The Girl by the Sea » vintage button heart tutorial http://thegirlbythesea.com Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:42:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Vintage Button Heart Tutorial http://thegirlbythesea.com/tutorials/vintage-button-heart-tutorial/ http://thegirlbythesea.com/tutorials/vintage-button-heart-tutorial/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:24:21 +0000 Jennifer http://thegirlbythesea.com/?p=1200 vbhtut10 As I’ve had some inquiries as to how I made my vintage button heart, I wanted to walk you through it step by step. Hope you have lots of fun making your own. vbhtut1 First, gather all of the buttons you want to use and lay them out in a heart shape. You will need some 18 guage wire ( I purchased mine at a hobby store), and measure out a piece that will hold all of the buttons when strung on it. Leave 5-6″ extra to give you some working room. vbhtut2 Starting with the button at the very bottom of your heart, start stringing them onto your wire. This guage of wire was a little tricky at times to get through some of the buttons, but I found with the thinner wires, that they weren’t quite strong enough to hold the weight of all the buttons, and they ended up being quite flimsy. vbhtut3 Continue stringing the buttons on your wire working clockwise around your heart pattern. vbhtut4 When all of your buttons are strung on the wire, straighten it out. vbhtut5 Find the button that makes the top center point of your heart and bend the wire on both sides up to make a V. vbhtut6 Now bend the ends around to make your basic heart shape. vbhtut7 Cross the end wires over each other. vbhtut8 Twist the wires together. vbhtut9 Wrap the ends up and around some of the other wire on the heart. If you have too much wire at the end, just clip some off until you have about 1 1/2″. vbhtut10 Finish shaping your heart and then you are all done.

 

Edited to Add:

Sometimes it can be a little tricky working with the thicker wire and these buttons, but I really did find it better than using thinner wire as they were just to flimsy to hold their shape without extra strengthening.  When putting your button on the wire, slide it all the way over and shove it right up against the other button, so that it is actually overlapping the previous button somewhat.  When you pull the wire very slowly (if you go too quickly I found that it just mangled right up, for some reason it doesn’t do this when going slowly) it will loosen up a bit and the button will end up right next to your previous button with no gap.  I hope this helps for those who have been having a few issues.  Please feel free to e-mail me if you need further help.

]]> http://thegirlbythesea.com/tutorials/vintage-button-heart-tutorial/feed/ 15 A Tiny Stuffed Snowman http://thegirlbythesea.com/kids-art/a-tiny-stuffed-snowman/ http://thegirlbythesea.com/kids-art/a-tiny-stuffed-snowman/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:22:09 +0000 Jennifer http://thegirlbythesea.com/?p=1221 stuffed snowman ornament This year for our tree, we are using only handmade ornaments. The kids have loved working on all kinds of different ornaments. Our oldest made this snowman. This little guy is full of fantastic details, a pointy 3d nose, a separate thumb on his mitten hand. Such wonderful detail and all on a snowman that’s only about an inch tall. I’m so proud of my kids and I love that they have such creative imaginations. It just really hit me today that we only have 3 days until we leave on a trip to visit some family for the next couple of weeks. I have tons to do, and am just hoping that it all gets done. I am looking forward to being able to relax a little bit though. I also wanted to let you know that after a few inquiries about how I made my vintage button heart, I made a tutorial here. Hope you guys have lots of fun making them. Have a fantastic day, I better get back to the laundry and packing.

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