***
This tutorial was updated on Sept. 28, 2007. Please see my flickr photo set with step-by-step photos.
And also check out the Button Bracelet and Button Jewelry Flickr Group.
***
What you need:
Embroidery Floss- (I used DMC® Metallic Embroidery Floss)
assorted buttons (any kind)
glue
scissors
ruler
2 -Light-medium twisted beading needles (you may not need these)I make my bracelets roughly 7-8 inches long. You may want to measure your favorite bracelet to get a better length for you.
1. Cut off a 1 yard piece of embroidery floss. Put a dab of glue on each end and twist each end to a point and allow to dry. This will give ou a semi-rigid “needle” for threading through the buttons. If this doesn’t work for you, you can use a beading needle to thread your buttons.
2. Arrange the buttons you will be using in a 7 inch line with small spaces(1/16) in between each button.
3. Take embroidery floss, fold in half, make a loop (big enough for last button to fit through) and tie a knot. You can add seed beads first to make latching on/off easier.
4. You will have two ends of the string in which you will weave in and out through the buttons in opposing directions. This keeps the button from twisting and flipping over. Use the following diagram.
5. Weave one button at time, knotting in between each button making sure to tug tightly on the thread, until you get to the last buttons.
6. There are 3 options for finishing off the last button.
For option 1 and 2 you will be taking the thread through the button then finishing it off with two knots directly behind the button right next to the first two knots. For the third option, you will just take the thread through the button holes and do a double knot on top of the button. Trim the excess thread and add a dab of glue to keep knots together.
I never realized how hard it is to make a tutorial! Kudos to all of those lovely crafters that do this kind of thing often. I hope that my tutorial makes sense. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments or send me an email (regina AT creativekismet DOT com)
On a side note, I just wanted to thank everyone so much for all of the extremely nice comments that have been left on my posts -especially on the two previous posts. I’d love to send one lucky person the above bracelet or this green/yellow shell bracelet (your choice). Just leave a comment (and a note on which bracelet you like best) and I’ll draw one name on Friday. Thanks so much everyone!
Wow! Thanks for all the great coments, once again. I’m having a super busy day today and will be drawing the name of the winner late tonight (central time) and posting the winner first thing in the morning. The winner will also be notified via email. Thanks 
July 3rd, 2006 at 11:26 pm
ah!!! A tutorial! Thank you!!!!
July 3rd, 2006 at 11:30 pm
This is a great summer project to do with my girls. I love projects where the end result is something beautiful I can use! Very kind of you to take the time to put it into a tutorial. Thank you. Please put my name in the hat for the green/yellow one
July 4th, 2006 at 3:31 am
Would love to be the very proud owner of the green/yellow bracelet so please put my name in the hat for that one ! A very generous thing for you to do by the way.
July 4th, 2006 at 6:08 am
OOoh thank you for doing all the work to make this tutorial! I am saving this page, and I am really excited to make some of these button bracelets once I collect a bunch of buttons I like. You’re the best Regina!
July 4th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Great tutorial! You are so sweet to offer one up!! Hmmm, yes please put my name in the hat as well. I like the green/yellow one best.
Happy 4th hon!
a.
July 4th, 2006 at 10:48 am
This looked like it was quite a bit of work to put together, this tutorial! Thank you for doing that! I would like my name in that hat for the green one too! How nice of you!
Happy 4th Regina!
Sarah
July 4th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Your tutorial drawings are fantastic. They are as creative as the button bracelets themselves. My favorite is the green one. I’m off soon on vacation but I want to try to make one when I return.
July 4th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Thanks for the tutorial! Ooooh and a giveaway – exciting!
I love both so if I win u can choose heehee!
July 4th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
I absolutely love them both, but I think my favorite is the green and yellow. Thanks for taking the time and effort to post a tutorial, and give us all a chance to have one of your originals!
July 4th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Wow, that’s a great bracelet+tutorial! Great minds must think alike because I just made a shell button necklace that I’m about to post. It’s amazing how with the same materials you can make such a variety of things. (In the off chance I win, I pick the red one!)
July 4th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Thank you so much for the tutorial! What cute bracelets – a difficult decision to choose one. I think the red and white one is very cute, but the shell buttons seem so perfect for summer and would be my first choice (but barely!).
July 5th, 2006 at 6:56 am
how sweet of you to make this wonderful tutorial! to offer a bracelet, too, is just the icing on the cake!! i would love to be in the drawing, and i would be the proud owner + wearer of either bracelet, if i was the lucky one (but i think that the green/yellow combo may be my slight favorite!).
July 5th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Beautiful bracelets and a clear and easy-to-follow tutorial. I’m headed upstairs to the button box – I think a little project is in my immediate future… but I don’t think I have any buttons as nice as those in your yellow and green bracelet. That one would be my favorite, if I were to be the lucky winner! Thank you!!!
July 5th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Awesome craft project, Regina, and a very nice tutorial!
We have three teen girls at home, and I think they’ll all try their hands at something special like this. Bith designs are cute, but if I had to choose, I think the shell version is very classy!
July 5th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
ooooh, thank you for this! I have a vast button collection, and now, something to do with it!
July 5th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Great tutorial! Thanks for a fun idea. I’m going to enjoy looking through my buttons this afteroon so I can try out a bracelet.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Looks easy with great results. I’ve got to pass this link on to my daughter. I know she’ll want to make one. (She’d love that green and yellow bracelet, I’m sure.)
July 5th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
These are SO gorgeous! I always wondered how people do this — thanks so much for the tutorial! Now I can finally try it with my own buttons. I like them both, but I have more things that match the green and yellow one.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Those shell buttons are gorgeous. I came from Craftlog, Amazingness!
July 5th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
This is a great idea. We do crafting with children at a soup kitchen and this would be a great one to do. Thanks for sharing and making it so clear.
July 5th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Great tutorial! It makes perfect sense. I recently acquired bunches of mismatched buttons, and this would be a fun thing to do with some of them. I would also love to be in your drawing. The green and yellow bracelet is beautiful!
July 5th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
How lovely!! As soon as I post this comment, I’m tagging this in del.icio.us. Your shell bracelet looks so sophisticated…
July 5th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
Thank you so much for such a great tutorial! It looks really clear and you’ve totally inspired me to give it a go…
July 6th, 2006 at 3:42 am
hey..i think its a great idea to use these buttons for a beautiful bracelet moreover they can make for lovely little presents for ur friends. what can be more touchy than to gift something handmade..thanks. The green and yellow one takes the cake.
July 6th, 2006 at 5:43 am
besides offering such a comprehensive tutorial, you have allowed me to dream of the bracelets i will be making, using buttons i have inherited from my mother. she was an amazingly crafty person so i even think i have some of her embroidery threads packed away. thanks for giving me ideas which lead to warm and wonderful memories! you are a real sweetie to offer your lovely bracelets for this contest .. mmm
July 6th, 2006 at 6:05 am
buttons have to be one of the greatest tactile memories for me as a kid. there was nothing better than to bury your hands in mom’s button box while she was stitching up dad’s workpants on the sewing machine. the stuff in her sewing chest was incredible from sock darning eggs to pompom makers and frogs. Thanks for the memories. think i’ll use some of her old ones in a bracelet. buttons have such character and use. (red’s my favorite color.)
July 6th, 2006 at 6:25 am
These are lovely. I’m going to be raiding the button supply this weekend. I especially love the green and yellow shell bracelet. (I think I’ll need to go hunting for shell buttons.)
July 6th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Absolutely stunning. I have boxes of buttons and now another idea of what to do with them. Great, clear tutorial – thanks. Off to wander around the rest of your site now – it looks fab
July 6th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Kette aus Knöpfen…
Wie man sich eine solche Kette selbst anfertigen kann, dafür gibt es eine schöne Anleitung im Blog creativekismet.com. Bestimmt haben noch einige eine große Knopfkiste herumstehen? Dann ist dieses Tutorial sehr
passend. Mich erinnert diese Anleitung…
July 6th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
So beautiful!! I can’t wait to try to make my own…..BUT I would love to be the receipient of the red/orange one!! Thanks again!
July 6th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
I love them both ! Thanks so much for the great tutuorial!
I would love either bracelet that you choose and could you throw in the yummy tart also !!
Thanks , Erika
July 6th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
love them all, you choose!
July 7th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
I made my first button bracelet with your tutorial as a guide this morning, and it was so easy. Great job, I’m hooked now!
July 7th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Holy cow you should do more tutorials! Look at all the comments!!! When you launch your store make sure to do another one of these contest drawings to advertise your opening!
July 7th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
[...] So here is a round up of what I found. Many require vintage special buttons but some would be interesting made from the more mundane, humble and often neglected buttons. I found these button bracelets, and then there are these too,. They both use vintage buttons. However here is a simple Button Bracelet tutorial and another similar bead and button bracelet which includes directions on how to make it. [...]
July 7th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
awesome tutorial! i really like the way you layered the buttons…and too cool that you’re sending one away…i would love the blue/green one!
July 8th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Thanks for the great tutorial! Must round up some buttons now.
August 8th, 2006 at 6:16 am
This is fantastic – thank you! I have been looking to make a necklace, having already made some button rings and earrings and now I’m going to have a go at your tutorial – thank you so much!
August 10th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
[...] Creative Kismet » Button Bracelet Tutorial (tags: buttons crafts handmade jewelry tutorial) [...]
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:52 am
I have just recently gotten into jewelry making, and I’m going to print out your tutorial. I really appreciate finding instructions that are so easy to understand. All I have made so far are bracelets.
Thnaks
August 28th, 2006 at 8:24 am
[...] Kette aus Knöpfen [...]
September 13th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
I love how your directions are clear and color coded. Thank you for sharing. I have taken buttons off my childrens clothes (mostly those that were in poor condition that I could not pass them on), siblings, clothes from yard sales grandparents (I even have my grandfather’s buttons from his WWII uniform). I have them in jars with a small sticky lable underneath which child etc.. they are. So I am going to make bracelets and necklaces with them and attach little notes about whose buttons etc….
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:34 pm
[...] I’ve been dreaming about making a bracelet out of buttons like this one ever since I first saw the tutorial. [...]
October 31st, 2006 at 9:31 am
this is so neat. My imagination is running…..
Purse handles… belts…
thanks and I will try this with my abundant button collection.
November 8th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
I have been searching for this for a good while now!!! Thank you so much for making a tutorial. My mother collects jars of old buttons, so this will be a perfect little gift to make her!
November 12th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
I finally made one!
November 12th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
[...] Today I followed Regina’s tutorial and made this: [...]
November 13th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Hello..I would like to thank you for making such a cool tutorial…I made 2 bracelets this weekend and inclided links so that you could see what Ive done….
http://static.flickr.com/119/295844253_98029f2144.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/121/295843972_73c6b5fe60.jpg
December 21st, 2006 at 9:49 am
THANK YOU FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING THE BUTTON NECKLACE. THE ONE THAT JENNY WHERES IS SO PRETTY. I LOOK FORWARD TO MAKING ONE FOR MY DAUGHTERS. CAROL, YAVAPAI CO.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Is there a way you could send me the instructions for the Button Bracelet i saw it in a magazine but i don’t rember how to make it Thanks Alot
April 4th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
i guess im toooo late to win. just discovered your site and got all shook up! i shall have to button up my lip and not string my self along thinking i might win your bracelet . not much extra $$$ for crafts,but buttons are always avaliable arent they? i cry cause im too late,should have looked for date,your designs are great,i appreciate and will continue to create. thanks mate.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:17 am
[...] Kette aus Knöpfen [...]
June 14th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I just wanted to say that I think this is a great tutorial – I’ve actually been thinking of making some sort of button bracelet similar to this, but I wasn’t quite sure how to go about doing it; looks like you’ve done all the hard work for me!
I’m adding this to my list of summer projects – I’ll link you on my blog when I’m done!
June 19th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
[...] While cleaning out my jewelry box I came across several buttons that belonged to new pants my husband and I have purchased over the past three years. For a while I wondered what I might make from these buttons–all in soft browns and one in a cool turquoise–and then I found this tutorial on Creative Kismet. The instructions are easy enough to follow, and little Annabelle sat on my lap while I pieced the buttons into the above bracelet. I love it, baby loves it, so it’s a win. [...]
September 19th, 2007 at 12:49 am
[...] bracelets, and then there are these too. They both use vintage buttons. However here is a simple Button Bracelet tutorial and another similar bead and button bracelet which includes directions on how to make [...]
October 25th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
great really inspiring
i am a knitter but love buttons so will give yours a try thanks so much they just look great
October 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
It was great to find a place where I was able to see how to do something I wanted. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
[...] tutorial project which I love is her button bracelet. Regina told me that “making beaded jewelry was one of my very first crafting interests. [...]
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 am
Its a rare idea.Its a easy and good tutorial for making button bracelet.
February 8th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
[...] ♥Armband av knappar! Jag är MYCKET sugen på knappsaker. [...]
March 12th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
As a young girl I strung my grama’s buttons for something to do – now I can go through my button jar & actually make something I can wear & enjoy instead of just looking at them now & then! Thanks sooooo much for the tutorial – can’t to give it a try!!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
this is awsome but i dont have buttons!!! too bad
March 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Thank u so much it really helps in a jewelry store they sell them 4 2$. Don’t you have any more tutorials for different jewelry?
June 1st, 2008 at 4:18 am
great tutorial – thank you!
I’ll having fun going through my treasure box of buttons to put together a bracelet.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I love your button bracelet and tutorial. Good for you! And thank you. We all love to know the secrets of how to make some special item from things we have in our button boxes. I also make button jewelry and love crocheting buttons onto necklaces.
Thanks again,
Kari
July 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
no e entendido ni pagorela idea
July 10th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
HI
Your bracelets are darling. I would love to win any of them with red being my favorite.
Thanks for the pattern.
Joyce
July 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
ola qee liindoh es m,uii buenah la pagina
July 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
ola qee liindoh es m,uii buenah la pagina
July 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Great Idea!!!
-mines turned out beautiful thnx to the button bracelet tutorial.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
THANKS THIS REALLY HELPED ME. I MAKE BUTTON BRACELETS THESE R BRACELETS (MADE OUT OF SMALL TRANSPARENT BEADS) AND HAS BUTTON ABOUT THE SIZE THE BASE OF AN APPLE. (SO ITS A LARGE BUTTON) THEN I PUT BEADS ON 1/3 THE WAY OF THE STRING, THEN THE BUTTON, THEN THE REST OF THE BEADS. THEY COM OUT REALLY KOOL. I SELL THEM 4 1.00 EACH AND I GET ALOT OF MONEY. I’M STARTING A BISNESS. PS. THE BEADS MATCH THE COLORS OF THE BUTTON!!1 I LOV BUTTON BRACELETS AND THEIR KOOL FOR PRETEENS AND TEENS ! TALK ABOUT STYLE!
September 8th, 2008 at 2:24 am
[...] Kette aus Knöpfen [...]
September 11th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
[...] Kette aus Knöpfen [...]
September 19th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
[...] unos bonotes en colores que combinen entre sÃ, y sigue las instrucciones que se dan en este tutorial, el texto está en inglés, epro va a compañado de fotos para cada paso, y de un esquema indicando [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Your designs are fantastic! Is there anything you wud recommand for a child something simplier perhaps
December 18th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Oh I am definately going to have a go at this. lovely tutorial.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
[...] A button bracelet – fun! [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] another fantastic bracelet tutorial. On the Creative Kisment blog, this one is done up in pretty buttons and embroidery floss this will [...]
March 16th, 2009 at 2:04 am
[...] Check out the turorial for button bracelets here. [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
hola yo no entendi nadita de lo hicieron pero me gusto la pulsera que hicieron
July 9th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Thanks very much for the instructions. I am an seed beader and have enjoy incorporating buttons into my work.
August 12th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
[...] Button Bracelet Tutorial – http://blog.creativekismet.com/2006/07/03/button-bracelet-tutorial/ [...]
January 4th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Very cute idea! Thanks for the tutorial.