Easy Button Christmas Tree Craft

Here's how to make an adorable picture frame Christmas button tree in no time with this simple craft.

It's an easy DIY, makes a great gift or a sweet home decor accent.

It's a well known fact that Christmas is my favorite time to craft.

Well, second favorite, really.

Summer is my favorite time to...well, to do everything. Period.

Island life revolves around the beach, you know.

But even in summer, toes in the sand and iced tea in my hand, I'm crafting for Christmas.
In fact, I love combining my two favorite seasons with a little Christmas in July.

You see, in recent years, I've decided to simplify my decor. I've ditched most of my accessories in favor of clean surfaces and open space.

I still have a fair amount of treasures peppered about, but unless it's a sentimental piece or something so darling it steals my heart, nope. It's all been sent away.

Of course, Christmas is the one exception.

It's that time of year when excess reigns supreme and I loosen the rules just a bit...I add a few new handcrafted items. Not necessarily because I love stuff, but because I enjoy the process of making stuff.

That's how I ended up with my cute little button Christmas tree. I just wanted to make one.



Years ago, I saw one framed in a Christmas shop and I've been promising myself I would do this ever since. It's been on my list almost as long as my macaroni angel ornaments ~ twenty years for two crafts?

Yikes.

Too long.

I tried to add a button tree to my placemat apron a few weeks ago, but it didn't work out.

The tree was too sweet to abandon though, so I took a picture of it and started thinking about where I could put it.


Then, during a crazy cleaning fit that struck during Christmas decorating, I came across this old picture frame. I found it at Marshall's years ago in the clearance aisle.

I think it was supposed to have a clip on it to attach a photo, but it had fallen off.

Hence the price.


I bought it, knowing that it was structurally sound and that one day I would be able to do something with it.

As soon as I spied it in the back of my craft closet, I knew.


It would be the perfect backdrop for my DIY Christmas tree forest of one.

Of course, it needed a little sprucing...pardon the pun.

How To Make A Christmas Button Tree

If you don't have frame like mine, no worries at all. You can use an old piece of wood and add a frame back to it or you can use a regular picture frame. The ones at the dollar store would be perfect. 

Remove the glass and cover the cardboard in a muted fabric like burlap or a piece of rustic looking scrapbook paper.

Oh...and if you want to make a cute button tree gift tag or place card, you could modify this craft and just use much smaller buttons. 

Lots of charming options with this craft...but back to mine.

The area where the clip had been was missing paint and chipped.

The frame was supposed to be distressed, but this was not attractive.

Plus, I knew that my buttons were not going to show up well against the black finish, so I grabbed cream craft paint and a brush and got to work.


I didn't prime, I didn't sand, in fact, I didn't even get a container to put the paint in.

I simply squirted some onto the piece and started painting. It took two coats to get the look I wanted and yes, I did let the first coat dry before I applied the second.


You can see that even with two coats, the black still came through, which is what I wanted. However there was enough coverage to let the green buttons pop. Excellent.

If you want to decorate your clip frame further you can add a stencil, like I did in spring.

Time to get to that tree!


Deciding on a tree shape was the best part.

I played around with the buttons for awhile.

With Rudolph singing his way though the North Pole in the background, I moved different buttons around, swapping out shapes, sizes and colors until I found a design I was pleased with.

I used craft buttons, however, if you have buttons from a special collection, that would be so cool. Your craft would be a sentimental treasure, as well.


Then I got out the only power tool I'm comfortable with...my glue gun...and started gluing down each button, one at a time.

Once I had the tree form in place, I added a few tiny red buttons on top of the green "branches" as ornaments. You didn't think I was going to be able to craft without any red at all did you?

I've tried before. Just can't be done.

It's a compulsion, I know.


With my buttons glued in place, I thought it might be nice to add a little bit of snow to accent my button tree. But how?

Well, as luck would have it, I had a snowflake stamp in my collection. It was the subtle accent I craved.

I mapped it out on a piece of scrap first, to make sure I knew where I wanted to place my precipitation. I didn't want to take any chances messing up my pretty tree.


To add them, I used a paint brush to apply a tiny bit of paint to the stamp and then lightly pressed on my frame. I just wanted the hint of snow...an accent.

And I think I achieved that.

I did look for a button that would make a good tree trunk and I almost found one in my mom's old collection...it even smelled like her perfume, which made it a strong sentimental contender.

But hard as I tried to make it work, it didn't look right, so I added a little bit of twine and called it a day.


Totally adorable.

Super simple, super inexpensive, super quick.

And super fun to make.

Even if it isn't summer.

🎄

Are you a Christmas crafter?

Merry Christmas Crafting, Friends!