Button Flower Tutorial

Are you ready to turn some of those old buttons into flowers? Grab some floral wire (or any wire that will fit through button holes and twist easily), some large glass beads and a handful of buttons, and let's get started.

This craft is fun to do with a BIG selection of buttons of all different sizes, shapes, and colors - the more buttons to choose from the better. As far as wire is concerned, my favorite is 18 or 20 gauge green floral wire cut to 18" lengths. Chenille stems or any other type of wire will also work, but anything much thinner than 20 gauge might not support the weight of bigger button flowers.

Now let's pick out some buttons!

The buttons you use don't have to be perfect. Scuffs and scratches tend to add character to the finished flowers. Choose at least two or more buttons of various sizes that will stack nicely on top of each other. The large white button is 1", the blue button is 3/4", and the small orange button is 1/2".

Begin by bending the piece of wire exactly in half. For this flower, I'm adding a large glass bead (you can pick up a bag of assorted colors at most craft stores) since the button on top is flat, it adds a bit more color and helps to hide the wire.

Next, start threading the buttons onto the wire, making sure that the RIGHT side of the button faces towards the TOP of the flower. When working 4 holed buttons, be sure to thread them on the wire through two opposite holes (see photo above) to keep the spacing even. After threading all the buttons on, turn the flower over and twist the ends of the wire together.

Here's another button flower using a small shank button for the center of the flower instead of a glass bead.

Three buttons that stack nicely together, the top one being a small shank button.

Again, first bend the piece of wire in half. Then start by threading the shank button onto the wire, followed by the other buttons. Be sure the RIGHT side of the buttons are facing the top of the flower.

When the buttons are all threaded onto the wire, turn the flower over and twist the wire together.

You can stack as few or as many buttons to make a flower, and you'll find that this is a VERY addictive craft. Before you know it you'll have a whole bouquet!

There are lots of ways to display your button flowers in a bouquet. Try using a container like this old, small drink shaker with holes in the top - the holes support the flowers and space them out. You can also use old spice jars (like the restaurant shakers for pepper flakes or cheese) or even salt shakers to display smaller button flowers. Twisting or taping a big bouquet together before putting them in a wider mouthed jar seems to work best to hold them together. That's how I arranged the flowers in the photo at the top of the page; I arranged them in my hand first, then twisted wire around the stems to hold them all together before placing them into an old spice jar filled with small buttons.

I hope you give this craft a try, it is a GREAT way to use up your stray buttons!