Wondering what to do with all those green buttons? Me too.
This craft uses a similar technique that children would use when learning to lace. These are so elegant…yet a child could make them! Yay!
HEad over to the Factory Direct blog for directions.
Comments
Have you read?
Books About Bugs Through the Seasons
Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.
Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.
The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.
It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.
About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.
Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).
It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.
This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.
I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.
Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.
About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.
Cute project and nice Factory Direct Craft has a nice web site. Wreath looks pretty easy. I think this will be perfect for my Girl Scout troop ornament project! A tip I have is you can dye buttons any color you want. Sort of messy but I do it with rit dye. Put the buttons and dye in a pan (probably one you don’t care about) then heat up the buttons something about the heat expands the plastic of the buttons and the buttons then soak up the dye. Want darker buttons just heat longer. Just a tip if you don’t have the right color button.
Thank you for posting my blog! Missy what a great idea about how to get the buttons the color you would like. I have never tried this but I may have to now! Although, I think covering myself in plastic wrap may be in order because I KNOW I would have it all over me! =)