Swap

I am a follower, and occasional writer on a blog by the name of Button Floozies. It is a fun place for button enthusiasts and has lots of followers, some of whom also post button stories or information.

Recently they offered their followers the chance to participate in a button swap, wherein you decorate an Altoids tin with the theme, which is Fall in Love With Buttons, and fill it with buttons appropriate to the theme. The participants are paired up and the pairs swap with each other. 

This is the first time I have done this sort of thing and I had a fun time decorating and filling my tin. I sent it to my swap partner and since she has received it, I can now show you what I made.

 I winged it really, in the decorating. The only things I knew for sure were that I wanted to use an old piece of sheet music I had and I wanted to use four buttons on the bottom as "feet." Searching the web for pointers on how to do this craft, I had a pretty good idea, having watched my mother create her collages and decoupages all of my life.

 The cutting and gluing of the top is done and now it is time to do the same on the bottom.

For the inside of the lid, I chose a piece of bookplate with a lovely scene of a man, surrounded by all sorts of plants, holding up a blank sign, which will eventually be filled in with a tiny photo of a rhinestone button.

 Fast forward ahead a bit and see how the inside turned out.

Decorating the top was so fun. 

The "flower" is a vintage sparkly clip-on earring with the back removed. It sits on a strip of green velvet ribbon and has glass leaf charms on either side. The copper coil is supposed to be a tendril (though I wished I'd made it a bit thinner) and a pink ladybug was added near the bottom.

Here it is from the side, where you can see the lace that surrounds the lid edges and the ruler stickers around the bottom edges.

Here is the bottom, with the button feet!

Now that the design is completed, the choosing of the buttons begins.

I tried to mix it up, using various fall-like colors and designs, when possible, as well as different materials: glass, plastic, wood, metal, ceramic, and rhinestones. Very colorful, yes?

Okay, time to prepare it for packaging.

 After wrapping in tissue and then bubble wrap, I tied it up in an antique lace handkerchief that was white until I dyed it in some tea. It turned yellow rather than pale brown, which was my intent--probably because I used camomile tea! The hanky belonged to my great-grandmother and has her initials on it.

I closed it with an old broken bracelet and hung a pendant that came from a necklace I took apart for crafting. The tag came from the French General Freebies  I received and posted about previously.

Now I am eagerly anticipating the button tin from my swap partner. It should arrive this week and I'll post it so you all can see what I received in exchange.