6.16.2012

Week Wrap Up

In case you were up to your elbows in Father's Day crafts, or have been in a spray paint haze i wanted to catch you up on what i have been up to this week here at Buttons Birds & BS.  I am trying to challenge myself to blog more regularly and this is one more that i can do just that.

Sooooo.... here we go!

sunday:  I feel in love with this lamp after it was painted and distressed.  You will too!

i.love.lamp.



monday:  Side Stripes on a Side Table... need i say more?

Side Stripes


thursday:   Star Book finished... trip is booked!

Star Book



friday:  GIVE AWAY ALERT!  my mouth is watering thinking about this one...


June Giveaway

6.15.2012

June Giveaway!!!

Hey friends! Happy Friday! We made it through another week and can't believe that June is already half way over! I am excited to share that June is going to kick off my monthly giveaways!


When I started thinking about what should kick off the giveaways, I thought about things that I would want to win. Out of everything that I could want... two things came to mind- Coffee and Crafts!

So to help you in your crafting adventures I am giving away a
10$ Starbucks Gift card and a 25$ Hobby Lobby Gift Card!
Just think you can go on a crazy caffeine crafting craze!!!!!!

Ways to enter this fabulous giveaway:

nFollow my blog by clicking the 'Join this site' button.

nGrab either of my buttons and upload to your blog.

nAfter you do either, or preferably both, LEAVE A COMMENT telling me which you did… simple right? As easy as ordering a Frappuccino!

The giveaway is now cosed.

6.14.2012

Star Book

Have you ever signed up for something thinking it was going to be amazing and ended up being something that you found yourself dreading?  That is how I was feeling about my bookmaking class this week.  I was just feeling lazy and there were too many steps, too many pieces of paper to cut, and too many different things that were going wrong with my book…  until it started looking like a star!


Funny how your mood changes so quickly when something starts going your way J
I Give you- A Star BooK

After stitching the 7 large pieces together using waxed linen thread, and glued 14 small pocket inserts and glued the covers to the front and back pages. 




I ended up using scrapbook paper to glue around art board to make my covers and twine to tie the Star Book together.                               

Now im pumped about making my next book and filling this one with treasures from my travels!




6.11.2012

Side Stripes

After gluing this little side table… I was frustrated because the slats of wood on the bottom shelf weren’t lining up right and it was noticeable that it was not one solid piece of wood.  Then I thought I could use that to my advantage and paint each piece a different color.
 Yippee!  Problem solved!


I painted the entire table white and then I placed masking tape along the edge of each slat creating a perfect straight edge to paint against. 


I used only colors I already had… which most of all are the wall colors of my house. 



The end result is a super cute striped side table that could go in literally any room of my house!




6.10.2012

i.love.lamp.

This side table lamp was given to me by my friend Megan’s parents.  I can’t quite remember how they obtained it, but they knew that I could bring it back to life.  So it has been sitting unused in my room for months now.  I was trying to draw inspiration from somewhere… anywhere.  But it wasn’t until I saw vintage lamp redone that I knew it needed to be painted a bright color.

Inspiration:  Thanks to Jen over at The House of Wood

I was so carried away that I almost forgot to take a ‘before’ picture.  So here is the lamp with just a little green paint on it…



And here it is now!



After brushing on two full coats of Organic Garden and letting it dry, I sanded off the edges to give it some dimension and texture.  Now all I need is a lamp shade to finish it off! 

6.09.2012

Hot Days. Cool Art.

When it starts getting hot outside, make Ice Paint!  This is a fun twist to regular water coloring painting for kids- and a lot more fun too!

{You will need: Popsicle sticks, an old ice cube tray, tempera or craft paint, water and a freezer.}

 Step 1:   Squirt a different color of paint into each cube… or double up.  If you want your paint to be bright and thick pour enough paint to cover the bottom of the cube.  If you want your paint to have more of a water color consistency just put a little dot in each.  There is no wrong ratio of paint to water.


 Step 2:    Add water to ALMOST fill the tray… doesn’t overflow otherwise your colors will run together!


Step 3:  Add a Popsicle stick to each cube. 
(I ran out so I just cut straws to put in each).   And stir the paint/ water mixture.

 Step 4:  Leave the sticks in and freeze- overnight is best!

Step 5:  Remove from freezer and gently twist the tray to loosen up your new paint cubes!  We took ours outside on a hot day and let the ice melt over our crayon drawings making a crayon resist! 


This project is great for little ones because you don’t have to worry about spilling the water cup, rinsing out brushes, or permanently mixing the colors in the watercolor tray.  They can use the sticks to scoot the paint across their paper and the summer heat does the rest!  Older ones can help you mix and there is very little clean up!



Love it!  Happy Saturday!

6.06.2012

Paper Phase 1

So every Wednesday for the past three weeks, my roommate and I have been going to a bookmaking class in Nashville.  We are learning different bindings, stitches, and book layouts.  Even though I have taken a book arts class before I feel a little in over my head considering the first book we are making should end up looking like a star (if all goes accordingly). 

We got our supplies late and the teacher continues to assign us homework to catch us up for the next class.  So far we have bought our paper and begun to cut and fold the pieces of paper (there are 28 pages in all with 2 covers).  I wish I have more to show but this is as far as I have gotten:

The paper I am using in my ‘Star Book’ is from a 1976 Road Atlas, scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, and Canson art paper that can be purchased at any art supply store.

We were able to work quickly and bind the first two layers of pages together tonight using waxed linen.


Check back next Wednesday to see the progress of my Star Book and the start of another one!