Little pretties for little girls

The project I am about to share with you was such a fun project to work on that I knew I just had to post about it.....

I mean how could I not . . . I live in a house with a ALL men~

Testosterone Central

So yeah. . . .this was a give in!

When I was looking for a really girly, cutsie project to make for a very awesome little girl that I just so happen to be related to. . . . {Hi Lucy!!}

I knew the minute I saw the headband holder that I was going to make one of those.....

I LOVED the idea of transforming some plain ol' object that was bound to end up in the trash into 

something special!

and really what good is a headband holder without headbands..... so off I went on this super girly adventure in frills & baubles

and YES I enjoyed every second of it & could have sat there for days just wielding my glue gun this way & that to come up with one of a kind treasures for Lil Miss Lucy ~

I think one of the things I loved about making these for her was that I used old costume jewelry that my Grandmother had given me to adorn her headbands.

I managed to turn a headband into a family heirloom . . . . 

Now Lucy can wear her Great Grandmothers jewelry & bring new life to it.

Pretty special if you ask me.

I know I am a pretty sappy gal but I mean...

c'mon just look at that green gingham with grandmas old jewel piece on it. . . I know right????

Then of course you have the headbands that you can use all those baubles you save because they were just too awesome to get rid of.....a metal rose?? yeah, totally cool!

Oh pink frilly perfection... How I wish I wasn't pushing 40 so I could wear you on my head!!! 

ahhhhh to be 5 again!

But I must say... I would probably wear the pink elephant button headband~

I just love that button AND that I was able to find the perfect home for that 1 little button!

not to mention those rhinestones... they were my Great Aunt Mary's and I know she would be thrilled to see a little girl enjoying her sparklies!

All of those fun & eclectic headband bring me to the headband holder. . . 

the start to the whole project. . . . 

my wonderful unique idea for a gift!

Now don't let this beauty fool you. . . 

It make look like this really awesome art piece to display the upper crust of girly headbands...

but I am here to confess that she is just for show....

her days as the throne of headbands was fore -shadowed by the fact that she is just too skinny to be of any use to the regal headbands. . . . 

YUP you got it . . this girl never even thought that the dang can wasn't fat enough to get the job done!

{hmmm too bad my clothes don't slide off me like those headbands slid down that can}

BUT at least the holder was pretty & at least she can put barrettes in it. . . 

or hey .... maybe it will be the prettiest crayon holder any girl has ever had....now there's a thought.

But in the end I think Lucy loved her headbands & I think she liked looking at the skinny - minnie holder despite its flaws.

So I guess there will be a lot of oatmeal being eaten around here so I can make another holder. . . Blah

maybe some cookies are in order....yeah cookies!

~Happy Creating!!

Cute as a Button

I have a very Dear Friend & she has an endearing love of buttons ~ I have never really given buttons much thought.  I usually save buttons but that is usually  so I have them when I need one. You know.....just practical reasons.  Once in a great while I find one that I admire.

My friend saves them because she finds them beautiful! After witnessing 1st hand the joy they bring her I decided I was going to make something for her...something that represents her love of buttons.

Almost a year ago I found a nice "R" made out of MDF at Michaels on clearance for a really good price.  I knew I would either use it for my hubster or save it for my dear friend.... she was the lucky winner of the nice "R".

All I have to say is pinterest is the most addicting astounding website I have ever been on for creativity.  It amazes me everytime I get on there how many cool things you can find & then want to make & I have a lot of those "Why didn't I think of that" moments :) 

Pinterest helped inspire my project for my Dear Friend!

So the search was on for all kinds of buttons in black........ as my search went on & my project progressed....... I decided it would look even better if I added white & gray to the mix.

I started with my shadow box......... I wanted it to look like a show piece that she would be proud to have for many many years & thats why I chose to put it in a black shadowbox as opposed to just sticking it to a picture frame with no glass.

I then tormented chose the perfect scrap paper for the background. This was a big decision! The background set the tone for the whole project.  It had to look stellar but not out-do the nice "R" ~ no easy feat I tell you.  I finally found a paper that would be neutral enough to work in any room but not look boring.

Now the fun can really start...........

I spent several evenings gluing buttons to my nice "R".  New buttons, unique button, antique buttons, large buttons, small buttons, found buttons, given buttons, you name it....it was there.  I was so Thankful that my Mom had really cool buttons that she donated to me for this project.  There was some really neat stuff on there! I used E6000 glue for this project.  I didnt want to use hot glue because I wanted this to stand the test of time.  I have learned the hard way that hot glue is not right for all projects.... quick & easy is sometimes not the way to go, especially on a project of importance like this one.

I am not going to lie.....there was a point in this project that I thought, "what was I thinking"??? I am going to run out of buttons! or I am not going to be able to cover all the nooks & crannies & it will look like a 5 year old made it.........  but I continued on & when I thought I would run out of buttons... I would search deep into my bag of goodies & find just a few more awesome buttons to use.  I realized at that point that I must have loved buttons too otherwise I would not have had all these amazing buttons stashed away!

I smiled a lot working on this project because I felt so excited to give this gift to her! partly because I was buying several jars of buttons from a lady I met & when I mentioned this to my friend (we share just about everything with eachother) she asked if she could buy a few jars too!!! WHAT?!?!?! why did I tell her that!!! now I wont have enough for the nice "R"!!! you know that panic of I can't tell her WHY I dont want to share with her.. it would ruin it.  So I told her I would see what the lady had........ I sat on the floor that night & went through.... mmmmm about 8 jars of buttons to separate what I really wanted to use & what I thought she would enjoy to have.  Not easy at all because I didnt want her to feel like she just got some junky buttons BUT I wanted to put all the cool ones on the nice "R", afterall, she was getting it anyway.

In the end it all worked out. I was able to give her a couple jars of buttons & I still had plenty for myself her.

I had so much fun assembling this nice "R".  It was almost like a puzzle trying to get all these different buttons to work together to make the perfect gift for my Dear Friend ... & I must say..... I think I did a pretty awesome job on it!

Oh wait.......... It looks awesome BUT on the very last night when I put it all together I realized I glued the nice "R" onto the shadowbox in the wrong direction & the hanger on the back is useless!!! UGH... dont you hate when you think you have checked something & it turns out you were backwards in the head abou it!?!  Oh Well.... maybe she can put in on a nice picture stand & set it on a table! {just one more thing we get to laugh about}

I was so excited to give my Dear Friend this gift .... & I think she was so excited to get it.  She let me know that this was the piece that inspired her to make a focal wall in the great room of her home!!! This melted my heart & made me feel so very proud of the gift I made for her & of our friendship!

There is nothing I L-O-V-E more than making something special for someone with my own hands.  I also love that when my Dear Friend & I give tokens of friendship....its usually handmade ... what better way to share friendship!?

~Happy Creating