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Showing posts from January, 2012

A button lampshade

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I had a friend coming to visit and I've always wanted to make a lampshade with buttons.  I went to the op shop and found this cord wrapped on a piece of cardboard.  I didn't know what it was but it had plastic hooks on it and appeared to be suitable for what I wanted. It turns out that it is the cord used to hang vertical blinds but it was perfect to hold buttons and also to hook onto the shade.  A couple of hours later it was finished. But sadly 100 or so white buttons didn't make a dent in my collection. Hehe.Still I can unclip them very easily and redo it with other colours.  Hmm now then's an idea. And while I was at it I needed a black and white picture for the wall.  So I went through my pile of unwanted magazines and used a pattern page with suitable words and pictures for a friend's visit.  I tried colouring in the flower and thought it could be an ongoing process.  A great idea for a kids room maybe?? Myra loves op shopping too and recycling so she

What you find in a thrift store button grab bag

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I bought a big plastic bag full of buttons at the thrift store the other day; I call them button grab bags.  This one was $3.99.  I was looking for hidden treasure.  Here's what was in it: Tons of full button cards. They were all plastic, and colorful; vintage, but not very. And another pile of partial button cards and some loose ones. This was the oldest thing in there, I think. Then there were some beads and baubles. Finally, the junk that inevitably turns up in the dregs of the button bag: stray game pieces, googly eyes, some hardware, etc. No treasure this time; you can't win them all! What's the most exciting thing you've found in a thrift store button bag?

Etsy 101 is hot off the presses - and free today!

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Like so many of you Floozies, I sell vintage and handmade on Etsy.  Today and for a limited time my friend Steve's book, Etsy 101: Sell Your Crafts on Etsy, the DIY Marketplace for Handmade, Vintage and Crafting Supplies , is being offered as a free Kindle download!  (Even if you don't own a Kindle, you can download Kindle's free apps to read it on your smartphone or computer.) It is an awesome book -- I know this because I had the chance to read the whole thing as well as contribute a bit to it, and I'm even in it as one of the Etsy sellers he profiled!  If you have ever wanted to start an Etsy shop, this book tells you all you need to know, step by step.  But better than that, it explains all the ins and outs of online selling so that it all makes sense .  With this book, you'll be able to start up like a pro.   What's more, even though I've been selling successfully on Etsy for 3 years I still learned a lot, and the book has re-inspired me to do m

The perfect man

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via Pinterest

And the 800 Followers Giveaway goes to...

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carol fun said... I'm not sure how I found this blog but I'm sure glad I did. I LOVE buttons and vintage ones just make my heat sing! January 4, 2012 9:32 AM   Carol Fun!  Thank you to everyone who entered our little giveaway, and to ALL our followers we just want to tell you how much we enjoy your visits and comments!

Like a kid in a candy shop

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Friends look at me strangely and wonder what I see in a pile of old buttons.  But there is nothing better than finding a pretty button in amongst a pile of dirty old buttons that someone doesn't want. Hundreds of old buttons After soaking and cleaning this was the colour of the water!? I love Mirror back buttons so these were a great find.  The black glass buttons are perfect too.  I don't know what these are but they look old.  The beads in the middle seem like pearls but I'm not sure.  I just think they're gorgeous.   I love this type of button but they are all similar colours.  I need some with reds, and yellows and greens etc for my quilt.  As well, I found quite a few moonglow? buttons which I have cards of, some pretty lucite ones and heaps of old plastic types.  It is such an exciting time cleaning up buttons and seeing what's under the dirt.  I'd say they'd been in someone's cupboard for a very long time.  I hope

Last day to enter our giveaway!

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Today's the last day to enter our 800 Followers Celebration giveaway!  Details are here !  Ends at 11:59 pm MT today!

A fabric book full of pockets...for buttons!

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I cordially invite you over to my blog, Indulge Your Shelf , to see a fabric book I created to hold my carded mother-of-pearl buttons! You can view the post here . Don't forget to enter our giveaway , too!

Valentine's Button Love

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Valentine's Day is coming up soon and hearts will be everywhere. I found these on Pinterest that show they are from google.com and thought I would share. This year I'm making a button covered heart pillow by golly! Every year I think about doing it but I never seem to. I thought you would enjoy seeing these button hearts and that maybe you, too, would be inspired to create a button heart of your own! Cheery wave from Bev

The Loss of my Vintage Buttons

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Hi :) I'm a new Button Floozie, and happy to be among other floozies! I do have quite the button collection, and HAD a super (and I mean SUPER) find on some vintage buttons a few years ago. I answered a Free Cycle ad for sewing patterns, fabrics and notions. Turns out we had to drive quite a ways to get there (even had to stop and get gas!) but it was totally worth it. As soon as we picked up the boxes and pulled out of the driveway, I twisted myself around in odd places to go through those boxes, way before we got home! I felt like a pretzel but the curiosity was killing me! Loved everything I found, and then I found a metal box with a lift off lid, the box itself was old, kind of rusty, but I could see a flower on top of the box. Dying to know what was inside, I pulled off the lid and gasped!!! Completely full to overflowing were vintage buttons. Many pearl buttons, many on cards that said 'Made in Occupied Japan'! Very pretty cards with no buttons on them, but I love

Vintage buttons and a giveaway!

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I did some after-Christmas antique shopping and found some wonderful buttons to take home with me and love -- like these ruby red, sparkly vintage ones: They look like glass at first glance, but are actually plastic. I love the detail! I'm a sucker for pretty etched metal, and this one was especially fun with its fancy black center. Pretty carded buttons, made in Germany -- black glass-looking buttons with a sparkly rhinestone middle.  They're actually metal, though! A pretty fleur de lys metal button.  It's a bit dinged up but I love it anyway! Mother of pearl with a carved design, on a card that says Paris.  Enough said! These six tiny glass buttons jumped into my basket, too... I seemed to have a "thing" for metal buttons that day. I loved how some long-ago collector stuck them on a card with a tiny safety pin through the shank! The realistic flower shapes with a sparkly paste center make me swoon! I bought a second card with simpler metal buttons, t