DIY: Make Your Own Buttons with Sculpey or Shrinky Dinks!

You can make your own buttons??  You heard me right! Trust me, I was just as excited as you are when I made the realization that yes, indeed, you can make your own buttons to adorn whatever project you choose. Think of the possibilities!! You just need a few simple supplies and an oven. Easy peasey. You'll be a button-makin' machine before you can say "whose got the button"!

Buttonbuttonbutton. Don't think I've said 'button' enough yet. Button.

Two weeks ago, my dear friend Becca from Halfway to Hipster came over to hang with me. We had a smashing crafternoon, and I thought I'd share with you all the efforts of our activities! And give you a few instructions so you can jump on the button wagon with us.

You'll need:
-An oven
-Some Sculpey (or other oven-bake clay) in any color you desire (I did white so I can paint them later)
-Some Shrinky Dink plastic
-Sharpies, watercolors, colored pencils, or other art-devices to color on your Shrinky Dinks
-Scissors
-Hole punch
-A toothpick or skewer

Becca got clever and stuck some buttons to a newspaper to lift the ink and get a cool wordy effect

 For Scupley Buttons:
 Pinch off a little nubbin of clay. Work in in your fingers until it gets soft. Form it carefully into a ball, then flatten it onto some wax paper with your thumb. Rub out as many thumbprints as you can (or leave them for a very rustic look) and poke as many holes as you want into your button with a toothpick. Flip the button over and make the holes clean on the other side as well. Follow the direction on the clay package to bake your button, let it cool and admire your work!

You can get really crazy with the size, shape, texture, and hole placement on these buttons. Be wild!

Becca made some cat buttons!!!!

 For Shrinky Dink Buttons:

Trace a circle approximately 2" in diameter. Cut it out , and go nuts with decorating the button. When you are done, punch some holes with your hole puncher (standard size hole punch results in perfect button holes). Bake your Shrinky Dinks according to the directions on your package. I love to act like a small child and sit on the floor of the kitchen to watch them shrink. MAGIC YO.

All my Shrinky Dink buttons I did with watercolors. They turned out so spiffy! I prefer the way they look from the "wrong" (aka, shiny) side of the button once shrunk. So vibrant!

The blue one looks super cool in person, but crappy on my camera

 A quick disclaimer, I have no idea how these buttons stand up in the washing machine. My bet is you should PROBABLY handwash any project you use these on.

Nekkid buttons! Can't wait to paint them.

Are you going to make some buttons??