Once I had decided to do lots of embellishment techniques on the tree, I started to think about what I could use. I came up with three areas: buttons, beads, and brads.
Buttons: I have a jar of buttons from my mother-in-law with some lovely vintage buttons in it. I was inspired by my friend Marlene who has many lovely vintage buttons to look there for some items. I found, as you can see, some lovely textured gold buttons that are a perfect size for the larger gold balls.
I also found the wonderful rhinestone button pictured above and decided to make that my tree topper. It isn’t a star shape but it’s big and bold, so it will be added.
Beads: In the button jar were a couple of small teardrop pearls and a tiny pearl button. I’m adding them. I also decided to try Kreinik’s Hot Fix crystals, so I ordered some of them.
Brads: Trips to the craft store have gotten me interested in brads for needlepoint. Used primarily for scrapbooking, brads come in many styles. Because I’m stitching over the stars I think leaving an intersection of two open will allow me to add these. They come in lots of styles.
While I could have done many things, I’m sticking mostly to the silver and gold color combination.
Now on to the stitching to create a realistic background for all this “stuff.”
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
Leave a Reply