Crafty Quickie: Button Heart

Here's a quick and easy project to while away a dark January evening. This button heart will look really sweet hanging on a window or mirror, swinging on a drawer handle, tied on a ribbon to decorate a gift or even decorating next year's Christmas tree! It's a very cute way to display those lovely treasures that have been lying idle in your button box even though the coats, dresses and baby cardigans they once belonged to are long gone...

So, the first thing you need to do is gather up the buttons you want to use. You can use any colourscheme you like, but I find these hearts work very well when similar coloured buttons are put together. Now, lay your buttons out in a heart shape. Try not to have too much variation in sizes, but do play around with the positioning to see what looks best.

Next you're going to need some wire to string the buttons on. I have used a silver colour 20 gauge craft wire, which can be bought on a reel at any craft shop for a couple of Euro. If you want to make smaller hearts you could also use florists' wire as it comes in short lengths rather than a roll, though it's less flexible and you may need a pair of pliers. Measure a length of wire that will hold all of your buttons and leave about 5 inches extra. Cut the wire and you're ready to put on your buttons!

The easiest place to start is with one of the top two buttons. String the wire through the buttonholes and pull it tight, leaving about 2 inches of wire to spare. Continue your line of buttons along the wire, working around your laid out heart pattern. Try to make sure the buttons are facing the same way up and are nice and flat. Once you get to the last one, you should have a neat line of buttons and some spare wire at each end.

Bend your wire around to make the heart shape, and cross the wire ends over eachother. Twist them together to secure your heart shape. Now clip the end off ONE piece. Bend the second piece round to create a loop, twist it in to close your loop and now you have a hanger for your pretty button heart.

Reshape the heart as required, add a ribbon if you like, and hang your gorgeous handmade button decoration somewhere nice :)

Done! If any of you makes one of these, I'd love to see your pictures or hear about where you've put your pretty button heart ♥