Two weeks ago, I had the chance to spend some time at the American Sewing Expo in Novi. (Hopefully some of you and your young sewers were able to make it out to meet Joi Mahon!) The show floor was packed with vendors, eager sewers looking to learn new techniques and some very DIY-savvy kids! One of my stops during my visit was to the Button Lovers booth, and I’m so glad I did.
| Button Lovers, a division of Blumenthal Lansing, was on hand with a table covered in colorful buttons – big, small and even teeny-tiny. Their make-and-take project was to create a button cupcake, complete with paper wrapper and bakery bag. It couldn’t have been easier; I loved how fun it was to sit down for a few minutes and make something so quickly by simply adding buttons to a Styrofoam ball. This week’s Make It is inspired by that project, but this time with a holiday twist – a button pumpkin! |
Materials
- Medium-sized Styrofoam egg (found in the floral aisle at the craft supply store)
- Colored ball straight pins (your choice of color, but pick a 100-count pack)
- Medium- and large-sized orange buttons (two packs large, three packs medium)
- Green pipe cleaner
- Orange craft paint
- Craft knife
- Wooden skewer
- Foam brush
- Super glue
- Scissors
- Tall drinking glass
- Construction or cardstock paper
Instructions
1. Start out by cutting off the pointy end of your Styrofoam egg. To do this, rock your craft knife back and forth against the Styrofoam until you cut all the way through. Insert your skewer in the bottom of the end you just cut to assist with painting. To paint, apply directly to the Styrofoam and blot into the surface with your foam brush. Let it dry thoroughly by standing up in your drinking glass; remove any excess paint by blotting with a paper towel.
| 2. Once the ball is dry, cut out a circle of construction paper slightly larger than the base of your pumpkin. Glue the dome to the paper. |
| 3. To attach your buttons, you can either place larger buttons randomly all over the dome and then fill in the gaps with the smaller buttons – OR you can start at the top and work your way down to the base, filling in as you go. |
| 4. You’ll need just one pin for each button. Have fun with placing them. Try doubling the buttons up, too, to add a little dimension. |
| 5. Don’t forget to make a small hole in the top of your dome for your pipe cleaner! Cut whatever length of green pipe cleaner you like, twist the end and insert into the hole. |
| 6. You can keep embellishing your pumpkin however you like. Try adding googly eyes, different color pins or even pumpkin-shaped buttons. |
