Last year I had a go at some button art pictures, and now that Annabelle is older and interested in staying focused for a little longer she has been making some of her own!
We started out our button adventure when we made ‘lion mask’ from an interesting piece of cardboard packaging. I can’t remember where this cardboard circle came from, but I kept it because I knew we could use it for something! In my head, I had a vague plan to make some sort of hat, but Annabelle picked it up one evening and said “Look, a mask! Tomorrow, we should make this into a lion!” Silly Mummy, of course it’s a mask not a hat!
I kept my promise and in the morning we thought about what we would need to make a mask. Annabelle told me that her lion should be orange and yellow so we searched out all our best orange and yellow ‘crafty bits’ and got glueing!
Annabelle coloured the face first with glitter crayons, then used some wool for his “hair” and snipped up some glittery strips for “sparkly hair”. I was really impressed that she knew exactly where to put the mane, nose, mouth and whiskers without any help – she is just beginning to draw faces with features but she obviously knows where to put these features when she can represent them in other ways!
We used buttons to make a nose and mouth, then Annabelle decided that actually, lions need lots and lots of buttons under their mouths so that’s what it got!
We finished the lion off with some whiskers and string to keep it on, and Annabelle set of roaring around the house!
RAH!!!
After her fabulous mask, Annabelle was keen to have a go at more button pictures, so I thought we could try out an idea I had a while ago – a button tree.
We decided to use a canvas to make our picture ‘really posh’! I drew an outline for Annabelle to paint inside (she added plenty of her own additions too!) and once it was dry she arranged some green buttons for leaves and pink for blossom.
I glued the buttons on myself using a hot glue gun. I know some people let their little ones use a glue gun but not me, not just yet! I explained this to Annabelle, and showed her how the glue gun works. She watched carefully from the safety of her desk!
Annabelle was so pleased that she asked to make another tree straight away for Grandma (Grandma is very good at painting and She and Annabelle have a little art exchange programme going on!) so this time we made a tree with red buttons for apples.
Our last little project was a button butterfly for Annabelle’s nursery. She had asked to make a picture so we chatted about what kind of picture she could make, and she decided on a butterfly to take into nursery because she has just moved into the ‘butterfly room’. She suddenly announced. “Yes Mummy, we can make a butterfly with buttons and I’ll take it into nursery for a present, and we’ll wrap it up in paper. OK then?”
I had my orders so we got cracking! I have several button pictures on my Pinterest board, so I showed Annabelle and we talked about what kind of butterfly to make. She decided that she would like round wings, and ‘mixed up colours’. Again, I drew an outline and she filled it in. Her favourite bit was filling in the gaps with the cute tiny buttons!
She added the two hearts herself “One for Mummy, one for Annabelle”!
I love how creative and confident Annabelle is getting, and I am so grateful to the wonders of Pinterest for inspiring us!!
That is so lovely, she is a really clever girl