Retrophilia: DIY Button Jewelry

I had acquired a package of various vintage buttons from Hobby Lobby over the summer. I thought they were so beautiful and would make great pieces of jewelry, had they not been buttons.

All Pictures Courtesy of Kathryn Muñoz

I then embarked on a quest to develop a method of turning them into jewelry. I figured it would be an easy task since jewelry making is one of my hobbies, and I have a Girl Scout badge to prove that I'm legit (true story, bad joke).

So without further ado, I will show how these buttons can be turned into a bracelet and pair of earrings. All the pictures used in this post belong to myself.

Bracelet

Here's a look at what you will need:

Buttons
Two pairs of jewelry making pliers
Jump rings
Lobster claw clasp

Directions:

Take a jump ring and open it up with your pliers
Hook the ring to the button loop and close
Link two rings, one on each side, to the original ring on the button
Open another jump ring and hook it to another button. Do not close just yet
Connect the open jump ring on the button to the exterior jump ring on the previous button and close
Repeat process until bracelet is of desired length
Attach a lobster claw clasp at the end

Earrings

Here's what you will need:

Two identical buttons
Two pairs of jewelry making pliers
Sandpaper
Hot glue (or any other strong adhesive)
Flat post earrings

Instructions:

Take the button and push the loop up from the back until the faux pearl piece pops out

Take your pliers and twist the button loop on the faux pearl piece until it tears off.
A jagged stump will be left after the loop is broken. Take a piece of sandpaper and file he back down until remnants of the loop are gone.
Take the faux pearl piece and glue it to the original gold base. Let dry.
Glue your flat back earrings to the back of the gold base. Let dry.