{Create} Monogram button canvas & our monthly link-up party

May's been a good month of creating for me.

I finished my book which is my biggest creation to date, I did those lovely DIY paper tapes (BTW since then I've seen people do exactly the same thing and call it washi tape - um, no, it may look a bit like washi tape but it isn't), I also made some adhesive fabric tape and I'm 90% done with another photo canvas.

And then this one.

After my hectic weekend, I needed some time to recuperate and so I made this.

What you need

• Canvas (mine was R12,99 at Mega Mica)
• Monogram printed to the size of your canvas
• Pencil
• Craft glue
• Buttons (my bag was called crazycrafts and was R9,99 at Westpack)

I don't have any intermediate pics because all my things are done at night and the light is AWFUL in here.

Also, glue + camera = not a very good idea (I don't know how the crafty gals who do tutorials do it but they clearly have more patience than I do)


It was waaaaaayyyyy easier than I thought.

How to do it

• Print the letter of your choice in a plain font as big as can fit on your canvas. I like plain and simple so I chose a standard sans serif font (can't remember which one now).
• Cut out this letter.
• Trace it onto your canvas with a pencil.
• Glue within the shape. I did one "leg" at a time on my M.
• Stick any assortment of buttons onto the glue.
• The beauty is that this is meant to be imperfect so your lines don't have to be straight, you can position buttons over the pencil lines, you can use any colours, etc. and it still looks gorgeous.

showing you glue splodges up close. Almost invisible when you look at it as a normal person would

my pack of buttons had all shades, shapes and sizes

the widest section of buttons

and DONE!

I really, really, REALLY love this craft and I may even break loose and let the kids do their own ones... outside!

They have a K and a C on their bedroom door (plain white wooden letters) so if I'm brave, I'll glue them and let them go wild. I bought blue and pink buttons when I bought my green ones because I thought of doing something similar for their bedroom.
 
I also think this is a great idea for a gift that you really can suit both to the individual (choose a more flowery, whimsical font for a more girly person) and to your pocket (a bigger canvas will obviously cost more and use up more buttons - I still have about 15 buttons in my pack).

So, what do you think? Will you do one and show me?