How to Make Simple Button Pendants for Fresh and Colorful Accessories

I love to craft with buttons. The projects you can make are simply endless.

Recently I sat down for some crafty therapy and assembled several quick button pendants as samples to take with me on an upcoming get-away with some girlfriends. I thought button pendants would be a simple enough project to do at night in our hotel room.

You will need the following items:

1. E6000 glue, or other thick durable glue for attaching jewelry componants.
2. .5 mm Stretch Magic beading string, or thick thread.
3. 3 buttons ranging in size from small, medium and large.
4. Toothpick.
5. An assortment of glass beads.
6. Sterling plated jewelry bail. 

Starting from the bottom of the largest button, thread a 4" thread of string or Stretch Magic through one hole of each button. Work your way from largest to smallest.

 

Next, put a glass bead or two onto the string and thread back through the other holes of the buttons.

Tie the string into a simple square knot on the back of the largest button, and snip the ends short.

With the toothpick, put a small dollop of E600 glue into the depression of a jewelry bail.

Gently press the button onto the glued bail and let dry for at least one hour.

Attach the button pendant to a silver chain and your pendant is complete.

For a coordinated look, make two identical button sets. Attach one to a pendant bail and the other to a ring base with E6000 glue.

In a very short amount of time, you can have several fun pieces of jewelry to brighten up your wardrobe!  Easy enough for all skill levels, this would make a fantastic craft for a girl's birthday party to use as the favors.

How to Make Balloon Embellished Flip Flops

When the heat is on, and the kids are outside for the summer, here is a simple and fun craft to do. Embellish Flip Flops with water balloons!

This craft takes about one hour and you will need the following items:

- One or two bags of small water balloons (per person).
- An inexpensive pair of flip flops - often available at craft stores, Target, or Walmart for a few dollars.

1) Begin by stretching and wrapping a single balloon around the rubber foot straps. Pulling the balloon tightly, tie it into a simple square knot.

2) Continue the process until the entire straps are completely covered with knotted balloons. Push the balloons close to each other for a fully covered strap.

This is an easy craft that would be the perfect activity for kids at a pool party or for a birthday party activity...right before a huge water balloon fight!

While trolling the various stores on Etsy (a past time I enjoy) I came across these amazing

flower brooches made from vintage zippers by "Zippining"  click here

They sell for about $30.00 - $40.00 each.

I also discovered these little darling heart pins which would be a great beginner project to sew.

Zipper Earrings for sale at Littles Gift Shop Etsy Click here

After a little more research, I found several tutorials that illustrate how to create these zipper creations. See below for the complete round-up.

Martha Stewart pointed corner Zipper flowers. Click here.

Simplicity black zipper brooch inspired by Project Runway. Click here.

Craftaholics Anonymous zipper flower cool bracelet. Click Here.

 Quirky and Co., The Musings of a Teenage Girl on Style and Pop Culture: Click here.

Modern Marie blogspot hot glues a black and gold zipper flower. Click Here

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Creating a logo

Sometimes it's really fun to see the creative process behind a logo design.

I was cleaning out files on my computer the other day, and found these images showing the evolution of my little Craft Junkie Bug. Before tossing them out, I thought it would be fun to share them with you. 

It started like this:

I had just returned from a summer camping trip with my family, where we saw all sorts of dragon flies. One even landed on my daughter's nose while she was floating in our rubber raft! The dragonflies were so pretty - I got to thinking it would be fun to have a cute little "bug" that represented me on all my crafting collateral pieces (business cards, letterhead, class handouts, invoices, hang tags, blog, and Etsy stores).  I wanted an image that could stand alone and would become recognizable - would become my brand. 

I started by making several sketches of bugs holding various crafting tools - scissors, paint brushes, glue bottles. 

I'm a frilly girl, so creating a bug that was wearing a skirt seemed a good choice.

After several initial sketches, I picked one to scan into the computer, and began redrawing it in Adobe Illustrator. 

I experimented with various brush strokes versus simple lines, and explored questions such as: Should the leggings be striped or plain. 

Should there be 3 toes or 4?

What kind of tail swirl should I use to show movement?

A Dashed line, or solid continuous line?

What shape will I use for the mouth? A toothy grin? Big plump lips?

 Each part of the design requires time consuming exploration. 

Attention to minute details are necessary to making a strong logo.  It can make the difference between good design and mediocre work and is something the general public is often unaware of.

For corporate logos, hundreds of design options will be explored. I remember working for Nordstrom Adverstising many years ago. At the time, The Nordstrom family wanted to change the lettering that was used in their logo identity. Hundreds of different type styles were explored before settling on a customized, hand lettered design that was unique to their stores. You would never know how many hours were spent on that final identity. But...it's necessary to get things exactly right and unique, and is also why a customized logo can cost a lot of money.

My mantra is, "God is in the details."

I decided on crisp clean lines for the drawing style of my final bug.

I simplified the mouth, crown and details of the legs.

I also enlarged the eyes for more prominance. 

Next, color and shadows were added for dimension.

At this point, I was pretty happy with the bug, but decided to explore one more variation before settling on a final design. 

This dragonfly was cute enough, and maybe could work as a visiting friend, but I decided to stick with the previous bug wearing a skirt to represent "Me." 

Along the way, I side tracked a bit and experimented with how my bug might look with words.

And there was the question of how I would spell the words: Junkie, Junkee?

The below version is what I finally settled on. A crisp clean line bug, contrasting with irregular messy type. This is quite representive of who I am in life and in my working style. I'm constantly striking a balance between my formal training as a Graphic Designer, my desire for cleanliness and order, to the reality of my life with husband, children, dog, and my intense passions as a messy addicted crafter! 

Magic Bubble Recipe

Recently, my husband found a recipe for awesome "Monster" bubbles.

We mixed up a batch and were entertained for hours.

The bubbles were ginormous!

So big, a person could climb inside them!

Well, not really of course.

Here's a look at the housing bubble, before it burst.

 

And a moment for reflection.

If you'd like to be carried away through the magic of bubbles, here is the recipe we used:

Into an empty, and clean gallon milk jug pour

1. 11 cups water
2. 4 cups Ajax dish soap (anti-bacterial works best)
3. 1 cups corn syrup

Have a great time!

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