I just couldn't wait..

To start playing with the branches I collected recently.  Sunday was a beautiful spring day, so warm it felt like summer.  I spent the afternoon working away in the garden with my husband.. making buttons :)  Gary cut them and drilled them and I sanded them.

Beech and Hawthorn
cut and drilled, ready to sand

After carefully sanding them by hand ..
I love the irregularly shaped ones :)

Hawthorn with bark still on.
The front 2 have a coating of beeswax the others are bare

Beech.. the bark came off these but they still have nice markings round the edges..
these were oiled then waxed

 I really enjoyed our afternoon, quietly working away together in the sunshine :)  The blackthorn stick was rotting inside when we cut it.. but the hawthorn was so lovely we went out and gathered more of those.. and the beech was good too.   I still have masses of buttons to sand..

I realised that I had lost my lovely lavender beeswax furniture polish which I'd planned to use on some of them.. so I made my own :)  By melting beeswax in a double burner, adding olive oil (1 part beeswax to 6 parts olive oil) then tea-tree and lavender essential oils, mixing well and leaving to cool.  It made a firm polish.. for a softer one use more olive oil.

I became slightly obsessed with attacking wooden things with beeswax on Monday.. It led to me sanding down our coffee table top and waxing it.. much to Gary's surprise when he got home from work.  Must say it hasn't looked this good in years :)

I've already used 2 of my hawthorn buttons.. more on that project soon xx