Cute as a Button Party: Part 1

So I'm finally taking the time to sort through all the photos from Baby Starfish's Cute as a Button Party.
I first hit the idea of a button party for him simply because right from when he was born, he was dubbed button, and his older brothers took the name and ran with it - so to speak.

Here are a few shots from the day...

Button Party Table

Button Birthday Cake

 Button Candle + Button Sized Patties

Button Biscuits

Cafe Style Button Sized Quiche

Button Tags for Drinks

Piles of Chocolate buttons... Mmmm!

Hope you enjoyed the little peek - There are more tutorials and recipes coming!
Also Coming Soon - Cute as a Button Party: Part 2

Till then...

Button Inspired Birthday Candle + Tutorial

Have you ever seen something, and known that you like it, but that it needed some improving to make it what you want? That's the way I felt when thinking about a birthday candle for Baby Starfish. By the way, being that he is fast leaving his baby days behind him and moving full throttle into toddler-dom, I think I may have to start calling him something other than "baby" - any suggestions? Please??? But I digress...

I bought a blue rimmed numeral 1 candle at Spotlight, but in the scheme of what I had hoped for, it was a tad dull. Enter a little post I found on glamming candles up a bit and this is what I came up with. It was so easy, fairly quick (there was a little pause for drying time before I flipped it over and repeated the process on the other side) and I love it. Want to make one too? Has it inspired you to work your own artistry of your own on a candle?

{MAKE IT!}  

Materials needed:

              Numeral candle or something similar
              (there is no reason that you can't use another surface as long as it can lie flat
              while the paint dries.)
              3-D crystal paint (or the coloured version)
             An array of small buttons - the smaller the better!

1. Lie the candle on a flat surface.
2. Fill the inner area of the candle without flooding over the  coloured rim.
3. Carefully lie each button on top of the glitter paint.
4. Wait for the first side to dry before flipping it over and repeating the process on the second side.

Voila! Now go and make some memorable moments. :)

At a loose end...

This has got to be one of the most basic posts I have ever written. I'm sitting in the ER waiting to see a Dr. Because I sliced the pad off my left index finger. I know. I haven't felt this silly in a long time. It all started when I was making dinner. Why I chose to wrangle with an unruly tin opener and a tin I will never know so no pictures of the scone topped casserole I was preparing I'm afraid. Instead, the fixings are sitting on the kitchen bench awaiting my return (unless hubby put it in fridge for me while I'm sitting here).

I'm not going to show you a photo of my finger either - just too gross (even with a dressing on it) since it won't stop bleeding. I have this horrid feeling that this might cramp my crafting abilities for a while. I guess that might give me a chance to show you some of the things I've been up to over the past couple of months.

OK. I've just seen the Dr. and had a new dressing put on. Wheeeeeeww it hurts! Basically I sliced the top layer off my finger and some of the next layer in about a 1.5cm  square area. Hello tetanus shot. Hello dressings getting changed for the next couple of weeks - possibly month. Hello showering with a glove...and wearing one for anything else that is wet for the next 4 weeks. Wish me all the best as I change nappies, hang washing, cook and clean folks!

Hope your week is of to a better start! :)

Sheree x0x

S is for...Sweet

One of the things that I first came up with for Baby Starfish's party was a letter S covered in buttons... but every place I looked for letters, the letters were too small for what I was looking for. Hmm. What to do. Put on creative cap and use my own imagination of course!

I started with some sheets of corrugated cardboard (the ones I used came in the packaging for the boy's new doona covers - win-win, recycling and I get to make decor with it) and PVA glue. After gluing the sheets together, I free handed a letter 'S' and then started cutting through the layers with a craft knife. That was about when the Hubs came in and offered to cut it out on the bench saw. Now before you say "why didn't you think of that first, Sheree?", I have a confession to make... The bench saw scares me (well, with something that fiddly, anyway!). So like a sensible girl, I said yes. Really. Who wouldn't.
I then covered each surface with card stock in Kaisercraft CD150 island.

1. First I covered the front and back sides, cutting the card stock a bit bigger than the corrugate.

2.Then I put little snips in the edges to let it bend and glue down like so.

3. After that came the sides, since they would be visible at the end and I wanted them to be smooth... I could have done it the other way around in hind-sight (sides first, then front/back). I didn't get any photos of that except just before I attached them - you'll have to use your imagination.

Next up was the buttons. I looked through my stash. Barely enough there to make a dent in the whole "cover the front" concept, so I made a trip to Spotlight (I think Joann's is probably the US equivalent, or there abouts) and sourced a big bag of craft buttons and a few cards of pretty decorative ones.

All that was left was to arrange them. I sat the letter S on a big blank canvas so that if any little wayward button decided to break ranks it was easy to retrieve, and then using my lampshade glue I sat in front of the TV and glue, glue, glued my little heart out for about a hour. Yep. An hour. But I can be pretty slow and pedantic, so I'm sure other's could probably do it in less time. Et Voila!

One letter S perfect for Baby Starfish's first birthday bash, and then to be relegated to bedroom decor. Woo hoo!

Sharin' here:

What's Cooking Love?