Button Christmas Tree

What to do with all those buttons you've been saving?  Well, how about a Christmas tree!  I love this tree because it straddles the line between old fashioned and modern.  I can think of a zillion variations based on what kind of buttons you have.  It's also very easy, a big plus in my book.  Here's how I did it.MATERIALSArtist canvasFabric to cover canvasSpray glueCircle template (optional)ChalkPencilPaintPaintbrushRibbon (optional)Embroidery thread or yarn (optional)ButtonsCraft glueCut your fabric large enough to cover the canvas and the sides.  Cover the canvas and sides with spray glue.  Lay the fabric on the canvas carefully pressing out any bubbles.  Wrap it around the sides. Treat the corners like you were making a bed.  You can secure the extra fabric on the back of the canvas with more spray glue or I just used masking tape to neatly hold everything down in the back.Lightly, with a piece of chalk, draw out the shape of your tree.Using the circle template (or any round objects you have) start filling in the tree with circles using a pencil.  Choose circles that are mostly the size of your buttons with a few interspersed that are slightly larger and slightly smaller.  Start with the three corners and spread along the edges towards the center.  Don't fill in everything completely, leave some areas void of circles for the fabric to show through.  Then skip to the center of the tree and do some more circle clusters here and there.  Play around with it until you get something you like.Using the paint and paint brush fill in about half the circles, making sure you include the ones that were larger and smaller than your actual buttons.  I used two colors in my blue tree, but for my smaller red one, I just used white. Once they've dried, go back through and glue on buttons to the remaining circles.  I place all of my buttons on the circles before glueing and then moved them around until I was happy with the color placement, then I went back through and glued them all down with a drop of glue.  Take a dry paint brush and brush away your chalk line.When your done, free hand paint a little tree trunk.For the JOY banner, take a piece of ribbon and stitch the letters using embroidery thread or yarn.  Cut it to the desired length and then Mod Podge the front and back.  Lay it on a piece of wax paper or tinfoil to let it dry.  I draped mine over two pencils to have a rippled effect.  Once it's dry, attach it to the canvas with a few drops of glue.Enjoy.