DIY Network

Build Your Own Buttons Make the perfect novelty notions. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-313

It's time to BYOB – Build Your Own Buttons – with Michele Beschen. The B. Original host shows how just about anything can turn into a button, with the only real limits being your creativity and the size of your garment.

Scroll down for an easy how-to on creating custom buttons from:

Poker chips...

Wood veneers...

And even slices of cork.

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Build Your Own Buttons

Materials:

poker chips
game pieces
wine corks
buttons for templates
drill or rotary tool with small bit
fine-tooth hand saw
paste wax
various small wood pieces
sharp knife

	Figure A
	Figure B

• Start the button-making extravaganza with the easiest materials: poker chips and/or game pieces. Place the template on top of the chip or piece and simply use the rotary tool to drill the button holes (figure A). Michele Beschen recommends using double-stick tape to hold the button template in place as you drill.

  Safety Alert: Always wear eye protection and use caution when drilling or using any power tool.

• Be aware of what material you're drilling. Some poker chips have metal in the middle; if yours do, make sure you use a drill bit suitable for metals.

• Another method is to slice your buttons from corks. Use a fine-tooth hand saw to slice a piece of cork about 1/8" thick. Smooth the cut edge with a sanding block, drill the button holes and seal the button with paste wax (figure B). Use a rag to apply and buff the wax; Michele Beschen uses three coats of wax on her cork buttons. Clean the wax out of the button holes with a toothpick.

• Browse the hobby shops to find small wooden cutouts to turn into buttons. Biscuits and wood plugs – used in traditional carpentry – also make good buttons. You can jazz up wooden cutout buttons by cutting pieces of veneer to fit and gluing them on with contact cement. Sand, drill and wax after the glue dries.
  

  ALSO IN THIS EPISODE:
  	Button Bracelet
  	Button Wall Art
  	Button Bouquet
  	Build Your Own Buttons