Happy New Year - Start a New Hobby Making Buttons January 12 2015

2015 is here! A brand spanking New Year is before us!!

Did you make any resolutions? If you did, you might like some of the resolution buttons we made at the office. They are our Button of the Week so if you are near our store in Toronto’s west end, please make sure you pass through to pick one up!

Resolutions or not, the New Year is usually a time for new beginnings... like starting a new hobby! Or a small business! Making buttons is great for both : )

In this week’s blog post, we will focus on getting started making buttons as a hobby. Next week’s post will focus on resources and tips for starting your own button making business.

If you are already a crafty person, then you will probably (very likely!) love designing and making buttons. They are also great for organizations looking to promote events or causes, for schools to keep kids creative and busy, or for bands looking for inexpensive ways to support their music.

A Button Maker!

We sell a variety of button making machines. If you are going to start buttons as a hobby, making only a few buttons at a time and not for reselling, then we recommend one of our hobby button making kits. We sell two different types:

1. The T150 Hobby Maker – plastic body, with parts to make 250 parts. Only makes 2.25” buttons.

2. Multi-Size Hobby Maker – Make a variety of different sizes with the same all metal body hobby machine! Comes with your choice of a) just the 2-1/4” size or b) 3 different sizes (including 2-1/4”) to get you started.

If you have a bit more money to spend and think that you may end up making thousands of buttons, will be selling the buttons you make, or need to be able to make lots of them fast, then you should look at purchasing one of our heavy duty button making kits. These machines are built to last and consistently make great buttons!

Button Supplies

All of our button making kits come with parts to get you started making pin back buttons and include a sample pack of all the different products you can make with your machine. Once you’ve had a change to experiment and play around, you will definitely want to make more and can order parts for magnets, keychains, bottle openers, necklaces, bracelets, zipper pulls, and more (depending on what size of badge maker you have). Just scroll through the drop-down menu on the appropriate product page to see what other items your machine can make.

If you have a T150, order here:

If you have a Multi-Size Machine or Tecre Machine, order here for Standard 2.25” items:

Here for 1.75” items:

And here for 1.25” items:

Other sizes are also available for the Multi-Size Machine. Just ask! : )

Button Designs/Artwork

Once you’ve picked your item type, you can also get creative about what designs or materials you use to put on your buttons. You can print your own custom artwork or use fabric, photos, Dura-Lar and acetate to create unique and interesting buttons.

Here are some resources for getting your designs together:

For Newbies! Use our Free Online Design Software – A Great Starting Place :)

Not a graphic designer? Don’t have Photoshop or any other design programs? Don’t worry! Button Designer is a free and easy-to-use software available online. This is a basic program intended for making simple button designs that you can design, print and press at home. It is a good starting point for folks who are new to button design and the world of design in general.

www.button-designer.com

Do you know something about design and have access to design programs like Photoshop or Illustrator? Then you can use the free templates available for download on our site. Make sure you use the right template for the size of button you are making so that, when printed and cut, your designs will fit your machine.

VIDEO: How to use the T150

You can also check out our YouTube page for more videos and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out when new videos are available :)

Buttons are easy to make once you get the hang of it. If you have any questions after you’ve checked out these resources and links, give us a shout and we’ll be more than happy to help : )

We love making buttons and want to make sure you do too!

You can also sign up for our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on our regular updates with new product information, sales, and other helpful button making resources. We only send it out a few times a year, so keep your eyes peeled! :)

All the best in 2015!