There are only four things you need to start a button making project:

1 – A button press (also called a button machine or button maker)
2 – A circle cutter
3 – Some button making supplies for the appropriate button sizes you desire
4 – The right kind of paper for button making

Then, once you have the supplies, there are only three steps after that. (See…the further along you go, the fewer steps you have, and the easier it gets!)

1 – Design your buttons – this can be done by hand or on a computer using ready-made button design graphics. Plus, you can make buttons from graphics that you cut out from printed material like books, photos, and magazines. The options here are endless. You can embroider fancy fabric covered buttons or take a family picture and make photo buttons, for instance. 

2 – Cut out your graphics using a circle cutter.

3 – Place the button supplies (shell, back, graphic, and mylar) into their appropriate dies. Then just pull the handle twice and you’re done!

And guess what? Only 2 steps after that! (See…from 4, to 3, to 2…easy as could be.)

1 – Figure out what you are going to do with your new buttons. Fundraiser? Button Business? Campaign promotion? Church promotion? 

2 – Then plot your next button making rendezvous. ☺

Making buttons is an engaging and entertaining experience, made all the more enjoyable by the fact that you end up with useful products once you are done. Whether you are looking to fundraise for a cause you believe in, promote a campaign, or show support for a person, band, or team, buttons are a terrific solution.

In this article, we are going to highlight three fun and useful types of buttons, each of which make button making a truly joyful and productive pastime.

Fabric Buttons

A number of different attachments, such as a keychain, zipper pull, or cell phone charm can turn any button into a personalized novelty item. This is especially useful for embroidery shops, which can make a personalized fabric button to accessorize any item. There are a number of backs that can be used with a fabric button. While some prefer a pinback to decorate a purse or to wear on clothing, a jacket, or a hat, others might want a more versatile back.

Snap-Inz shoe charms are used to turn a fabric button into a shoe charm to decorate Croc shoes. These charms can be glued to the back of a button and simply snapped into place through the holes on the Croc shoes. Another use for fabric buttons is as a ponytail holder. This can be accomplished with a special button back that has an eyelet to run a ponytail elastic through. Other specialty kits can include button bracelets and necklaces, as well as pacifier clips (paci-clip) and keychains.

Pinback Buttons

Pinback buttons have a variety of uses, and both fabric buttons and photo buttons overlap into this category. But one specific use for pinback buttons is promoting bands.

Pinback buttons have been in use for a number of years and some are quite popular as collector’s items, especially for independent bands. A number of rock bands in the 70’s sold 1-inch pinback buttons with the band’s logo or name. The tradition of buttons for bands has increased as more and more bands search for cheap ways to promote and advertise themselves, an album, a show, or even a particular song. Additionally, many bands have evolved to use more than just 1-inch buttons for promotional purposes. Refrigerator magnets, medallions, and earrings have also become popular because of how easy they are to produce.

The most cost-effective method for how to promote your band through promotional buttons will depend on how many buttons are desired. If you only want a very small amount for a one-time promotion, ordering the buttons for bands from a custom button making retailer can be a decent option. However, what the vast majority of bands are finding out is that a small portion of gate receipts from one show can allow them to invest in a 1-inch button maker and a circle cutter, and this offers bands the ability to create and customize their own pinback buttons for different shows and albums.

Photo Buttons

Photo buttons have a wide variety of uses, and most of them seem to revolve around parents making photo buttons with pictures of their kids. In fact, if you’ve been to one high school sporting event in your life, there is no doubt you have seen exuberant parents proudly displaying their sons and daughters with a photo button.

In fact, any high school athletic department would be wise to look into photo buttons as a way to help raise funds.

Photo buttons are typically made with 2-1/4 inch, 3 inch, and 3-1/2 inch buttons. The two larger sizes are widely used because you have a much larger canvas to work with. This allows you to put the student-athlete’s picture on the photo button and then customize the text. A 2-1/4″ button gets a little a crowded with a much smaller picture. For circular photo buttons, circle cutters are a great way to get the picture sized perfectly.

The typical sports photo button costs about a nickel to make and most athletic departments of photo vendors who produce the buttons for the schools can charge anywhere from $5-$8. This is a pretty significant profit margin. And the more you make and sell, the cheaper the overall cost becomes.

So, as you can see, the possibilities with buttons are endless. We’ve only scratched the surface of the many uses for fabric buttons, pinback buttons, and photo buttons. The moral of the story is simple though: with your own button machine and supplies, the whole wide wonderful world buttons is open to you; and you limited only by your own creativity.

So in this post, we are going to quickly outline the five button making supplies you need to get started:

1 – First, obviously you need a button making machine.   This should not come as a surprise, unless you have an uncanny ability for turning your hands into rotating dies and can then press the button parts together with some part of your head.  Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

The question is, which button maker is right for you?  You can get a standard button machine and have a variety of size chooses or to pick from; or, if you are looking to make fabric buttons, you can get a fabric button machine that is specially made for creating fabric-covered buttons.

2 – Once you have your button machine, the next thing you need to consider is parts and supplies. Obviously if you buy a 1″ button machine, you need parts that fit a 1″ button machine.  If you have a 1.5″ button machine, you need parts to fit that size, and so on.  Find a merchant who has a variety of button supplies for all types and sizes and get the ones that are appropriate for you.

3 – A circle cutter is probably going to be your next consideration.  There are three different types of circle cutters: adjustable circle cutters, punch cutters, and high volume paper cutters.  Make sure you choose the one that fits your needs and level of button making sophistication.

4 – Next, the question is how will you design your graphics?  You can certainly create and customize your own graphics using programs like Photoshop, but some button merchants actually provide free graphics and design CDs when you purchase one of their complete button making systems.  American Button Machines, for instance, does this.  When you purchase a button making system of any size or type, the good folks at ABM actually throw in Artistic Creations CDs on the house.  Talk about making button making easy!

5 – Finally, this isn’t really a supply, but more of a suggestive hint: you need to know what you are doing!  While it is very easy to learn how to make buttons, and anyone can truly do it, it never hurts to have a little bit of help along the way.  American Button Machines has many resources and videos on their website that assist in the process of learning how to make buttons.  Even better, they have start a blog called The Button Blog that provides regular hints, tricks, and tutorials for how to make buttons, and then excellent ideas for what to use buttons for once they are made.  Also, most places will send an instructional CD along with your new button maker.  ABM includes theirs for free!

With these five supplies and ideas in mind, you are read to spread your wings and fly out into the wonderful world of buttons!