Making buttons

There have been all sorts of tiny knitting projects happening around here as Baby Smiley Finger's arrival nears. Have I mentioned this name before? Yes, this is what our son has named our small soon-to-be family member, he or she. He said it, it stuck. Smiley Finger it is. Anyway, one of these tiny knitting projects required tiny buttons which I didn't have. Instead of running to the store we hunted around the yard for a stick that would be small enough in diameter to fit through some little button holes and then cut out the number we needed with one of Owen's saws. His tools and tool bench really come in handy around here, and not just for him. Some sanding, some drilling, some light polishing, and Ta DA we have buttons! It was a fun and fast project, not to mention useful. There are some tutorials out there on the web. In fact, this one is about exactly how we made ours with only a few exceptions.

Unrelated:

The night before last I watched No Impact Man. It's a documentary about a family that spends a year trying to do what they can to minimize the impact they have on the earth. I found it to be very inspiring as I often do with stories such as these. I always feel a renewed commitment to reducing our family's consumption in whatever small ways make sense for us. Watching this also led me to something I had watched about a year ago that I found quite impressive which is called The Story of Stuff. It's a 20 minute film, and in my humble opinion, definitely worth checking out.