Tutorial Framed Button Monogram

Mother's Day is fast approaching and it's an occasion for which, I'm sorry to say, I've always had a little trouble in coming up with a good gift.  The day calls for something small, and understated which is a difficult concept for me.  Fortunately, my addiction to Pinterest provided me with a few great (and easy!) ideas for something nice for my mom.  She's been doing some redecorating lately, and trying to find some new and interesting things for the walls, which is why I finally settled on making her a framed Button Monogram.

For this craft, you will need:

A picture frame

Something onto which to mount the buttons: some wallpaper/a square of fabric

A lot of buttons

Glue (hot, crazy, craft) OR Needle and thread

A pencil

My mom has pretty classy taste, and she's really into black and white graphics.  I decided to design her monogram with black/dark buttons on a white background, then mount it in a black frame.  I found a nice, unused 8" x 10" shadow box lying around the house, but you can also find the perfect frame at the Reuse Centre!  

I removed the insert with the cheesy photo from the frame and used it as a template to cut out the anaglypta wallpaper I found to use.  I like the textured quality of the anaglypta, but an interesting piece of fabric would be equally lovely.

I didn't want to waste buttons or wreck the monogram by free-styling their placement, so I first laid out a few loose buttons in an "S" shape to help choose the right sizes and colours.  You could also trace the letter you want with a pencil, but the pattern on the anaglypta made this a bit difficult.  This way, you can make any necessary changes before you make anything permanent with glue.  (In this case, I switched out the big buttons for smaller ones and used some coloured ones instead of all black.)

If you're using fabric, you'll probably want to secure the buttons with needle and thread.  After attaching the first layer of buttons, you can plump up the monogram by filling in any empty spaces with more buttons.  Allow the monogram plenty of time to dry, then just pop it in the frame!  I finished it off with some pearly pins in the corners for some added interest.  

This was unbelievably easy (and needless to say, economical) to assemble, and now my mom will have something new for her walls.

Happy Mother's Day!

-Nichole (Volunteer)