Cute as a Button Bracelet
Spotlight a handful of your favorite buttons, vintage or new, with this easy project.
Just thread them on wire to create a fun, instant-gratification bracelet!
You will need: Round- and flat-nose pliers, wire clippers, an assortment of buttons in the same color family
(I used 11 pink buttons ranging from
2" to ¾" across), 18" of 24-gauge gold craft wire, clasp
1. Design.
Arrange your buttons in a row
so that you like the mix of colors
and sizes.
2. Thread.
Slip the wire through one of the
holes of your first button, back to
front, and hold the button about
6" from one end of the wire. Feed
the working wire through the
opposite hole, pulling it taut so
that the button “sits” where you’ve placed it. Repeat with the next
button, securing it close to the first one. Add more buttons until your
string of wired buttons is about 6" long.
A
B
3. Trim.
Clip the wire ends so they’re each 5"– 6" long. Feed one of the ends
back into the outermost hole of the last button, looping it through to
reinforce it.
4. Loop. C
Grasp the wire just above the button loop with your round-nose pliers,
and make a neat 90° bend there (Figure A). Adjust the round-nose pliers
so they’re gripping to both sides of the wire bend, above and below it.
Use flat-nose pliers to pull the wire tail over the end of the round-nose
pliers and all the way around, creating a circle with a tail of wire still
extending beyond it (Figure B).
D
E
Susan Beal is a writer and crafter in Portland, Ore. This project is excerpted from her new jewelry-making book, Bead Simple,
from Taunton Press. You can find more of her craft projects at
susanbeal.com.
Photograph by Burcu Avsar and Zach DeSart; illustrations by Alexis Hartman
5. Clasp.
Slip the clasp onto the loop (Figure C) and use flat-nose pliers to
hold the circle while gripping the end of the wire tail with round-nose
pliers. Slowly wrap the wire tail around, working from top to bottom,
creating a neat coil (Figure D). Clip the end of the wire flush with the
coil (Figure E), making sure the sharp tip isn’t sticking out — if it is,
use flat-nose pliers to flatten and smooth it into the coil. Repeat on
the other side to add the other half of the clasp.
