Frugal Scrapper's Tips 'n Techniques #1

I'm sure you are aware by now that I LOVE to recycle items for use in my paper crafting. With this in mind, I have ended up with a huge amount of buttons from old shirts being discarded...the problem...they are ALL white!

Now I know I could just use the white buttons to decorate my pages, but since I also LOVE to alter items, I was thrilled to discover I could change the color of my buttons with alcohol inks, WHOO HOO!!!!!

On the button shown, I used a Tim Holtz alcohol ink applicator, added a few drops of "lettuce" alcohol ink to the felt and dabbed it on the button. Since the alcohol ink spreads so well, the button was covered with just a few dabs. I also dabbed the color around the sides of the button.

I then added a few drops of "stream" alcohol ink to the applicator, let it dry a bit and dabbed it over the button. By letting the ink dry on the applicator a bit first, I was able to get the spotted effect as shown.

It is best to add the light color first so that it holds its color better.

I also find myself using rhinestones on my projects and have wondered why the rhinestones are not readily available in colors...most that I find are clear...lucky for me, I have found that this technique also works on rhinestones. As shown, I added the same colors of alcohol ink to clear rhinestones and got similar results.

On the rhinestones, I did add the "stream" alcohol ink first, so you may notice when I added the "lettuce", the color appears a bit darker than it did on the button.

I really like the effect on both items. Since Alcohol inks are perfect for use on non-porous surfaces, this technique also works on brads, acrylic, glass, etc.