Jumbo Junk Journal [Pt 6]: Adventures in Button Making

Final part of project JJJ...

It appears that I've had a fascination with buttons during my time here, dating back to 2014.

In 2018, I featured an idea for making big buttons out of fabric and Peltex for decorative purposes.

In the years that followed, I put buttons to use on hair combs and zipper pulls, then finally used them as bag feet.

So I suppose it was not surprising that when I saw a video from Treasure Books demonstrating how to make cardboard buttons out of various paper and fabric, my interest was piqued once more.

Cardboard button...

Crafter extraordinaire Natasa had made sixty-nine of these over a period of just a couple of days (all while under the weather yet). I was intrigued, but it wasn't my intention to come anywhere near her level of production.

I turned my button into a altered paperclip...

As it turned out, this most recent foray into the world of buttons was eventually filled with frustratingly funny failures... that I was mostly able to fix.

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I started with the best of intentions, gathering images from a magazine I was about to discard and feeling rather accomplished about making use of it before tossing it into the recycling bin.

Potential button images from magazine pages...

Other materials I harvested from included a colouring page, the remains of a tote bag commemorating our local library's 100th anniversary (which for some reason – odd choice for a book bag – had the skimpiest paper-like handles that I ever saw, that had ripped apart) and remnants from a roll of wallpaper border. Fabric scraps were also on deck for me to try, but since I had done a previous project – the wall art – with fabric, using it here wasn't a priority.

Either way, it didn't take long for a couple of issues to arise that caused me to shut down the button assembly line.

See the blue skyline button in the picture below? I used a regular office handheld hole punch to put that hole at the edge. The implement, however, is not long enough to get near the centre of the circle for me to punch holes that would make the thing resemble a button, like the colouring page button in the middle of the picture. (I had suspected that would be the case.)

These were the start of my button making...

For that one, I had to make the holes manually, which naturally did not produce the same clean look as a hole punch, but since I eventually installed eyelets into them, it didn't matter. But here's the thing — I only had two sets of black eyelets. When I put my gold and silver toned eyelets down on the faux buttons, they didn't pop in the same way as the black ones did.

I was therefore left with a conundrum: 1) buy more black eyelets to continue with the project, or 2) find another way to make clean holes (which then wouldn't necessarily require eyelets), or 3) reposition the holes and turn this into another project altogether.

At that point, I stopped to think more about what my objective was with these.

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Natasa had a second video showing how to use the gorgeous buttons that she had made. On my part, I knew that I wasn't about to make them to sell. My junk journal also had something decorative on its spine, and it already had a pretty nifty closure, so none of those proposed uses applied.

I had to consider if my fascination with these buttons had any actual end purpose?

Reverse side of my "successful" button turned altered paperclip...

All wasn't lost, because I liked the idea of using a button as an altered paperclip at the top of a page. I also figured that if I made a smaller button, I'd be able to get in there with my hole punch, since an alternative tool that I had thought might work didn't pan out.

But how many altered paperclips did I want or need? (And what about the super cool factor of the really big buttons?)

Then, as it turned out... what if I don't want holes punched into the button at all??

Let me explain my madness.

I wanted this image on the back to stay visible...

Turns out I had two other problems with the holes. The first (as demonstrated above) is: what if there's an image that I want to be clearly seen? In this particular case, it's already pretty small; adding holes and then threading something through them would hide the candles.

Secondly, for me, my junk journal requirements involve creating usable space on various ephemera. At this point, anything that I add to this already jumbo journal would have to be functional – i.e., a surface to write or doodle on – as opposed to being merely decorative. Therefore, buttons with actual holes in them wouldn't serve much purpose in my journal, even if I left one side "plain".

A colouring page circle...

Here's an example of where one side of the (potential) button features an image that I can colour. I suppose if I had more black eyelets, it would make a decent button, just like the one that I actually completed.

It was then that I had an epiphany: what if I simply created the illusion of holes? And then just add them to one side, so that I can keep the colouring page side for me to doodle on?

... that is a (faux) button on the reverse side!

Ta da! A simple template + a broad tipped black marker = an instant "button face". This is now something that can be easily slipped into a journal pocket that has both a functional and decorative purpose.

The illusion of a button is good enough for me!

I was so jazzed that I immediately put fake holes on my small altered paperclip (the one with the candles on the reverse). By the way, you can see how a couple of well positioned staples is an easy way to keep a paperclip in place.

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Now... back to the problem of the big buttons. 

I had gone ahead during my original effort to make two CD sized circles, each backed by the wallpaper border roll. (The remnant came from an office that hubby and I decorated ourselves when we moved our business from one location to another.) The reverse sides were finished off with a colouring page piece and a scrap from the tote bag, respectively.

Eventually to be turned into a ceiling mobile...

When I realized I had no way of punching holes anywhere close to a location to make these appear like buttons, I decided to turn the whole thing into a ceiling mobile. (Remember my option to "turn this into another project altogether"? Plus, Natasa also demonstrated this use with her supply of buttons.) All I'd need to do was punch a couple of holes along the top and bottom edge.

Well, the thickness of the two big circles proved to be too much for my handheld hole punch and the amount of strength my hands were capable of exerting to use it. Argghh!

A more successful button project (these are still on my wall)...

With the benefit of hindsight, I would have punched holes along the way as I added each layer. (Or, if I wanted to add grommets/eyelets to the mix, I could use a steel punch and a hammer to put holes in these.) As it sits, it's a project for another day... I'm done with buttons for now.

This series on junk journaling is also done. I've determined that any further journal making won't come anywhere near to eclipsing the freedom of expression and creativity that I had making this first one.

I don't want this to grow into something unmanageable...!

Therefore, per my expectations when I started the project, it's a one-time deal. While I was still actively adding elements to the journal, I found myself keeping this, that and those for the purpose of "doing" something with them. I managed to keep most of the materials in a single container (photo above), but the idea of becoming a pack rat – even if for the noble purpose of reusing and recycling – started to make me nervous. I love my completed junk journal and it serves an important purpose in my daily life, but I'm not about to start making more of them "just because."

It's time to refocus on sewing something! (Oh, and Happy Canada Day weekend to my fellow Canadians!)

'Til next...