I Like Big Buttons and I Cannot Lie!

To be honest I like all buttons- big ones, small ones, shiny ones, matt ones, shank backed, two-holed, four-holed, you name it and I'll probably like it.
Nice, oversized buttons are fab for embellishing items such as bags, knitwear and cushions. Also, all you have to do is glue a brooch finding on the back and you have yourself a super quick, delectable accessory!

Whilst shop bought buttons work wonderfully well,and I have quite a few that are now brooches, it's still not quite the same as making your own button. 
I do enjoy making my own big, feature buttons using air-dry clay, polymer clay or epoxy putty.

Below are a couple of examples of previously made ones. I like to use nail varnish and enamel paint to finish them off.
For this one I used terracotta coloured, air-dry clay with red nail varnish which I have only applied to the top surface. After I cut the basic shape and holes, I left it to dry in a shallow bowl to make it nice and curved, unfortunately that doesn't really come across well in the photograph.

These ones were made with white, air-drying clay with nail varnish and enamel paint to highlight the letters- see the link below on how to make your own.

This is an epoxy putty button, textured using lace netting and impressed with a star-shaped cutter before using various nail varnishes to highlight once set.

Below are glazed, ceramic clay but they require the use of a pottery kiln so are not so simple and unless you're super lucky enough to have a ceramic kiln at home (sadly I'm not lucky enough but, happily, I do have a local pottery club). Similar designs are achievable with the above materials though.

As you can see it can be simple to achieve a wide variety of results.
This previous post from August last year included a tutorial to make a teapot shaped magnet using air dry clay. You can use the same steps to make buttons by using your desired shape cookie-cutter, e.g. circular, and something to make two or four holes. I prefer something that actually cuts the hole instead of poking it as this displaces the clay. By cutting it, the result is much neater, i.e. using a small tube rather than something pointy- for example the barrel of a pen or lid versus a knitting needle.

Once the clay has dried/cured it can be decorated as desired. All that's left is to glue a brooch finding on the back and attach it to your favourite top/blazer/whatever and you're all set! (Although sometimes I add thread to the holes and sometimes I don't- depends on my mood I guess.)

Until next time craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest x

Cupcake Earrings

I hope everyone had a lovely St. Valentine's Day! I over indulged with yummy chocolates and scrummy cake (in my case birthday cake thanks to my wonderful sister's happy birthday)!
So today I am posting a tutorial for guilt-free, super cute, cupcake earrings made from polymer clay.
I have used Fimo for these ones but any type would work. There are quite a few photographs in this post.

You will need polymer clay in a suitable colour for the cake part. I blended mine using white, caramel and yellow until I was happy with the shade for a traditional sponge. (A dark brown for chocolate cupcake would look good too don't you think? Or how about red for red velvet cupcake?)

White clay for the icing, various colours for hundreds and thousands style topping, e.g. blue, pink and green.
A sharp cutting tool (I've gone for a scalpel), earring findings and some glue.

First shape a small piece of the sponge colour into ball as marked 1. below.
Then roll one side of the ball in your palm with one finger to narrow one side as in 2.
After this flatten the bottom of the narrow end as in 3.

Using the sharp tool create ridges by gently pressing it into the narrowed section.

Next soften a ball of white clay and flatten it. As this for the icing it shouldn't be too neat, after all icing isn't perfectly regular on a cupcake. Attach it to the top of your sponge section, pushing it quite firmly whilst being careful not to distort the sponge.

Roll out very thin lengths of the colours for the hundred and thousands and cut lots of tiny pieces, then press them onto the icing.

Cut the iced cupcake in half from the top down and add a small ball of red, for a cherry, to the top of each.

Now follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to bake your cupcake (for example with Fimo bake at 130 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes), sadly you don't quite get the enticing smell of the real thing :-(

Once the two halves have cooled completely, attach the earring findings with glue (I rough the surface to be glued up a little first to give it a good key to stick to) and leave to dry completely.

Finally enjoy your tasty looking but completely calorie free cupcake earrings!

Another option is to stick them to pieces of card and use them as toppers.

I hope you liked the tutorial and found it helpful, please leave a comment if you want to ask or add something.
I'm off to Poland for my oldest friend's wedding this week, so no doubt they'll be news of that in the next post. I'm very excited and also very lucky as I get to be part of her and her hubby to be's "Big Day" as Matron of Honour!
Until next time- craft in earnest, Craftin' Ernest xx