Mirror Christmas Ornaments

Make your own Christmas Ornaments this year
And Make them Mirrored!

Warning: This project and others on this blog have not been approved by the manufacturer of these machines. Try this at your own risk.

Prerequisite for this project: how to make a standard mirror

Question: What could possibly be a better gift than a hand made, beloved family photo x-mas tree ornament button?

Answer: A hand made, beloved family photo x-mas tree ornament with a mirror back instead of a button!

Take a look at last years ornament project. That one was super simple. Either a) just stick a button on a tree, or b) use a Welded Eye insert (in place of a pin) and ornament wire and presto! you've made an ornament.

While last years ornament was nice, easy, and practical, this year we decided to one-up ourselves and attach wire to a mirror for hanging. Mirror ornaments look great from both sides, they are more glamorous than buttons, and they add life and sparkle to your tree. But how does one go about attaching a wire for hanging? I pondered this most of the year in preparation for the holidays. I got everything together, got out the drill with ity bity drill bits, extra button parts, x-acto blades, hot glue, and a dremel. I got all prepared to experiment and fail when Rex came over and did something so incredibly simple, I had to smack myself on the head and yell DUH! at the sky.



Here's what we did:

1. All you need is:

• A model 225 Button Machine
• A graphic cut to a 2.625 inch circle
• 2-1/4 inch complete Mirror Sets
• 6 inch length of thin gold ornament wire
  

2. Turn the die table to it's horizontal position so that you can see both dies (as shown). Load the shell, smooth side up, into the pick-up die on the left.







3. Insert the graphic on top of the shell and center it so that it is right side up, and facing you and you can properly read any text on the graphic.







4. Insert the mylar on top of the graphic.









5. Insert the collet, sharp side up, into the crimp die on the right.








6. Insert the mirror, face down inside the collet.









7. Bend the shim as shown. It should be bent enough to hold the mirror taught in the finished button, but not so tall that it gets bumped off center when the crimp die goes under the upper die.






8. Place the bent shim on the back of the mirror as shown.









9. Rotate the die table so the pick-up die is under the upper die and pull the handle all the way down toward you. (Just like you would if you were making a normal button). Then rotate the die around again so the crimp die is under the upper die, but don't press it just yet!





10. Bend the ornament wire as shown.









11. Insert the ornament wire in between the crimp die and the upper die, taking care not to bump the shim off center.

Tip: if you're having trouble with this step, try scotch taping the wire to the shim.





12. Pull the handle down toward you, just as though you were pressing a normal button.








That's it! The wire should be firmly pinched in between the the collet and the shell. There's usually a little dimpling at the top and a slightly bent wire, but it's a better than drilling holes or hot glue that's for sure!

Fabric Mirrors

Yay for Fabric Mirrors!!!
Double Yay for Fabric Mirror Tutorials!!!!

If you're not familiar with making fabric buttons please see this post and this post before proceeding.

These are really fun! In this tutorial I'm using a lace shirt with sequins. So it's extra-pretty! Since it's lace you can see the metal shell underneath which gives it shine and an extra layer of pretty! Did I mention I love these???






1. First get everything you need together. That includes:

• A model 225, 300, or 350 Button Machine
• An Adjustable Rotary Cutter
• Complete Mirror Sets for 2-1/4, 3, or 3-1/2 inch
• Fabric
  

2. Set the rotary cutter to the appropriate size. Lucky for mirror makers the cutter has preset stops for 2-1/4, 3 and 3-1/2 inch circles. My fabric pattern doesn't require centering, so for this, I'm not using the centering template that comes with the cutter. To adjust thee cutter to 3 inches, you loosen the screw at the top and push the silver bar over one click in from the widest size. Go here for more information on using the rotary cutter.









3. Put the metal cutting plate under the fabric and stretch the fabric taunt. If there are a wrinkles it'll cause some hiccups in the cutting. Place the rotary cutter on the fabric with the metal plate underneath, push he handle down and rotate it around and around.
When you're cutting fabric you can kinda hear it when it's cut all the way through. It sounds like a crunchy sound as it's going through the fabric, then it sounds smooth when it's all the way through. You may have to go back and forth in opposing directions to make a good cut.



4. Insert the shell into the pick-up die (the one with the deep groove) and center the fabric on top of the shell.









5. Rotate the die table around so the pick-up die is under the upper die and the crimp die is facing you. Insert the collet sharp side up.










6. Insert the mirror reflective side down, in the center of the collet.









7. Bend the shim just enough so it's as tall as it can possibly (about 1/2 inch depending on the machine) be without being bumped out of place by the upper die.









8. Place the shim on the back of the mirror, so it is as centered as possible. Rotate the die table back and forth and make sure that the shim doesn't get bumped out of place when it goes under the upper die. It's important that it's perfectly center or your mirror won't crimp properly.









9. Rotate the die table so that the pick-up die (with the shell and fabric in it) are under the upper die. Pull the handle toward you. Then rotate the die table around so that the mirror and shim is under the upper die (make sure that the shim didn't move) and pull the handle down again.










That's it! just remove the mirror from the machine and marvel at how awesome you are!!

Fabric Adjustment

Important Information about Fabric Buttons:
To get a guarantee that your machine will work with fabric, you'll need to order the Fabric Adjustment with your machine and mail in a sample of the fabric you wish to use. If you do not do this there's no "guarantee" that it will work.

However, from personal experience, I'm pretty confident that most of our machines will do just fine. I've made fabric buttons on all 8 of our display machines and haven't encountered a problem I couldn't work through yet.

So - if you're crafty and into experimenting, I'd say just get a machine and go for it. If you run into problems, try some of these techniques:

• Use thicker fabric
• Add a couple more layers of fabric
• Add a layer of paper under the fabric
• Put mylar on top of the fabric

On the other hand - if you're going into business doing monogram buttons or something and need to make 1,000 fabric buttons in 2 days, you should go ahead and get the fabric adjustment.

You can get the fabric adjustment done to a machine you already own, but you'll also have to pay to ship it both ways so that can be pricey.

See this post for more fabric button info and a tutorial.

Key Chain Sets

The Model 225 Button Machine is the only one that has it's own dedicated key chain sets. (All of the other sizes use the Key Chain Add-On's that are used in addition to your existing button parts.)
The 2-1/4 inch Complete Key Chain Sets are "complete" in that they come with shells, mylar, chain style key rings, and special key chain backs. The backs are flat with a slot at the top.

Here's how you make 2-1/4 inch Key Chains:

1. Get everything you need together. That includes a model 225 Button Machine, a model 2625 graphic punch or adjustable rotary cutter or scissors, complete 2-1/4 inch key chain sets, and a graphic.






2. Cut your printed graphic into a 2.625 inch circle.

3. Insert the shell into the pick-up die (the one with the deep groove in the center). Then insert the graphic on top of the shell. Make sure the graphic is face up and centered so you can read it. Insert the mylar on top of the graphic.








4. Rotate the die table around so that the crimp die is facing you and the pick-up die is under the upper die.








5. Next make sure the slot in the back piece is at the top. Insert it into the machine sharp side up.








6. Pull the handle toward you and press it all the way down. Rotate the die table around so the crimp die is under the upper die and pull the handle again - just like making a normal button.

7. Remove the key chain from the machine and insert the key chain component into the slot at the top as shown.

Double Trouble

I had a customer recently who brought a machine back to have it serviced. He had been making Barak Obama campaign buttons and started having trouble. He brought some of the trouble buttons into the shop. They had this weird mylar bubble on the side. I'd never seen this before, and I was busy so I just gave my customer a loaner machine (we do this for Seattle customers only) and mailed his original machine back to the factory.

A few days later I get a call from someone at the factory. He had a hearty laugh at me and said that he'd cut open some of the bubbly buttons, and sure enough, they'd been pressed with TWO SHELLS. He continued laughing and offered to ship my totally functional machine back.

This is only the second machine I have ever seen go back to the manufacturer in the 6 years I've been working here. And this one wasn't a manufacturing issue at all, but a user error.

I figured I may as well do a post about the Double Bubble Troubleshooting in case any one else encounters this.

First, I set out to replicate the problem - an let me tell you - it wasn't easy. I tried overly thick paper, double shells, double mylar and the darn machine kept making decent buttons out of them! Finally after hours of trying to screw up a button on purpose it worked. Here's what could happen if you use two shells:










Also in my quest to screw up some buttons, I got the pick-up die stuck in the upper die. That was fun. I think I actually used 3 shells to accomplish this doozie:










(There isn't supposed to between the base plate and die table).

I got the dies unstuck by holding the die table down for about 30 seconds. Eventually the resistance just popped the upper die up. After that I removed the contents from the upper die manually.

If problems like this are happening to you, and you're 100% sure you're not inserting two shells into the machine, there's probably a shell stuck the upper die. You can tell if this is the case by feeling the inside of the upper die with your fingers. You should be able to feel lightly textured metal an a hole in the center.

If you feel inside the upper die and it is smooth, and there is no hole, that means you've got something stuck in the upper die. The pictures below show the machine turned upside down so you can see inside the upper die. The one on the left shows what the die should look like. The one on the right shows the die with a shell stuck in it.







^^ Good ...........................................^^Bad


The best way to prevent Double Bubble or Stuck Shell Syndrome is to make sure you're only using one shell at a time. Since the shells can come tightly packed they tend to stick together and disguise the fact that theres two. So here's what you do when you go to make buttons:

• Spread your shells out on the table
• Pick up a shell
  
• Drop it on the table with a little force so the edge hits the table
• Proceed making buttons worry-free
  

Tossing the shells edgewise on the table will usually break apart any stuck shells and prevent most problems.

Bottle Opener Magnets

NOTICE: Bottle Opener Magnets are just some craziness I thought up during a moment of sheer craftopia. ButtonMakers.net does not sell "bottle opener magnet" sets, nor will they assist you in making them. But if you've got a little bit of craftiness in you, this is a pretty cool project.

There I was, pressing out my awesome straight edge root beer bottle openers, when I thought: "Who the heck wants to carry around a clunky 2-1/4 inch keychain anyway? Magnetic bottle openers would make a lot more sense." So I grabbed a 1-7/8 inch adhesive magnet from the 2-1/4 inch magnet sets and the 2-1/4 inch bottle opener sets and got to experimenting.

Turns out, my idea worked on the first try. I had to use thin office paper for it to work. The magnet isn't strong enough to hold to the fridge using thick photo paper.

Here's what I did:

1. I designed my logo with the 1-7/8 inch magnet bulge in mind. (If you don't do this, it looks a little unintentionally weird.) I used the 2-1/4 inch Photoshop design template only I made a perfect 1-7/8 inch circle in the middle. In this case it's yellow around the edges with a black 1-7/8th inch circle in the middle and my little agro-anti-alcohol design in the middle of that. (the graphic faces the fridge, so it's just a little coy reminder when someone goes to open a bottle. tee hee.)


2. Print and cut out the graphic, and get everything you need together. That includes the model 225 button machine, bottle opener sets, and a 1-7/8 inch adhesive magnet from the 2-1/4 complete magnet sets.








3. Remove the backing from the adhesive magnet and stick it to the shell. It has to be dead centered and stuck to the smooth outer side.







4. Load the machine. The Shell with the Magnet stuck to it goes into the Pick-Up die (the one with the deep-groove). The graphic goes on top of the Magnet and the mylar goes on top of that.







5. Rotate the die table around so that the Crimp die is facing you and load in the bottle opener back face down as shown.







6. Pull the handle toward you and press all the way down. Rotate the die table around the other way and pull the handle again.


7. Remove the magnet bottle opener from the machine and stick it to the fridge! : )








As you can see from the photo above, there's an odd bulge in the middle where the magnet is. But if you design with that in mind, it doesn't look half bad. Anyway, it's a small compromise for a bottle opener that sticks to the refrigerator!!!

Bottle Openers!

The 2-1/4 inch machine from Button Makers is the only size that can make bottle openers! These are really cool and unique. They'd make a great promotional item for a restaurant, event, band, whatever. Who doesn't need a bottle opener? Well, actually, I don't drink so I don't really need one... unless it's for ROOT BEER!

Okay so here's how you make a bottle opener:

1. Get your model 225 button machine, model 2625 graphic punch (or circle cutter, or scissors), printed 2.625 circular design, and bottle opener sets together.











2. Cut out your design.








3. With the Pick-Up die facing you (the one with the deep groove as pictured), load the shell into the die smooth side up. Then insert the graphic right side up, and then the mylar on top.

4. Rotate the die table around so that the Pick-Up die is under the Upper die, and the Crimp die is facing you.








5. Load the bottle opener back into the Crimp Die sharp side up, with the two holes toward the top as shown.









6. Pull the handle down toward you. Rotate the tie table again so the Crimp die with the bottle opener back are under the upper die and the (now empty Pick-Up die is facing you). Pull the handle down again.








7. Remove the bottle opener from the machine and insert the split ring key chain. That's it! You're now the proud owner of a xROOT BEERx bottle opener!!

Kids Make Buttons at the Carnival!

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!