Introduction: DIY Button Necklace

By Crafty Creations by AngleAh
About: Hey there! I am a long time artist who has had a focus in many aspects. I started with traditional art, moved to 3d and games, and now I make wearable art out of repurposed and upcycled materials.

Hey everyone! Today I want to share my love for buttons. This necklace is a super fun way to make a necklace in your favorite color and upcycle some of those buttons that you have no idea what to use them for. It's a great way to add a little pop to an outfit with not a lot of effort. Let's get started!

Step 1: Gather Your Tools and Materials

This step is the prepping step. Always good to start out with a good prepping.

The tools and materials you will need for this project are the following:

Box or tin of buttons

Scissors

a camera (a smart phone would work great)

Sharpie

Felt

Hot glue gun

Something to hang it on. A chain or a cord or something like that.

A clasp of some sort to put it on your neck.

plier

Bail plate (optional)

Alright, here we go!

Step 2: What Color and Sorting.

First I would plug in your hot glue gun at this point so it is ready for when you need to start gluing.

Next figure out what color button you want to use and go through the box or tin of buttons you may have and pick out as many as you want of that color.

I chose blue for this tutorial and I am going to create two different sizes for you in the tutorial so you can see how the different sizes can look.

Step 3: Arranging Into the Design.

This step you can take your felt you are using and arrange your buttons on them how you want them to look as a necklace. I chose a complimenting blue felt for my backing just so if it shows through the holes of the buttons, it matches.

Once you have them the way you want, I would take your phone at this point and take a photo of the arrangement. We will have to dismantle it a little in the next step, so you can revert back to the photo you took to make sure you still have them all in the same place.

If you don't have a smart phone or a camera, you can draw around the edges with a sharpie and try and remember where you had them all in your mind when placing them in the next step.

Step 4: Gluing the Buttons Down

Now you will start lifting the buttons up and gluing them on to the felt backing in the arrangement you want. Once you have them all in place, what I like to do it also put a tiny bit of glue under any edges that may be over lapping or along meeting edges that may seem to bend a little when you pick up the pendant. Make it a nice and solid piece anywhere you can. Once you have that done, take your scissors and cut around the buttons. I cut in more in some spots just to make sure the felt doesn't peek out much. Then do any more gluing you need to do to make it nice and solid again.

Now if you are not adding a bail plate which is the next step, you can take your chain or cord and glue it in between the buttons and the felt. Just make sure you have it in the middle of your chain or cord and that you glue it so the pendant will hang how you want it to look when you wear it. Otherwise move to the next step.

Step 5: Adding the Bail Plate (optional)

If you went the route I did with adding a bail plate on the back, you can now go ahead and glue in place. Keep in mind that when you hang it on the chain or cord, how it will balance, so if you put it to one side, it could hang differently that you thought. So make sure you place it so it will hang how you like. Then glue it and let it set.

Step 6: Hanging It on the Chain

Now you just need to add your chain or cord. Take your length of chain or cord you want and if you are adding a clasp, go ahead and add it to one end, string it through the bail if you added one then add the end of the other end of the chain. I do it this way because sometimes the loop that the clasp latches to is too large to string through the bail itself.

Step 7: Done and Done!

Now you are done with your new necklace and you are ready to head out on the town with your amazing button necklace!