Storage Ideas for Buttons

 On a recent "artsy" shopping trip, I found two items that are great for button storage.  The first one I purchased, but I can see a lot of possibilities for this...if you have access to these old salt and pepper shakers.  This one is filled with vintage buttons, with a pretty handmade label and tag, and tied up with a ribbon.  I have this sitting on my craft desk. When you are visiting the thrift shop, look at the clothing for neat buttons too, as well as the cloth, not just the item itself.  I have found some art items this way.

My second find is this vintage wire basket with the six tins in it.  I decided to use it to sort my buttons out by color - whites and creams, browns and blacks, blues and purples, reds and pinks, yellows and oranges, and greens.  Funny how the green button tin is filled to the brim! The nice thing about sorting by color, is it lets me know at a glance the colors I am running low on.  I made space for this on my craft desk too, since I think it is cool!

Have you found any unique ways to store your buttons?

Yay for IKEA! Another Long Distance Project

This summer while Sheila and I were visiting in person, we went to the IKEA store (WOW! what a store!) and found these great "boxes." We both loved the drawers and started to think about how we could use them (of course, I really haven't figured out yet what is going in them, but hey, love the way they've turned out).

You start off with a box of wooden parts and everything you need to construct the box of drawers.



It really is not that hard to put together either. A hammer and screwdriver are the only additional tools needed for the project, and some sandpaper to smooth off any rough edges. I found it interesting that it is made in Russia.

I made a template of the drawer and then cut out the pattern papers I wanted to use and inked around the edges of the pieces. I used mod podge directly on the drawer front, adhered the paper, let it dry and applied another coat on top. I chose the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird collection.

I love the vintage look you get with these papers. Check out Sheila's and you'll see that even though we live hundreds of miles away from each other, we often think in the same creative vein.














Then, because I am a girl of many moods, I thought, hey, why not do the back of the drawers and they can become the fronts when I want a change! So, for version #2, I used the spirograph designs from Kaiser Craft. I then added some white rub ons for a bit of flair. I can see using side #1 for the fall and winter, and side #2 for spring and summer. But, no matter which way I set it up, I love the way they've turned out.












OK, NOW you have to see Sheila's!

Sheila here--I love how Maura's box turned out! Especially the two totally different looks that she achieved. A few things that I did differently was that I painted my drawers in three complimentary paint colors.



It's a bit hard to see but I added a line of text stickers from 7Gypsies around the perimeter of the box.



I plan to keep this handy on my craft space so most likely it will be filled with my "go to" tools and my latest favorites.

Another long distance project where we both started with the exact same item, but we end up with two different looks to it.

Stay tuned....we're working on an idea for the next long distance project. We'll be sure to share.