Button Earring Tutorial

So I have seen button earrings for a while now and have wanted to try my hand at making them for a year or more now.  I tried a few months ago, but used small buttons and apparently that is much harder to accomplish!  So, I tried it again about a month ago, this time using bigger buttons, which made bigger earrings but still not super huge.  So I took pictures to document in case anyone wanted to try it out too!  These were great to hand out to friends and family as handmade Christmas gifts this year. I always like trying to make something fun and useful if  I can!

1. First things first, pick your fabric.  If you think ahead, buy your button cover kit first and then you have a template to take with you.  I was not that smart, but I was able to wing it and it worked out just fine anyway!  WIN!

2. Using the template cut out a circle on the outer layer, making sure what is visible in the inner circle will be what is gonna be your earring.

3. Remove template and viola you have a circle, now repeat cause you need two for a pair of earrings!

4. Then using the button kit, you will want to turn your fabric upside down and lay it over the mold.

5. Then set the button on top of the fabric and push into the mold...

6. Like so:

7. Fold in the edges of the fabric to gather in the center of the button.

8. Then line the back on top of the folded over fabric.

9. Using the blue plunger and a little bit of strength, push the back onto the button until it snaps in place.  This took me a few tries and a lot of force, my fingers would get tired after like 5 pairs, so I needed frequent breaks!

10. Viola you now have a button.  But we want earrings and NOT buttons, so there is still more steps, which I unfortunately did not document!  But using pliers you want to remove the button hole portion on the back and then super glue an earring post onto the back.  Allow to dry overnight and you have a pair of earrings.

11. Repeat multiple times and you have 4 pair of earrings.  Check out the various patterns that this works for!

12. Send off to friends and family right before Virginia Tech plays in the Independence Bowl and assume they were able to get the win because all your friends were wearing their new VT earrings!  Or maybe it was that wicked sweet Coach Beamer that lead his team to victory, we may never know...

Welcome to the family, Kaitlyn!

In a little under 2 weeks, Kaitlyn will officially become part of the family when she marries my cousin, Keith.  Though in reality, she has been a part of the family for years now, attending Williams Family Christmas Breakfast for as long as I can think back to!  But in order to officially welcome her to the family, Bons and I hosted a little brunch shower for her upcoming wedding.  When asked what theme, she simply said she trusted me and I could do whatever I wanted--YES!  

So I started with this rustic, feminine shower invitation I found on Shutterfly and went from there...

Simply white and green floral arrangement tied everything together!  

"Love is sweet, Please take a treat"

The favor was a s'more kit, so people could go home and share a s'more with their significant other (or each them both themselves--no judgement):

I found a "W" at Michael's that was HOT PINK, but was marked way down, so I brought it home and gave it a couple of coats of spray paint and viola, it fits right in.  I used my Virginia cutting board and the invite to tie in the rest of the centerpiece.

I printed hearts on kraft paper and cut them out and taped them to thread to create a cute and easy banner.

Since I am not super big on shower games, I always pick easy ones.  This one was the purse game where people used their purse to mark off things that had different points value.  The person with the most points at the end wins!  I found a cute Mason Jar picture and just added the list to it.  I was able to print them two to a page and simple cut them out, tied some raffia at the top and attached a pen for easy use:

I also encouraged people to write their favorite date night idea on a Popsicle stick so Keith and Kaitlyn can have some fun ideas to start their marriage together.

A longer version of the hearts banner:

As luck would have it, the Target one spot had a fun cute things including this chalkboad banner, so I bought it and added Mr. & Mrs. to it, easy peasy!

Now for the food.  Since it was a brunch, we obviously had mimosas, but also wanted a mix of sweet and savory:

Donut Hole Kabobs

Love is sweet cake

Caprese Bites

Pimento Cheese with Ritz Crackers

Fruit Cups

Mini Quiches and Chicken and Waffle Sliders

Feta and Onion Tarts

Pigs in a Blanket

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the people there, but alas, I at least captured a few of the lovely bride:

Can't wait to celebrate your marriage in less than two weeks! :)

June Picture Overload

Since I am so far behind in blogging and I just did a May photo Dump last week, I figured I might as well recap you all on June before getting caught up with July!  

June started off by us saying goodbye to our dear friend, Gizmo!  Little guy gave us 16 wonderful years of snuggles and licks and has been extremely missed.  

Then we headed to Roanoke to celebrate our cousin, Cassie's wedding!  Road Trip with the family (too bad I do not know how to censor photos)...

Bons and I

Cousins (and brother)

The bride and groom!

Family!

King Family Shot!

First Dance

Beautiful Cake

Bons getting her dance on with the groom!

By the end of the night, Andy went causal!

Bons and I with the beautiful Bride!

Then Tiffany found a project for me, busy boxes with felt creative boards, so I stocked up and got to work creating some for the Nephews!

Ice Cream Cone

Pete the Cat

Tree with leaves!

No worries, Brutus still got some snuggle times in there!

Here are some of the finished projects, each in its own labeled bag....

June was not without its fair share of festivals, we had...THE BACON FESTIVAL

We also celebrated a very late birthday for Kristi at The Betty on Davis, wonderful Richmond restaurant you should check out like NOW!

Then we went to Maymont with Bethany and Kristi early on Saturday morning for a walk!

And then CJ and I hit up the VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL, before ending the day at the

 SAVOR VIRGINIA festival!

I closed out the last weekend of the month in Norfolk, VA for an extra long weekend with the kids (a more dedicated post to come on that later with its own fair share of photos), but here is a sneak peak at Corbin playing with his new felt art!

On the way back to Richmond on Sunday, June 28th, CJ and I meet up at Busch Gardens to explore and to once again hit up the FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL there!

What did you do in May or June?  Any fun things you suggest in and around the Richmond area??