So what to do with them? I could have gone for a bracelet (the obligatory project for anyone with a collection of buttons and five minutes to spare), but thought I'd see what other people on the interweb were doing with theirs. There were some interesting projects out there. Bella Dia added hers to the top of paper clips, Linda Permann at Craft Stylish wove hers into a coaster, One Hour Craft turned turns theirs into flowers and over at Home Hints buttons were glued to corks to make mini rubber stamps. And then there were some more peculiar suggestions: Readers Digest Canada thought they could be used as poker chips and Craft Fiction decided to set theirs on fire. Hmmm.
Not fancying any of those (I've got plenty of coasters, would probably singe my fringe off and think I'd be laughed off the poker table if I brought my buttons along), I ended up doing my usual, making homemade versions of Stuff I Would Buy If I Could Afford It.
I'm partial to a pretty t-shirt, but reckon £25 is just too much to spend on one little cotton tee. So, I bought two plain ones for a fiver each and got sewing.
Of course, adding a few buttons to a t-shirt isn't the most original thing I could have done, but it certainly is effective. And it shows off the buttons, their different patterns and textures and styles, really nicely. As someone who clearly kept her buttons in good condition, I think Pat would have appreciated that.
