Monday, August 23, 2010

button bobby pins

Inspired by the fellow farmer's market vendor who made these flower hairpins (she also made some with antique button on them), I embarked on a simple and fun project last week.

I looked through my collection of antique and vintage buttons and picked out some of the prettiest.

Then I gave them a good bath in warm water and mild soap. For some reason my great-grandma stored a tiny sample tin of moisturizing (greasy) hand salve with her buttons. It was in a cute little tin , but over time some of the contents leaked out and combined with dust to make an icky coating on the buttons.

Then I attached the buttons to bobby pins with a few stitches and secured them with super glue. And voila! I have an assortment pretty bobby pins for pinning back my bangs during the 25-50% of the time I don't like them. I love the vintage button pins. I thought about giving some of them away, but I'm not sure if I actually will...

Update: Please note that using the dab of super glue that I recommend will make your button and bobby pin inseparable friends for life. One commenter suggests using hot glue instead, which would probably yield more temporary results. I have an unreasonable aversion to hot glue, so I'd rather use super glue, but you might not, so there you have it. : )
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43 comments:

  1. Laura RailingMonday, August 23, 2010 8:23:00 PM

    Great idea! It's hard to get used to bangs when you haven't had them huh? I often just want mine out of the way. That is a cute idea when you just want them off your face. :-)

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  2. DebiTuesday, August 24, 2010 7:05:00 AM

    Soooo cute!

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  3. AnonymousTuesday, August 24, 2010 4:02:00 PM

    I love reading your blog!

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  4. schullerfamilyWednesday, August 25, 2010 9:13:00 AM

    LOVE EM!

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  5. stefaniThursday, June 30, 2011 8:50:00 PM

    Very cute! :-)

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  6. DeannaSaturday, July 30, 2011 7:23:00 AM

    What a great idea!

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  7. UnknownTuesday, August 02, 2011 9:47:00 AM

    Perfect! I have a box of buttons that belonged to my great aunt. I'm starting to play around with vintage hairstyles too. These will go great together.

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  8. UnknownSaturday, August 06, 2011 9:16:00 PM

    what a great Idea I recently acquired a huge bag of vintage buttons, so I have been looking for ideas. I love how simple this one is! Thanks for sharing.

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  9. EllensCreativePassageFriday, August 12, 2011 5:47:00 PM

    Very cute!!

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  10. Rachel (Lines across my face)Friday, August 12, 2011 6:06:00 PM

    These are gorgeous. The buttons are also especially unique. I just wanted to let you know that I am featuring this on a button-themed craft post at Lines Across My Face.
    :) Rachel
    http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/08/cute-as-button-amazing-button-crafts.html

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  11. AnonymousTuesday, August 16, 2011 12:57:00 AM

    Fantastic idea! You've inspired me make use of all the random buttons collected over the years

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  12. christan peronaTuesday, August 16, 2011 4:23:00 AM

    These are so simple and classy. I absolutely love them and will love them in my daughter's hair.

    You have a beautiful blog.

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  13. AnonymousThursday, August 25, 2011 4:17:00 PM

    Hey :)
    Never thought about that but will always until i do it now, such a cool idea :D

    (BTW it's actually "Voilà" and not "viola" - that last one isn't a such pretty word in french :P)

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  14. Kids craft ideasMonday, September 19, 2011 11:26:00 PM

    Love it. Thanks for sharing

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  15. AnonymousTuesday, September 20, 2011 12:35:00 AM

    So cute!

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  16. cclarke51Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:26:00 PM

    the tin of waxy stuff was probably to help the thread glide more smoothly...my grandma also had something along those lines in her sewing box :D

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  17. AnonymousTuesday, September 27, 2011 3:21:00 PM

    LOVE this...I have SO many button...I MUST make some of these! Great IDEA!!

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  18. NatalyThursday, September 29, 2011 8:34:00 PM

    wow.. great idea, and can be done without going to a store to get supplies I barely use! Like a hot glue gun!

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  19. AnonymousSaturday, October 01, 2011 6:32:00 AM

    these are really cool. i take it you meant to type 'voila' - the french for 'and there you are' instead of 'viola' the string instrument...

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  20. Make and Do GirlSaturday, October 01, 2011 7:44:00 PM

    These are beautiful. So Anthropologie-esque. Just added them to my "to do" list here: http://makeanddogirl.com/2011/09/craft-night-t-shirt-scarf-prep/
    Thanks for the inspiration!

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  21. AnonymousTuesday, October 11, 2011 10:47:00 AM

    Both my grandmothers had a jar of buttons for us kids to play with when we visited. I bought an old blue mason jar full of buttons at an antique store. I can't wait to go thru them and "borrow" your idea to make hair pins for my granddaughters. Awesome ideas!

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  22. groovepress.comSaturday, November 05, 2011 7:52:00 PM

    This is a great idea!. I just love your creative blog. Thank you for sharing your craft fun.

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  23. Anna M.Wednesday, November 09, 2011 10:57:00 AM

    Adorable.

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  24. AnonymousSunday, December 11, 2011 10:27:00 AM

    What a cute idea. I do a lot of knitting for my great granddaughter - now I can give her bobby pins to match the buttons on her sweater.

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  25. AnonymousTuesday, December 13, 2011 6:56:00 AM

    What a wonderful testimony you are as a follower of Christ! I will be praying that God will bless you with His very best for you lives!!!

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  26. Susan SMonday, December 19, 2011 10:45:00 PM

    Thank you for the great idea. I'm going to make several of these for my nieces and myself.

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  27. Paula Marie McCloskeyMonday, January 16, 2012 8:08:00 PM

    What a great idea! I have literally thousands of buttons old and new. I love collecting them, but never really found a good way to use them!

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  28. kellySaturday, January 21, 2012 7:58:00 AM

    hi there, i found your adorable project via pinterest and shared a link to them on my blog - http://mindingmynest.com/2012/01/52-weeks-of-pinspiration-week-2button-bobbie-pins/. I made some for my nieces birthday and they turned out so cute. :) thanks for the pinspiration!! love, kelly

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  29. ski_addict78Monday, January 30, 2012 3:32:00 PM

    I'm so glad I found this! I made some today, and they are so cute! Way better than the plain ol' bobby pin! I can never get myself to spend money on the expensive store ones though. My mom keeps every single button with every single jacket, sweater, coat, ect so I've been going through and finding all the buttons that we no longer have the clothes for. That way it doesn't matter if the bobby pin gets lost!

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  30. SusannaTuesday, January 31, 2012 10:52:00 PM

    How simple, yet how fun and pretty! Thanks for the idea. I always love a project where you already have everything you need on hand!

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  31. Sheryl FisherTuesday, February 14, 2012 11:34:00 AM

    Now I know what to do with my jar of buttons. Tks so much.

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  32. Trädgårds/Hage-intresseradSunday, February 19, 2012 4:48:00 PM

    That was a really good idea! I'll borrow it if it's okay?

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  33. AnonymousFriday, April 06, 2012 6:24:00 AM

    These are great!!! I needed a last minute gift for my moms birthday and you just saved my day!!! VERY cute :)

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  34. SarahTuesday, May 01, 2012 2:26:00 PM

    Super cute! I just found your blog and enjoyed my first so much I think I'll follow you. :-)

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  35. SaraSundWednesday, May 23, 2012 10:14:00 AM

    such a great idea... i am a " button-lover-freak" ;-)

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  36. KatieTuesday, May 29, 2012 7:24:00 AM

    What a sweet idea! I have thousands of buttons...XoXo

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  37. AnonymousSunday, July 01, 2012 9:22:00 PM

    these are so awesome I love this idea it something that my daughter can do and give as gifts! Thanks for sharing

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  38. PerspectivemedleyThursday, August 30, 2012 9:45:00 AM

    Brilliant idea.. I'm definitively gona try this :)

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  39. MaryThursday, January 31, 2013 7:39:00 AM

    I have quite a few fancy victorian buttons. I'm going to do this!!! I love it and thank you so much! I'm going to follow you!

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  40. UnknownMonday, May 13, 2013 6:57:00 AM

    These are SO cute! I would probably use E6000 instead of superglue as it is less brittle and bonds better. Kind of the best of support glue and a glue gun. I use it for everything and it had never let me down. I do have some Bobby pins which have a pass at the end to glue things on to, but plain bobby pins are MUCH cheaper! Thanks again for sharing, I found this link on pinterest......
    Fran

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  41. AnonymousMonday, September 16, 2013 10:07:00 AM

    I love the little yellow bird button. This is a great way to make bobby pins more interesting :)
    - Krys

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  42. Heloisa FitzgeraldSaturday, March 29, 2014 4:22:00 AM

    wonderful idea! I will apply to my life, Thank you for sharing. Heloisa Fitzgerald

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  43. Ms. StutzThursday, February 05, 2015 7:54:00 PM

    I tried this cute idea with a hot glue gun~no bueno. Gotta use the super glue.

    Thanks for the idea, I made some today.

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