National Button Day, My Gypsy Rod, And What I'm Thankful For

Saturday was National Button Day.  I happened to have a jar of buttons on the table that contained these buttons that I found at a rummage sale back a few years.  The colors reminded me of fall and had wanted to do something with them rather than look at the in the little jar they were in.  

I played with some patterns and finally decided on this one.  I started with a square of white felt larger than the buttons as they were laid out on the table.  Then I started by finding the center and sewing that first button there.  The buttons were slippery and just a wee bit too small to hold onto and be able to take those stitches in so I decided to turn them all over and one row at a time, I dabbed a tiny bit of glue on the back of each one.  This gave me just enough stability to be able to keep the buttons in a straight line as I sewed them onto the felt.  

When I was done sewing on the buttons, I carefully cut away the excess felt to get the hexagonal shape.  I took another piece of felt (this time in dark yellow) and cut another hexagon from that. Then, using brown floss, I blanket stitched the felt together.  

I'm having mixed feelings about this finished product.  I intend to use it as a coaster, but every time I look at it the colors are taking me back to the 70's.  Gold, olive, and orange were very popular back then.  

The following pictures are of my "gypsy rod" in our kitchen.  It's my excuse for a window treatment.   We have lot's of windows in our house but most of them have very untraditional and sometimes no window treatments.   Our neighbors are far enough away not to be able to see in, and we are quite a distance from the road, and I love having all the natural light.  

So for the kitchen, I had HWNSNBP install a drapery rod complete with hooks and I purchased this beaded garland from the Scandinavian shop in Cape May.  There are three strands of garland loosely wrapped around the rod.  And using the drapery hooks or in some cases green wire, I have hung windchimes, glass ornaments, ceramic birds, and various other pretty things.  

Everything has a story and there's always room for more.  

I'm thankful that HWNSNBP puts up with most of my creative decorating and I have freedom of expression.  It's anything but traditional.