The 2nd annual Georgetown ol Skool Carnival was a rootin tootin good time in the heart of Seattle's oldest neighborhood. ButtonMakers, one of the offical sponsors, set up a booth right outside our store on the main drag in Georgetown. Our booth attracted kids and adults alike to come, grab a crayon or a marker and crank out their very own personalized buttons! It was a total blast. We were so busy, I scarcely had a moment to take photos.
We made a whole bunch of blank pre-cut circles ahead of time. We did some with fill in the blank style messages like "I heart_____" or "Kiss me I'm______". We also had a book of quotes, a couple dictionaries and some funky old vintage magazines I picked up from the thrift store for people to cut up and buttonize. But mostly people enjoyed making their own creations from scratch.
This was a very successful event for us. Not only did it raise money for a good cause, it got us in touch with a bunch of button-happy neighbors we didn't even know we had!I'd highly recommend this approach to anyone doing kids parties, events, or street fairs of this kind. It's a cool alternative or addition to photo button booth at the fair. Plus watching little kids press buttons is completely the cutest thing you'll ever see!
8 comments:
How much did you charge?
Also, which sizes were popular, or did you just do one size (and which one)?
And... was it only kids that joined in the fun or did it appeal to a wide variety of people?
Also, what size did you use (or was there a variety)
What type of paper (e.g. would normal copy paper be ok, or maybe another suggestion)?
And, was it just kids, or did it attract people of all ages?
Hi - to answer your questions:
We had 2 machines out, the 2-1/4 and 1-1/4 inch machines. We charged $1.00 for the small ones and $2.00 for the big ones.
The booth was hugely popular with the kids, but the adults were getting in on it too.
We had precut office paper circles in both sizes for coloring as well as magazines, dictionaries, and books from the thrift store for people to cut up and make into buttons. - but almost everyone wanted to draw their own.
Hi, love your site and I will certainly be ordering from you in the future. Your enthusiasm is contagious! I'm in Canada so have ordered my machine here.
I am doing a 3 hour event for 1000 kids. I will have all the circles precut. We are making 3.5" buttons. The kids are colouring the circles (Halloween event). I was hoping to stick on tiny confetti spiders but don't want them getting stuck in the machine so I will use little stickers instead.
My question is: exactly how long does it take to press the buttons? I will have an assembly line so one person can get the button ready, another presses. We won't have the kids do it. If it takes more than 15 seconds to actually press it, I need to come up with a different craft idea pronto! I'll still use the machine at other events... but I was wondering if you could help. Thank you so much.
Hi Natalie,
I can press a button in under 15 seconds. The person you have actually pressing the buttons may need some practice first, but it's totally doable.
Thanks!
Rebecca
I was thinking of doing this as a fundraiser for an elementary school at their parent night, using a selection of coloring book and clip art images to be colored in, as well as old magazines to cut circles out of.
I thought $5 per 3" button would be a reasonable price point(providing pinbacks with cardboard easels). Do you agree?
Hi patriciawinona,
I think that $5.00 per button is totally reasonable for a fundraiser. You might have to give a good pitch though.
When you're letting kids design their own buttons it is much more about the experience than the finished product, so make sure the kids have plenty of room to sit down and be creative!
Good Luck!
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