cute as a button {monogram, that is}

Before Christmas last year I tried my hand at creating my very first button monogram. I made a "B" for my cousin's sweet new baby girl, Bailey... I used pink and green buttons so it would match her nursery. I loved how it turned out...

I didn't take many "progress" pictures that first time, but I knew I'd make another button monogram soon... so, lucky you... here's a little button monogram tutorial:)

This is such an easy project and probably only takes an hour or so from start to finish. It's the perfect gift... easily customized with colors and obviously the monogram. So far, I've only made these as baby gifts, but how sweet would one of these be for a wedding gift? This one is for a good friend of mine that just had a sweet baby boy last week... baby Jack.

First thing's first... gather up my supplies...

You will need: a printed monogram (I just select my letter of choice in Word, use a super large font, and print it on cardstock), an x-acto knife, scrapbook paper (I like this one that looks like burlap fabric), adhesive, and buttons... obviously.

I used my x-acto knife to basically make my own "J" stencil. I'm still working on my x-acto knife skills... it's harder than it looks, okay.

It worked out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself.

I used my homemade stencil to lightly trace a "J" onto my burlap scrapbook paper.

Here comes the hard part... you have to make an executive decision about button colors. It's tough. I decided to go with blue and green for baby Jack.

I played around with the design and placement for a while, then just used my adhesive to stick them in place. Most scrapbook adhesives will be strong enough to hold the buttons in place, but will allow you to move them around if you change your mind.

It's basically just like a puzzle from here on out... I try to alternate the colors and sizes for a pretty little mix.

And there you have it... a fancy schmancy button monogram.

And if you want to take it up a notch, buy a pretty mat and frame your awesome monogram.

Tah-dah!! Instant high-class. Now I just need a frame... hopefully baby Jack likes blue and green:)

Cute as a button, don't you think?!?

linking this up to the C.R.A.F.T. blog... go check it out... some amazing ideas over there.