, nudge, nudge.






The only little extra trick I did when making these tags: I protected the writing with a layer of clear contact paper, in case of drool. Oh yes, my friends - there was drool.


Stashbust Project Two - Tutorial

In the spirit of the Dollar Store Crafts inspiration, I present a rah-ther classy, ridiculously practical necklace you can make for $2 or less. And if you can sew on a button even sort of, you can make this.



It's a glasses-holder necklace! In the stash, there was this super gorgeous handmade ring:

Simple but cool. Three buttons stacked, sewn onto a black rubber O-ring. What a great idea! Way too pretty to take apart. But I wanted to change it into something else...plus, if I posted a tutorial consisting of "Pick up the ring and put it on your finger," would you ever read this blog again? Um...prolly not.

It struck me that if I bent the O-ring down, it would hold glasses nicely. Using another piece of leather from the stash, I tied the O-ring flat, and threaded the cord through the big button...

And done! I'm going to use it for my reading glasses.


Now for the tutorial - because unless you have a ready-made O-ring-button-ring lying around the house, you need to make this from scratch. This morning, I had the following conversation with my husband:

Me: (rummaging through his toolbox) Ooh! Perfect! Can I have this black rubber O-ring?
Jeff: Which? Oh, sorry, no. I need that one.
Me: But you have, like, four thousand washers. I can't have ONE?
Jeff: No, really, I need it. They're impossible to get, you can't find them anywhere, that's the only size washer that fits inside a...

Well, by that time I had stopped listening, so I really couldn't tell you. But apparently, a black O-ring in that exact diameter and thickness is the Hope Diamond of crummy rubber washers. So I came up with a different - maybe even easier - idea.

Here's what you will need, to make this project. It's a long list - at the end of this tutorial, there will be a pop quiz. Ready?

Three buttons. A length of cord or a shoelace. Needle and thread.


First, fold the cord in half. Pinch it in, a little above the center, leaving a loop big enough to hang down past your largest button. Sew through where you pinched it. Then wrap the thread around the 'pinch' a few times, and tie it off. I used some heavy upholstery thread, but you could use regular thread too: it would be best to double it, and wrap it around enough times to feel sturdy.



Decide on a pretty combination of buttons. From the back, sew up through all the buttons , then back down through them and around the cord. Go through everything a few more times to secure.


Tie off the thread in back. Tie the cord ends together. It will look like this:


Flip it over, and you're done.




Seriously, it took about 15 minutes. And ten of those minutes were me stacking and re-stacking different buttons indecisively, trying to see what looked cute.

I like this project because it can be adapted to so many looks. I chose a low-key version that would harmonize with most outfits. But I can see making a whole wardrobe of these. You are only limited by the ten million billion buttons in the world. Wild colors? Basic black? Blinged-out eveningwear? Teenagers might like them for toting sunglasses?

Anyway, there you have it. Two projects, and my first tutorial. Yay! Two down, eight to go.