Fall in Love with Buttons: the SWAP

Thank you to everyone who signed up to participate!

This swap is now closed.

With Autumn soon upon (most of) us, I thought it would be a lot of fun to have a Fall-themed swap!  The Fall in Love with Buttons Swap is one-to-one; that is, each participant will be paired up with a swap partner.  We will each alter an Altoids tin, filling it with autumn colored or autumn themed buttons, and send it to our partner!

 

Here is an example of what I mean.  I altered the Altoids tin above using scraps of fabric and ribbon, and then embellishing it on top.  Then, I went through my button collection and chose some that were Fall colored (oranges, greens, yellows, browns) and Fall themed (leaves, plants, pinwheels) -- anything that said "Fall" to me!

When I had packed the buttons into the tin, I found it fit about 50 buttons.  (That doesn't look like 50 buttons, does it?  It's actually 49.)

Doesn't that sound like fun?

More specifics for you:

The tin:

• The standard Altoids tin is 4" x 2.5"
• "Altered" in this case simply means "decorated."  You can do it simply as I did, or get fancier.
• There is a fantastic tutorial on how to cover a tin here.  In it, she uses paper to cover the tin, but her instructions work just as well with fabric.  (Note: it took me about 15 minutes to decorate my tin; I used scissors, not an Exacto knife, and glue, not Modge Podge, and ribbon, not paper.  Nothing fancy!)
• The newer Altoids tins are raised/dimensional rather than completely flat on top now, but they still cover quite well without looking "bumpy".
• For more altered Altoids tin ideas then you ever wanted, search for Altoids tin on Flickr.

The buttons:

• Use any buttons you love for the swap -- they need not be new and they need not be vintage.  You might want to do some of both, like I did in the example.
• As aforementioned, the theme is "Fall" so that means colors you associate with the season: yellows, oranges, greens, browns, reds, etc.  Buttons can be shaped like leaves, acorns, baskets, scarecrows, ETC.  Try to include your most interesting and delightful, quality buttons!
• Please be sure to send a minimum of 40 buttons in your tin!  You can include more if they fit, but the tin should be full, and still able to close snugly.  In my example, most of the buttons were small, so I was able to fit 49 in the tin.

How to participate:

• Email me at buttonfloozies@gmail.com by Friday, September 23, 2011, with the following information: your name, your mailing address, your blog address if you have one, and whether or not you would be willing to swap internationally.  EDIT AS OF 9/16/11: Also, please comment here to let me know you're sending me an email to join, as I have been having sporadic email problems!
• I will email you the name of your partner on Saturday, September 24, 2011.
• Complete your swap, photograph it, and get it in the mail to your partner on or before Friday, October 21, 2011
• After you hear from your swap partner that they've received it, visit the Flickr site I've created, Button Floozies Swap, and upload the photos you took of your swap so we can all see!

Spread the word!  Feel free to link to this post from your own blog, and/or copy this Participant button from the right hand sidebar.  The more the merrier!