Category Archives: buttons

Christmas Countdown – Day Nineteen

Looking back to last year’s Advent Calendar for today’s Christmas Countdown inspiration I find the ‘Bows’ tutorial.

I spent years fiddling with wonky bows until I figured this one out! It’s come in very useful for making Christmas decorations and if you spend a little time on a bow making session they are very useful as a quick decorative fix when present wrapping.

Planet Penny Bow Tutorial

I tend towards the country homespun look normally, but if you want something a little bit more fanciful and froufrou-ish this is a clever use of a fork…

Useful DIY

I really love this wreath, amazing how simple hessian can look so stylish…

angolodellamicizia.forumfree.it/

Combining unadorned pine cones with hessian tape bows and plain rope makes a garland which would look beautiful draped down a banister or across a mantelpiece.

home.made.

I’d better go and do some present wrapping and make a few more bows of my own!

See you tomorrow as we continue the Christmas Countdown!…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Twelve

This time last year there were a lot of robins twittering around on Planet Penny so I thought I’d include them in the Christmas Countdown. I haven’t had time to make any this year, and I really miss them so this is a good excuse to have them on the blog!

Today for the Countdown I found some mini wreaths, just the right size for the Christmas Tree. I made these for our local Christmas Fair last year. Very simple and effective – hooray for the trusty glue gun!

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Twelve

Oh, and here’s a another robin getting in on the act!

Planet Penny

I have a box of rather old and tatty curtain rings tucked away, this next image has given me lots of ideas for recycling them, using an assortment of pretty oddments from the ‘Bits and Bobs’ box.

curtain_ring_wreaths Christmas Countdown

This little crochet wreath is really sweet…

Planet June

This is simple and effective and made with a white rose would be perfect for a wedding…

Sew Made By Me

And here’s an great way to use up tiny scraps of fabric too pretty to throw away…

Crafty Painter

And finally, we’re back to buttons again….

Martha Stewart

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to squirrel away for Christmas crafting now and in the future,

I’ll be back with more tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Four

It’s Day Four of the Christmas Countdown and we’re in the button box! You’ve probably noticed I love buttons and use them frequently as embellishments for crochet bits and pieces.

I’ve got a particularly precious box of mother-of-pearl buttons and these I like to use to make the sort of decorations which will come out of the box year after year as family heirlooms. They just seem too fragile to stitch on to clothing which then gets hurled into the washing machine at regular intervals.

This was the heart I made last year. It’s very simple, you can find out more by following the link below…

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Four

Next, a simple and effective way of making a unique card, and also inspiration for making a wired tree decoration as above, worked into a different shape. The buttons here are quite standard, but look really pretty mixed together. (It’s always worth checking your local charity shop for button tins, and sometimes the most unprepossessing old garments have gorgeous buttons worth salvaging)

button heart card Christmas Countdown Day 4

folksy.com

I think these are tree decorations, but wouldn’t they make fabulous earrings?

notonthehighstreet.com

This is spectacular, isn’t it? You would need a seriously large button box to make something as gorgeous as this!

Pinterest.com

And back to the mother-of-pearl buttons again. I think this is made in much the same way that I made the crochet string of balls and beads in this post, but there’s lots of scope for the imagination to make garlands for the tree. You can space things out along the thread for a delicate look…

…or knot them closely together like this…

The Crafted Sparrow

I think I would be tempted to pop that last one in my jewellery box after Christmas!

So with that I’m off to find more seasonal inspiration, and I’ll be back tomorrow.

See you then …x