Button Christmas Ornaments

I had so much fun making these button ornaments!

Almost everyone I know has fond memories of their mother's button box, tin or jar. I do too, and have been accumulating quite a collection of buttons and vintage sewing trims over the years: some from my mother, some leftover from my days of sewing clothing for myself, some from friends as they clean out their mother and grandmother's sewing supplies, and others from the thrift shop.



I love buttons!

I first got the inspiration for button ornaments from my sister. She showed me a book on all kinds of button crafts when she was here over Thanksgiving. Then, we saw the cutest button ornaments displayed on a tree at Longwood Gardens last month; they were made by elementary students and were simply adorable. I also looked online for some more ideas. These are my creations:

The gold buttons are left over from my days of clothing sewing in the 90's - gold and pearl buttons were all the rage!  These buttons remind me of blouses, dresses and vests I made for myself and others.  :)  I simply spray painted  2" Styrofoam balls with gold paint, then hot glued the buttons.

This one was made with white buttons from my mother's sewing jar; I used pearlized pins to hold the buttons in place; a corsage pin holds a layer of four buttons on the bottom.

This reminds me of a 1950's boudoir!  I can envision these buttons on a salmon-pink quilted housecoat!  :)  These buttons came from a neighbor who was cleaning out her house before moving.  Even the rick rack is the same salmon-pink!

I scoured the thrift shop button box for these green buttons, and took every last one!  I simply strung the buttons on a green pipe cleaner, then tied on a bow. 

As much as I love these ornaments, our family buttons are too special to be hot glued on an ornament.  I want to preserve them in their special jars so we can enjoy rooting through them from time to time.  :)