Tag Archives: button

nicilaskin 3:16 am on April 12, 2014
Tags: , button, , copper, , copper buttons, , , , , , ,   

copper buttons

copper buttons

made some buttons for my mom

I remember as a child my mom had a small wooden box with tons of buttons in it . I was very facinated by it and when she got that box out to make something I would sit on the floor and play for hours . She still has that box with the buttons , so I made her a couple of new ones out of copper

I cut out 2 discs an 2 flowers from copper

I used a disc cutter for the circles as sawing a circle by hand and make it perfectly round is really hard to do , so one of my most prized tools is my disc cutter the flowers were sawed out by hand with a jewelers saw and 1/0 blades ( very fine )

circles and flowers

always clean your metal before soldering – trust me on that it will make your job easier

after soldering the flowers onto the copper I used some stamps to add something interesting

As you can see I did not really bother in cleaning the buttons up before the stamping , as i have to solder again for the button loop . I did however cleaned the back to get rid of the black oxidation

I domed the buttons in a dapping block and cut some wire and formed it

My buttons will have old fashioned loops instead of the holes , like the buttons in my moms box I cut some wire for the loops and formed them with needle nose pliers

make sure they fit together and then another round of soldering

After I soldered I cleaned and polished may pair of buttons

I used my trusted polishing machine . I like the antqiued look of copper better than the polished shiny finish so I put them in a patna bath ( Liver of sulfur ) the left button has the patina the right button does not After the patina is dry I just took some sandpaper and sanded the buttons so that some of the patina was left

seal the buttons with lacquer of leave them pure

a banana for scale 🙂

as always if you liked my tutorial , come and take a look at my shop at www.nicilaskin.etsy.com
nicilaskin 7:00 am on February 20, 2014
Tags: , button, , , , how to make, , , , , , , , , , ,   

copper buttons for my Mama

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Today I made some buttons for my mom . It never occurred to me to make her some even though she always needs some for one project or another . She loves to sew , knit and crochet . But today I remembered the button box she had when I was a little girl . Ach gosh I loved that box . It was built like a treasure box filled with many many different kind of buttons in all shapes and colors . There were bright red ones that were large and had a nice feel to it and small ones shaped like flowers that were very delicate looking . I used to arrange them on the floor and ” paint ” pictures with them , faces and flowers , clouds and suns.. I remember the old copper ones the most . They were scratched and dark from aged patina . I loved picking them up and running my fingers over the cool metal . I also remember the smell of them .. copper ..metallic … comforting . I spend hours sometimes sitting on the floor sorting through them .

So I called her via Skype and asked her if she still remembers that box and she does , she still has a lot of those buttons and that little treasure box to go with . I will be sending her the buttons tomorrow to be put in the box and maybe someday her grandkids will be as fascinated by that treasure as I was .

 

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again you can check out my shop at www.nicilaskin.etsy.com