Last June, my dear friend Jill taught me how to make button flowers. She learned from her Sister Chris who learned from a friend of hers like 10 years ago. These flowers. They got history. When I originally posted about these flowers I had a few of you ask how to make them and well, I'm just getting around to it now. I decided to add some felt leaves this time, which I really like. I think that it helps to fill out the bouquet a bit more.
Here's what you'll need:
A bowl of buttons. Since you'll be stacking the buttons on top of
eachother, it's a good idea to have a variety of sizes and colors.
24 Gauge 1/4 lb Green Wire
Felt in different colors and sizes
Needle & Embroidery Floss/Thread
Scissors
Start out by cutting off a piece of the wire, approx 16" long (you can make these any size, just double the size you want the end result to be). Fold it in half, so each side is 8" and bend towards each other. Cut varying lenghts for different sizes of flower stems. I think my original bouquet had around a dozen or so stems.
Starting with the smallest button, thread the two open ends of the wire through 2 of the button holes. Repeat with the remaining buttons. Push towards the closed end of the wire as shown in the 2nd photo. Twist the ends of the wire to secure the buttons in place. Continue to twist the wire to the end. There is a device I have from Wild Wire that you attach to the wire, crank & it twists it up all nice & tight for you. I can't find it online, and don't know if it's been discontinued or not, but either method will work.
Next, cut out 2 leaves from small pieces of felt, making sure one is larger than the other. Place the smaller one on top of the larger leaf and stitch through the center to hold in place. Once you have the leaf completed, pierce a hole in the end of the leaf with the bottom of the button flower wire. Slowly move the leaf up the wire to where the button flower is. Place a small dab of glue on the felt to adhere it to the button. And there you have it. A little flower button bouquet. Perfect for Spring!
Have a lovely week everyone. It's been a crazy one here. Let's just say, the newest word in Henry's vocabulary is "puke" and he's done just that about 8 times in the last 12 hours. We are looking forward to a very low key week. Oh, did I tell you? Chris is starting work tomorrow on "Dancing with the Stars!" ha ha ha. I can't wait to hear all the juicy details.