Yarn Projects With Buttons
Craft projects often combine household items in a creative way. Craft projects provide time for families to share in an activity and spend quality time together. Working with yarn and buttons, crafters of all ages can create accessories for clothing or toys for children. Put your imagination to work and enjoy the results.
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Yarn Animals
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Combine pink yarn and a pink button to create a farmyard yarn pig. Begin by wrapping the pink yarn around your hand, or any object at least 4 inches wide, 200 times. The smaller the object, the smaller your yarn animal will be. Remove the wrapped yarn from your hand, holding it securely to ensure it remains bunched. Tie another piece of yarn tightly around the middle of the yarn.
Snip each loop of yarn created by wrapping it around the object. Wrap a pink or white pipe cleaner around a pencil or your finger to make it coil. Tuck the pipe cleaner under the yarn used to tie the ball together as the tail.
Cut triangle-shaped pieces of pink felt for the ears -- the size of the ears depends on the size of the yarn ball. Glue the ears in place on top of the yarn ball, toward the front, on the side opposite the tail.
Glue two small black buttons on the front of the yarn ball, approximately 1 inch below the ears. Glue one large pink button under the eyes to create the pig nose.
Yarn-covered Buttons
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Covering buttons with yarn is one way to quickly change the appearance of a garment. Purchase buttons smaller than those currently on the garment to allow for passage through the button hole once covered with yarn. The yarn adds to the overall size of the button, sometimes making it more difficult to get the yarn-covered button through the original button hole.
Using thin-weight yarn, thread the yarn through a needle. Slide the yarn through the first stitching hole in the button, leaving approximately 2 inches of yarn hanging freely under the button. While holding the yarn on the back, bring the needle back to the top and insert it into the same stitching hole. This creates the first wrap of yarn around the button. Repeat the process, alternating stitching holes, until the entire button is covered.
When the button is covered, tie the two end of yarn on the bottom-side of the button together to hold the yarn in place, then replace the original button with the new yarn-covered one.
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Yarn and Button Snowmen
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Choose three flat objects of different sizes to wrap the yarn around. These yarn-wraps will be the top, middle and bottom snowballs used for the snowman.
Wrap white yarn around the smallest object 100 times. When completed, remove the yarn while holding it securely in place. Tie the yarn together in the middle using an additional piece of white yarn. Cut each yarn loop to create two individual pieces rather than one loop.
Repeat the process for the middle and bottom snowballs. Wrap the yarn 150 times for the middle section and 200 for the bottom section. For fuller snowballs, wrap each snowball an additional 50 times.
Glue the medium-size snowball on top of the largest snowball using a hot glue gun. Glue the smallest snowball to the top of the other two.
Glue two small black buttons to the smallest snowball to create eyes, and three additional buttons of your color choice in a straight line down the middle snowball.
Cut a small triangle of orange felt or construction paper to create the carrot nose. Glue the orange triangle to the smallest snowball, under the eyes, then create a smiling mouth out of small buttons, typically black or red.
Finish the snowman with additional accessories of your choice, such as a fabric scarf, shoes or arms.
Bag Tags
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Select buttons of any size. Keep in mind, large buttons make larger bag tags that can be used as luggage tags as well. Choose complementary colors of yarn, such as blue and yellow or red and green; or contrasting colors like black and white for a more dramatic look.
Cut a length of yarn approximately 10 inches long for the bag tag tie. Fold the yarn in half and tie the ends together. Glue the tied end to the button with hot glue.
Cut four pieces of each color of yarn for a total of eight pieces. The length of each piece is determined by the size of your button and personal preference. If you would like more black showing than white for instance, cut shorter pieces of white than of black.
Place hot glue in a spiral pattern on approximately one-half of the button. Place the chosen color of yarn in the center and begin spiraling outward until satisfied with the first color. Put more hot glue on the button continuing outward to cover the remaining surface of the button. Put the other color of yarn on the button and continue spiraling outward. Continue this pattern until you reach the edge of the button, covering the bag tag tie.
Once dry, flip the button over and repeat the process.
When both sides are dry, if a border is needed, simply cut a piece of yarn long enough to wrap around the outside of the button. Outline the edge of the button with hot glue and stick the final piece of yarn in place.
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