Thursday, June 20, 2013

Tutorials: Five Techniques to Alter Your Buttons

Buttons are spectacular, are they not?  I love how they come in all shapes and sizes these days.  And even if you just buy the cheapy plain-Jane buttons, there are hundreds of ways you can alter them to add your own artistic oomph.  

Here are five of my favorite techniques for altering buttons quickly and easily:

Stamp on Your Buttons


Stamp an image on your button for a whole new look.  This works best on buttons with a flat surface.  The one I used was wood.  If stamping on a plastic button, make sure that you use an ink that won't rub off.

Paint, Stamp and Ink Your Buttons



Don't like the background color of your button?  Add some paint!  Before I painted this white plastic button, I sanded the surface to give it some grit for the paint to stick to.  After I painted it with acrylic paint, I stamped it with a text stamp and inked around the edges for some added dimension.

Heat Emboss Your Buttons



I absolutely love a vintage metallic look and metallic embossing powder is a great way to achieve it!  I rubbed my button on an embossing ink pad, then sprinkled on some metallic embossing powder.  I hit it with my heat gun and when the powder melted to the button, I added some brown and black inks on top to give it an aged look.  You could also cover the whole thing with metallic powder and if you don't dim it with inks, it'll look like a bright shiny silver button.

Doodle on Your Buttons



Why not draw some squiggles or scenes on your button?  I drew a simple wonky spiral shape then painted over it with watercolors.  Be sure to use a waterproof ink for your doodling so it doesn't bleed if you add paint or water.

Add Fabric to Your Buttons


You know how much I love fabric!  It's easy to cover your button with fabric by tracing your button on a piece of fabric, cutting out the circle and gluing it to your button using a heavy duty glue stick or adhesive of your choice.  Poke holes using an awl or other pointy tool.

There are so many ways to spice up those simple buttons!  Whip out your tools and give it a whirl!  It's a great way to personalize something ordinary and truly make it your own!