Button Trays

A few weeks ago, I saw a post on someone's blog in which a button design patterned paper was used to line the bottom of a tray. When I saw it, I immediately thought of the 30,000 or so buttons I have stashed in my room. I used many of the older buttons that belonged to my grandmother who removed them from every piece of clothing before it finally hit the rag bag. She NEVER through anything away until it had been used to the point of disintegration.
With my project in mind, I started looking for an inexpensive wooden tray in which to adhere my buttons. After attaching the buttons to the bottom of the tray with Diamond Glaze, I allowed them to dry completely. Then I poured a coat of casting resin over the whole thing so that the buttons were completely covered. I actually made two of these trays because I knew that if I liked the result, I would want one too. I will be taking one to my friend and co-worker who has a bit of a button fettish. I told her I was going to bring her some of my button collection on Thursday, she just doesn't know that they are attached to the tray. Here are a couple more shots of the trays.