button initial

I found a real cute button initial that I like on Pinterest and I thought I'd make some for my little cousins for Christmas. You can find my inspiration here.

what you'll need:

• thick cardboard
• hot glue & gun
• buttons (lots of them)
• fabric 
• puffy paint (in a color that complements the fabric)
• scissors
• letter printed out

how you'll do it:

• first you'll need to decide what font you want to use and print out a single letter in it in a very large font (like 500px+)
• *very important: turn the paper over and trace the outline of that letter

cut out 2 pieces of cardboard in the size that fits the letter

hot glue the pieces together

cut the fabric in a size that can comfortably wrap completely around the cardboard

*iron out any wrinkles in the fabric before going any further* 

now lay the cardboard on the fabric like above and hot glue the back and front edges, the hot glue the fabric seam on the back (just like taping a present)

next, fold the ends of the fabric like a present and glue to the back

back to the letter

put buttons face-down on the back side of the letter

put a little puffy paint on each button, then 

I used 2 hot glue sticks as guides to show the top and bottom of the letter

turn your fabric face down and press onto the letter, then turn over

Hot glue ribbon on the back top 2 corners for hanging and you're done! 

Variations may include:

• using tacky glue that dries clear if you don't want the color of the puffy paint to show through
• taking the time to hand stitch each button onto the fabric
• using canvas instead of cardboard
• using colored buttons*

*Side note, if you want a lot of buttons in a certain color, dye them! That's right, you can dye "pearl" or white buttons to your desired shade with Rit dye. Just put the dye in a cup or bowl and soak your buttons for the desired shade!