Monday, May 10, 2010

Whose Got the Button?

After I had my first baby I needed to find a hobby for myself. I didn't know what to do, so my husband and I went on a date to the library and walked the aisles of books. I found a book on wire wrapping and jewelry making. This started me on a new adventure. We were living in the Portland, Oregon area at the time, and I searched out bead stores all around town. I spent the next months exploring the many bead stores while toting my new little baby in a front carrier; it's a miracle we made it through all the stores without a disaster!

With a few basic tools and techniques you can make something really awesome and personal. Last year, I came across a book all about making jewelry with buttons. I thought it would be fun to make mom and daughter button bracelets. I love the sweet colors of the chic-a-dee buttons, they remind me of fruity mentos and rainbow sherbet.


For my daughter's bracelet, I used clear elastic thread from the beading section of the craft store. I looped the thread through the button holes a few times, adding the colors at random. I did try to keep big buttons on one side and small on the other. Tess has such a tiny wrist I only made her bracelet about four inches long. When I found the right length, I double knotted the string together and sealed the knot with a little clear nail polish.



I wanted my mom version to feel like a charm bracelet. To create the bracelet, I used some metal chain from the beading section of the craft store and added a lobster claw to one end with a jump ring. Super easy. I gathered up my chic-a-dee buttons, some coordinating beads, and head pins to make my charms. With my pliers I bent the end of the head pins and wrapped them to attach my charms to the metal chain.



These bracelets are super fun to make and the colors scream pretty and playful.

5 comments:

Monika Wright | I Love It All said...

I have all these supplies on hand, so I am adding this to my list of projects to keep Summertime 2010 a fun 2 months for my girls!

Scrapamum said...

Gorgeous!

Kathy Martin said...

You gotta love all you can do with buttons! Love the colors you used for your bracelets! :)

Janell said...

Wow, that's really cute. I never would have thought to use buttons for a bracelet.

Hilde Aaslund aka Scoobie said...

These are just super cute! TFS :-)

 

newsletter | shop sei

Free Blog Counter

Pin It button on image hover