It’s time for the Lifestyle of Love hop and I adore our subject this month. It’s buttons! I know, it’s obvious from the title. But can you get enough of those little things? I have a hard time of it. I’m drawn to them like a wedding cake with almond extract. That’s why I’m sharing 7 fun and easy ideas using vintage buttons when decorating!
If you’ve arrived here from The Ponds Farmhouse, howdy and thank you for visiting! I loved Rachel’s patriotic button ideas!
7 fun and easy ideas using vintage buttons when decorating!
I started collecting buttons about 40 years ago. I bet most of us have several of the teeny tiny bags with a button that came with the new clothes. That’s probably how most button collecting began. The teeny bags were annoying so I took them out of the packets and put them in a cute bowl. Then a larger bowl. Then a jar and then 3 jars! Not all of them are from new clothes.
Using buttons idea #1 – Make a lamp out of a jar full.
Sometimes you come across a jar already full of buttons and snatch it up because someone made a lamp out of it! When I bought the lamp it didn’t have a shade. I had this one from who knows where. It’s a little large but in order to use the smaller size, I’ll need to switch out the brass lamp kit to a different kind of shade holder. So until it gets on my last nerve, it stays as is.
Using buttons idea #2 – Make a wreath with them.
Everyone once in a while I’ll glue or sew a few buttons to something just for extra adorability. Just like cake (or maybe a shopping day), buttons make it better.
Imagine this little wire wreath without the buttons. Definitely not as cute, right? I guess hot glue makes things better as well. Now that I think about it, the color pink comes pretty close to that too. 😉 If you’d like to see that DIY and full post, click here.
Using vintage buttons for a Valentine project is idea #3
After making this hanging paper heart with buttons, it became a favorite. I bring it out each year for Valentine’s Day. It’s not always hanging in the cloche but it’s hanging somewhere. You can see the full post here.
Idea #4 – Use them to create the rod pocket for a cafe curtain
If you need a super easy way to make a curtain cuter, add buttons! This little cafe curtain covers a portion of an old cabinet where we removed a couple of drawers. We keep it in the pantry at the farmhouse. No one has ever guessed what’s behind the curtain. Let me know what you think is hidden.
Years ago I made some fabric trees and one or two had buttons. I could have made oodles they were so cute. I kind of forgot about these and need to make a mental note to pull them back out this next Christmas.
Idea #5 – Add them for ornamentation on trees or other fabric crafts
When you need just a little something extra, think about creating a button garland. I actually didn’t love this one because the buttons were heavier than the thread so they fell forwards, backwards or upside down.
Creating a button garland is idea #6
Since that’s all I had I left it alone. Next time I’ll try using thicker string or put a button on the front and back of the thread to keep them in place a little better.
It could have been that I added small clothespins because the intent was to also hang seed packets from it. That too was a bad idea. It just hid all of the cute items on the shelf. Another lesson learned.
#7 is also easy peasy. Display your old buttons in a jar, on a shelf, table or grouped together with other vintage items to make a statement.
You can see I’m partial to white ones. But there are so many things you can do with buttons that I’ve decided to start collecting colored ones too. Red, white and blue for patriotic ideas, pink and red for Valentine projects or pastel colors for spring. Then there’s orange, brown and green for fall… So many more things to do besides my 7 fun and easy ideas using vintage buttons when decorating! Just check out the posts below and see for yourself!
Next up is CoCo from The Crowned Goat. You won’t believe her button napkin rings!
Cindy
All of your ideas are so cute. I love the trees and the garland. Every one of your ideas are adorable.
Author
That means a lot coming from the queen of creativity! Thank you Rachel. 🙂
Love all these ideas so much, Cindy! Several years ago we were at this outdoor treasure hunting event and one of the vendors had an antique demijohn filled with white buttons. It was wild to see so many of them all together – literally thousands – you would have loved it. I’m pretty sure that was the day I fell in love with vintage white buttons and I am tickled pink so see that you’ve used them in so many different ways. Thanks so much for putting these hops together and for asking me to be a part of them. I’m inspired by you all the time! Big hugs, CoCo
Author
Wowza. I can’t imagine a demijohn filled with buttons! That sounds like the people that have coins in giant jars like that. I hope they realized what a treasure they had. Thank you for the kind words. Appreciate you.
My grandmother always had jars full of buttons. Such a great memory! Thank you for all of the great ways to use buttons in decor. Love it!
Author
Aww, that is lovely to hear. I’m sure my grandmother did too but sadly I wasn’t appreciative back then. Oh how I wish she were still alive. I have so many questions for her! Have a great week Missy.
LOVE love that wonderful lamp jar. I think the shade is great, Cindy! Your heart wreath and garland are adorable. Oh and that cafe curtain is perfection.! Thanks again for including. me in this fun group!
Author
Thanks so much. I love all of those things too. But I guess when you make things yourself, you tend to care a bit more about them. 😉
So many cute ideas! Yes, we all need to collect more; I never seem to have enough red ones for all the holidays. I forgot to include a button garland! But I just bought mine on Etsy; so much easier, and they all hang the right way. Thanks for nailing it with great subject matter again!
Author
I plan to make a new button garland soon but with a lot more buttons and will be making sure they all hang correctly. Fingers crossed. You know I’m not the best crafter. Thank you Lora.
I love your cute lamp, that’s a great idea, along with all the others. I have jars of those precious jewels and loved the ideas, I need to take them out and use them more. Thanks Cindy and have a great day.
Author
Yes, you absolutely need to use them more often! Although just seeing a jar or bowl of buttons on a shelf makes my heart go pitter-pat. Thank you Marlene.