That's a fantastic idea! I have a ton of buttons from my grandmother's button box just waiting to be used....

This year I wanted to do something a little different with our Christmas tree. I really like some of the new whimsical Christmas decorations in the lighter reds and apple greens as well as some of the funky oblong retro modern type ornaments that remind me of the ornaments my Grandparents had on their Christmas tree. Since my husband and i already have enough ornaments that we love for two, almost 3 Christmas trees, I really couldn’t justify buying a treeful of new ornaments (and it was cruddy outside so I really didn’t want to slide down the road to the mall either). What’s a girl to do? Well, if she’s a Craftster (and she is!) she puts on her thinking cap, takes her cue from the new red and white living room curtains and her Danish Heritage, does a little creative reuse and recycle, and makes her big tree a whimsical, Danish-inspired,  lighter red and apple green colored tree. Here's a photo of our big “Danish Modern” type tree.
http://www1.snapfish.com/rotatesingleimage/AlbumID=156432881/PictureID=4298641874/t_=16636903/pns/slideshow/AlbumID=156432881/PictureID=4298641874/a=16636903_16636903/t_=16636903

The spiky things at the top of the tree are shiny heart garlands on wires that I bought to decorate the getaway car for a wedding (and didn’t use). The apple green and red globs are layered & fluffed squares of tissue paper I put in the holes between the branches of the tree. In Danish tradition, I have some handmade ornaments I got as gifts as well as some clusters of left over jester jingle bells and green beaded garland that I made during “Germanica and Husband: The Early Years” and haven’t put on the tree in awhile. What's a Danish tree without traditional heart ornamentals? Turns out that we had some clear glass heart ornaments that we rarely used because they blended into the tree. Some new ribbon, a little light red paint, some apple green polka dots and ta da! Danish heart ornaments.  OK, I couldn’t help myself and snuck a Dannebrog heart on the tree. http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=156432881/PictureID=4298641874/a=16636903_16636903/t_=16636903

Wow...six degrees of Craftster separation...or something...  Definitely post pics when you're done.  I was thinking of just using a heavier duty thread rather than fishing line.  They sell higher gauge thread, I have some black that I bought by mistake.  We did end up buying Keilo a bed, but I'd be up for trying this anyway.  Shall we do a dog-bed-along?

You could try using tatting thread (do they call it thread or yarn? I'm talking about the stuff that's on a roll and has the consistency of embroidery floss) to sew the tubes together. Whatever you use make sure it's cotton based just in case the dog eats it. Cotton will pass through the dog, fishing line will not.

Have you tried dried sweet potato chews? My dog has food allergies, so it's one of the few chewies he can eat. I also like that my dog is less likely to choke on the sweet potato chewie when it gets down to the nub, unlike most of the fake bones & rawhide chews.
The sweet potato "rawhide" chewies are kinda expense, but I'm sure you could make them if you sliced a raw sweet potato into strips or wedges and dehydrated them.
 

Both my sewing machine and my serger have a boring soft plastic cover on them. Once I paint and decorate my sewing room, I'm going to use you as an inspiration and make fun covers for my machines out of coordinating fabric.

Cute fabric!

I have a smaller version attached to my dog's leash, it holds approx 3 plastic bags. Just one more way to reuse our never-ending supply of plastic bags