Gather | October Button Lover’s Club Tutorial

 Hooray for the middle of the month because it brings a new Button Lover’s Club box from my friends at Just Another Button Company.  As you may recall, each month’s club box includes an exclusive art card that I have illustrated to coordinate with the theme and color of each collection.  This month’s theme is “Gather” and the card to go with it is one of my most favorites so far! Each month I share a simple and quick tutorial showing ways to embellish and create a project with your card.  This month I wanted to make a super simple sign that can be displayed for Thanksgiving.

For the sign, you will need the art card from the club box, a 5″ x 7″ piece of mat board (I used a Dina Wakely Media Board, linked below), and two scraps of fabric (one 5″ x 7″ and one 4.5″ x 5.75″).  I used scraps of felted wool, but you could use  felt, cotton fabric, or pattern paper.

Apply liquid glue to the mat board.  Be sure to apply glue to the edges and throughout the center.

Apply the larger piece of fabric to the mat board.  Smooth your hand over the surface to help smooth out the lines of adhesive.

If your fabric is larger than the mat board, you can trim it after the adhesive is dry.

Apply brown ink to the edges of the art card using an ink blending tool.

Adhere the art card to the smaller piece of fabric with liquid adhesive.

Lay the art card/fabric piece on the mat board/fabric piece.  Do not adhere them together yet.  Begin laying the buttons from the club box on the art card.  When I drew this art card, I envisioned one of the larger sculpted buttons next to the H.    Some of my favorites here are the brown leaf…

the orange pumpkin…

the yellow flower…

the owl…

 and my very favorite, the large acorn.  For a fun extra touch, I layered a heart from the Sprinkles pack on top of the acorn.

Use a small drop of liquid adhesive to secure the buttons to the card.  If you layer a heart on the acorn like I did, do not glue it, just set it aside.

When the adhesive is set, use a piercing tool to poke through the card and fabric through the holes in the buttons.

Stitch through each button with thread.  Stitch the heart button to the acorn and through all the layers.  Tie off the thread on the top of the stacked buttons.

Adhere the art card/fabric layer to the mat board/fabric layer.

Optional: Pierce a hole in each corner.

 Place a metal brad through each hole.

If needed, brush the edges of the mat board with ink if they look too bright next to the fabric.

 To display, simply place the sign on a small easel and place it on your table or buffet as friends and family gather. I love this project because it is super quick, simple, and full of sentiment.

PS. If you love the buttons, but aren’t sure about joining the club, all the buttons shown here are available individually in the Just Another Button Company shop.