First, finding buttons was not an easy task. I went to Michael's and spent a lot on small bags of buttons. I bought about 5 bags and about 3 packs of stick pins. I purchased the three Styrofoam trees and headed home for some crafty fun with my daughters.
I did not plan out the best way to attack the Styrofoam with buttons. We started placing buttons here and there, willy nilly. This was NOT the best approach. I can tell you looking back, we should have started at the bottom with the big buttons and then worked our way up. Mistake number one.
Mistake number two was thinking a 5 and 7 year old would have the patience to pin all these buttons onto the trees. While this seems very simple - take one button, place pin in button, push into Styrofoam, repeat - it was very daunting. The large tree was mine and it took 3 nights to complete. I worked on the tree for a few hours each night. And then I got to finish the two little trees because my daughters lost interest.
Mistake number three was thinking the supplies I purchased were enough. I grossly underestimated the amount of buttons and pins. I had to make about 4 more trips to Michael's and had to drive around to multiple store locations because I bought out all the pins and buttons available at my main store. Let me reiterate how much this project cost - A LOT.
Now, had I known how all of this information ahead of time, I would have purchased bulk buttons from the internet. This Christmas I found Oriental Trading Company sells very large bags at a very reasonable price. I also would have waited to complete such a project with my daughters until they were older.
The upside to this project is my daughters are very pleased and proud of their work. The trees sit on an end table in the living room during the holiday season - a prime spot in the house. They love putting them out and looking at their names on the bottom. And we do receive many compliments on them.
My final thought, if you will... These look adorable and can be much more cost effective, but be prepared to spend much more time than expected completing this craft!
Remember, your darling husband had to run out for more pins at (ugh!) Micheal's -- the bain of my existence to shop.
ReplyDeleteThe girls also had one of their friends help...especially on our youngest daughter's. But yes, it was labor-intensive and took a lot of patience. The result was great however!