Very easy and very effective! I make my stamps on tops of emty stick glue embalage.

hello that is a good point - i tried this today  it was very effective.

i also did this -



i think i'm addicted!!!

i've been getting through quite a lot of sewing cotton lately and as i hate to throw anything out i had these spools waiting to be recycled.



i sell buttons and vintage haberdashery online and i like to decorate my packages - i had made some button stamps with foam and stuck them onto my ink pad lids but when i inked 'em up the edges of the lids printed too which annoyed me - so i needed a round base for my stamp - aha a use for my empty cotton reels at last!



so here's how i made the stamp
i cut out some circles of self adhesive funky foam with my sizzix machine
i tried doing it by hand but i couldn't cut the foam neatly, then i made the button holes with my leather punch



then cut a disc of cardboard smaller than your "button" {this is because of the hole in the spool - the first stamp didn't have this step and didn't print evenly} stick to back of your "button".



stick your "button" on to your spool



ink it up and stamp away to your hearts content!



i've made a few so i can have different colours without having to clean the stamp in between printing sessions, to clean the stamps i use baby-wipes.



so there you go easy peasy five minute crafting and recycling too!

after seeing lots of lovely christmas wreaths i decided i needed one too - so i raided my vintage haberdashery stash and made this









the base is a 12" embroidery hoop wrapped in tinsel to which i've wired on scissors - a crochet hook threaded with stitch markers set to 25 / 12 / 2009 - i've tied on two tape measure rosettes , large coat buttons and a pair of long kitting needles and a ball of wool  are threaded through the tinsel, which is the only item i have bought specifically for the wreath.

   MeRrY cHrIsTmAs CrAfTsTeRs  

thank-you 

i also made this one in pinks without buttons

i am making hair clips like these





for all my little girl cousins

and these brooches for the grown-up girls

i recently started making yo-yo's - they are called Suffolk puffs in England - and got addicted!
 I made a yo-yo covered bauble in pink and then decided to do another in more christmassy colours



what i used:
a 5" bauble
six different fabrics
i made about 17 yo-yo's - 1.5" - 2" & 2.5"
enough buttons for the yo-yo's
sewing threads and needles
ribbon for hanging

step one:  make lots of yo-yo's in different sizes and fabrics



step two:  add buttons to the centres to cover the hole



step three:   start sewing* the yo-yo's together keep
trying them on the bauble to check they are in the right place.
When the bauble was about half way covered it started to get a bit trickier as you need to pull and stitch the yo-yo's together trying to
avoid any of the bauble to show through
* it would save time if you glued them on but i didn't want to *



step four:  keep going pulling, overlapping and stitching the remaining puffs until the bauble is completely covered, add a ribbon to hang.





hope you like it 

me and my partner have been together for ten years - instead of the usual card i decided to make something longer lasting - so i collected up some of the little treasures i have collected on our summer holidays over the years and labeled them all, i also decorarated a small clear glass bauble with dictionary explantions of decade red glitter heart shaped buttons and sand from Kos i arraged these all into a recycled glass jar and also decorated the cork stopper.











i think he liked it - he said it was sweet.

take one plain natural cotton tote bag



pin on a pretty vintage embroidered doily -
then remember you need to sew on some buttons
{vintage of course!}
sew on the buttons, through the doily but not through the bag



machine stitch your doily to your tote with contrasting cotton,
i used different colours for top and bobbin threads
{try not to get too cross with your dumb-ass sewing machine}



select a small crochet doily from the ever expanding pile
using a matching cotton hand sew the doily to the centre of the first doily
remembering too late you should have done this before sewing on the first doily, sigh.
select a beautiful vintage mother-of-pearl button
to adorn the centre of the second doily
sew on with contrasting embroidery thread.



there you go - a cool new shopping bag!

 i finaly got round to the tote bag.

That would also make a terrific Christmas ornament! Did you use glue to stiffen the doily?

Your bracelet is cool, too, by the way.

hi thank you - no i didn't stiffen the doilies the star shaped one was quite dense crochet and the little one had been treated with something already that endured the tea bath!

thanks for the bracelet comment too - my friend from PennyDog jewellery made it for me here it is bigger!