Paper House Luminaries with ButtonLovers.com

In my most recent Inspired Barn workshop, attendees crafted and embellished lovely paper house luminaries that I designed similar to those I taught at last year’s Spellbound Event. However this time we decorated our houses with spectacular glass and crystal buttons and buckles sponsored by Blumenthal Lansing’s ButtonLovers.com.In previous workshops students were asked to gather and bring an assortment of vintage rhinestone, crystal and glass jewelry pieces to add sparkle to their luminaries. I also brought along a large assortment for sale that had taken months of searching, shopping, bidding and buying. So to have easy access online and in so many local stores for similarly beautiful new pieces can not only make gathering easier, the wide range of Blumenthal Lansing brands allows for so many gorgeous choices. And unlike most scrapbook embellishements, these buttons and buckles are of much higher quality for creating lasting heirloom pieces.The ladies in both recent workshops used the buttons and buckles in many creative ways. Buckles were slipped onto ribbon, or with bars snipped, used as sparkly window frames. We used wire cutters to remove button shanks before gluing to the houses, or punched a small hole into the paper and slipped the shank into it, gluing in place to secure. Some students used flower shaped paper punches were used to cut out shapes that were glittered and buttons attached for additional bling effect. We decorated other sections of our houses with the glitter and finely ground mica flakes. Everyone made a set of three little luminaries and each was simply stunning!Blumenthal Lansing has an enormous assortment of buttons and buckles besides the more formal ones we used, in fact they even carry many fun items on ButtonLovers.com that are not buttons such as Boutique Appliques, Buckles and Closures, Button Art Kits, Buttons and Beads, Button Storage, Handbag Handles, Love Labels, and Photo Fabric. To find a store near you, click here for their retail partners. Visit ButtonLovers.com’s blog, community project gallery, Facebook page, and Instagram feed for a constant supply of inspiration and product promotions.