This week’s #26daysofaussiepicturebooks craft involves buttons.
Lots of them.

These button flowers have been inspired by the gorgeous picture book, “Bogtrotter” by Margaret Wild and Judith Rossell.
Bogtrotter is a creature of habit.
Every morning, he wakes up and runs the exact same route around the bog.
A chance encounter with a frog makes Bogtrotter question his everyday routine.
For the first time, he stops to pick a flower.
This is a wonderful story about taking the time to stop and smell the roses. To take notice of the small things that make up your everyday.
To challenge yourself to try new things.
There is a beautiful scene where Bogtrotter makes a daisy chain of pretty pink flowers.
That scene has inspired this simple craft.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Floral stem wire
Floristry tape
Jewellery pliers
Buttons of varying sizes
Pieces of felt
Sharp scissors

Thank you to Spotlight who are supporting my crafty projects during #26daysofaussiepicturebooks.
All of the products used in this project were provided free of charge.
Thank you!

Firstly, I cut my stem wire in half (standard household scissors will do the job.)
Then, I chose my buttons and arranged them from largest to smallest.
I cut out some felt leaves.
Thread the wire through one side of the button stack.
Generally the wire will poke through the felt with a little bit of pressure.
Some sheets of felt may be a bit tougher, so just use the tip of your pliers to create a hole.
Once the wire has been threaded through one side of the button stack, ensure there is enough overhanging wire to make it’s way back down through the stack. Bend the wire into a U and thread wire down other side of button stack.
Once the wire emerges on the bottom side of the button stack, clamp wire together with pliers.
Twist the wire (not the pliers) to entwine excess wire around the stem.
Wrap floristry tape around your wire stem. Floristry tape can be a bit tricky to work with.
You might want to watch this video first for some tips.

At the moment, our buttons flowers are sitting in a vase on the kitchen bench.
They can be used as decorations.
They’ve had a stint in our Dressing-Up box for imaginative play.
You could use them as bookmarks or as an embellishment when gift-wrapping.

Or you could follow the Bogtrotter’s lead and make daisy chains!

Tune back in next Wednesday for a round-up of the books enjoyed in Week 3 of #26daysofaussiepicturebooks.
Here are the books we enjoyed in Week 1 and Week 2.
See you next Friday for another craft related to Aussie picture books.
In Week 1, we crafted this. In Week 2, we made this.
Have a great week!
May it be filled with great books and lots of craftiness!

Thank you to Walker Books for providing me with a copy of “Bogtrotter.”