Button Bracelet

I have a confession.

 I have an unhealthy love of a set of glass buttons I bought in Savannah, GA some years back and I've never been able to find a craft project for them that I just felt was good enough. I'd put them on things, sew them into projects, and turn them into little more than vase filler but nothing seemed to showcase them the way I felt they deserved. Then I stumbled across this amazing idea from Obstinate Pursuit  that showed off a charming bracelet made of nothing but buttons. Seriously, go look at her work! It's GORGEOUS. The minute I saw her version, I knew I had finally found something that would not only put my buttons on display but would let me take them everywhere so I could show them off. If you can, I highly recommend following her method but I sadly didn't have any chain with open links so I had to improvise.

With the tutorial I linked above, it was a simple matter of just opening a link in a chain and attaching the button to it. I ran to my supplies, all intent on doing just that but found to my dismay that I didn't have any chains at all without completely fused links so I couldn't make my bracelet that way. Not to be deterred, I just came up with an alternative. I took some pins, slipped them through my buttons, and used my needlenose pliers to turn a loop on each end. Voila. That's it. Easy, right? 

Then I just added some oversized jumprings that I had on hand to attach all my buttons together. Toss a bit of tiny chain on each end so I can attach it to my wrist, and slap on a simple clasp. The whole thing took no more than 15 minutes and would make a great present if you're short on time. 

The bracelet felt like it still needed something a little more so I took up Obstinate Pursuit's idea once again and used a touch of jewelry wire to add a few acrylic dewdrops to a couple of the jumprings. I didn't want to overload it, so there's just a small cluster here and there but I think they really make the rest of the buttons stand out more and they remind me of the first days of spring. In these cold months, I can tell you how much I miss spring... 

And just for fun, here's the bracelet I made for one of my friends for Christmas. I hope it inspires you. One of the strands is blue freshwater pearls! ^___^ 

HAPPY CRAFTING!

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