this year's christmas card

I procrastinated long enough and finally began making my Christmas cards this past weekend.  I thought my idea was oh-so clever until I actually sat down and realized how much work they were going to be.  Needless to say I got a little scared and nervous, but after figuring out what worked best I began the task and finished the main part - the front.  Here is a (brief) photo documentation of this year's card.

This is how it all began.  I organized the buttons into piles of six (three large, two medium, and a small) in a box that came from a case of cans (seltzer to be exact - the Sodastream is on our Christmas list so we can stop producing can and bottle waste).  Initially I began making piles on a towel, but this turned out to work much better.  The stiffness of the box trumped the flimsy towel, and made it much easier to move around. 

I sewed the buttons on by hand with a needle and thread.  I initially wanted to sew each one on individually, but ended up beginning in the bottom left corner, then moved to the bottom middle, then the bottom right, then the middle right, middle left, then the top.  Can you figure out what I am trying to make yet? 

They are beginning to get done.  This is a side view of my rows and rows of cards - only a few more to go.  Will it ever be over?  I pricked my fingers a number of times.  I thought about wearing a thimble (which would have looked super hot), but some of the buttons were so small that it wouldn't have worked.

The fronts are officially done.  I made my own button interpretation of a Christmas Tree (or Winter Evergreen Tree for those that do not celebrate Christmas) on forty cards.  Now all I have to do is find the perfect quote or saying for the inside and decide whether or not I want to print the address on the envelopes or handwrite them.  My options are truly endless...