We all have buttons lying around. Now it's time to use them! Photo by Faith Breisblatt.

For crafters, buttons seem to be the one craft accessory that are continuously ubiquitous.I have an entire collection of buttons just hanging around, so I know how hard it can be to find uses for them.Most people can usually find a project that uses a button here or there, but never in mass quantities, so they never know what to do with their excess buttons.I find that buttons are the perfect item to use when making jewelry. Here are some great examples of wearable button fashion:

Purchase some sort of thin string and you can create a button necklace. This jewelry idea is great because it calls for a large quantity of buttons and they don’t all have to be one size or shape . In fact, I think the more inconsistent the button shapes and sizes are, the better. This inconsistent array of buttons makes for a more realistic or edgy necklace. You can make the necklace as long or as short as you want, and in about 20 minutes or less you will have a wonderful new piece of jewelry added to your collection.

Painting is an extremely fun art form that anyone can do. Because it’s so subjective, it doesn’t take a great artist to be able to paint a masterpiece. However, in order for you to get your artwork to the masterpiece status you desire, you may need to know a bit about some of the different painting techniques that are out there. With this in mind, here’s a brief overview of a few of my favorite painting techniques!

Take your pick of oils or watercolors. Photo by Faith Breisblatt.

Acrylic paints are great to use for many reasons. First of all, they are very bright in color. The paint itself can be diluted with water if need be and they are extremely easy to use. Besides this, acrylic paints dry very quickly, which is definitely an advantage when corrections don’t need to be made and you’re looking for a fast drying project. Once dry, the paint should also be water-resistant which is a nice plus. This type of paint is also resistant to light as well, which helps delay aging over time. A negative though for acrylics for some people can be the fact that they dry fast. This aspect of the paint means you need to work quickly before the paint dries out. However, I find this medium very fun to work with!

I’ve always found melted wax to be a fun medium to work with as the possibilities you can do with it are essentially endless. For awhile, I worked with melting crayons on canvas to make various shapes, patterns, and scenes. More recently, I have been melting crayon wax into different shapes using mini-cake pans (basically mini-cupcake pans) and the oven. This is an infamous children’s craft because it’s perfect for entertaining young kids when babysitting or if you have younger siblings. It’s also just a pretty cool craft though for anyone interested in making some pretty fun shapes with melted wax.

Make your own colorful crayons. Photo by Faith Breisblatt.

This fun melted crayon craft is very easy to make. Just cut up pieces of crayons of different colors and put them in a mini-cake pan. You can have fun with this by using different shaped cake pans like hearts, circles, stars, or any other shaped cake pan that tickles your fancy. You can also try and make patterns and designs within each tin by using only certain colored crayon pieces in your cake pans. Once you have each space filled, place your baking pan in a preheated oven of 150 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until all the crayon pieces are melted. Leave the pan out until your wax shapes have cooled. They should pop right out of the pan no problem once cooled, but if they are sticking, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes and they should come right out.

This past week, my friend Jenni and I decided to try our hands at creating the perfect ensemble to wear that all our friends would envy. My roommate gave us the idea of bleached shirts, which are just shirts made by bleaching out areas on the fabric to create designs or patterns. What’s great about this project is that you really don’t even need to go out and buy anything extra—the materials can essentially be found lying around the house as most people have bleach or bleach pens hanging around for keeping their whites extra white. Besides that, you can choose to go out and buy a new shirt at stores like Target, Forever 21, or H&M if you want to, but you can also just use an old favorite that you want to spice up. For our project, we bought a few shirts at H&M and also used an old shirt just because we loved this project so much—it became kind of addicting! The entire bleaching experience takes about a half hour and that includes rinsing.

Bleach away to create your own designs. Photo by Faith Breisblatt.

To start out, find a good area for bleaching. Put down some newspaper or a tarp so you don’t get any bleach in any unwanted areas. Lay your shirt flat on your flat surface and put a piece of cardboard inside it so that the bleach doesn’t bleed through.

I love painting, but personally, I don’t think I’m very talented. Honestly though, that’s not what’s most important. Although skill obviously plays a role, what can make or break a work of art is the technique used. One technique that I came across was using squeeze bottles filled with watery paint.

Create a masterpiece of your own with squeeze bottles. Photo by Faith Breisblatt.

Do you remember those old-fashioned plastic ketchup bottles that you would squeeze to death just to get that last squirt of ketchup on your plate?  Well these same sorts of squeeze bottles can be used in a similar fashion, but with paint. What I like to do is take a bottle and squeeze a good amount of paint in it, but water it down so that when shaken, the mixture is runny. This will make for a cool “trickle –down” effect on your canvas.

“I see it. I like it. I make it.”

This is Erica Domesek’s motto, the founder, creator, and author of “P.S. I Made This…” She’s been a distinguished member of New York’s DIY scene for quite some time, creating all sorts of crafts and do-it-yourself fashion designs, as well as updating her blog. This past fall, Domesek published her first book with the same title as her blog, “P.S. I Made This…” This book features more than 25 DIY projects inspired by current fashion as seen on the runway, icons, and celebrities.

The cover of the crafty book. Photo courtesy of psimadethis.com.

Read the full post »