I have always loved pinback buttons. I still have my collection of 50+ pinback buttons from my childhood too.  As an adult, I knew I always wanted to make my own, so about 3 years ago, I invested in my own machine.  It’s a fun little device that I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of and you can too if you ever decide to purchase one!

I did this quick and easy little video explaining the process.  It really takes the machine to be able to make the magic happen.  Let’s just call this Alexa’s version of “How it’s Made”, shall we?

If you are unsure if the machine + the supplies to make the buttons is a good investment, think about the diverse ways you can use it over time.  If you are an artist, you can make copies of your original artwork and sell them at art fairs or local art shops as buttons or as magnets. At a $1 or $1.50 a pop, they are cheap item everyone can afford! You can also use them as promotional items to hand out…believe me no one ever turns down a cool button!

Another great way to earn money with a button machine is to make custom buttons for businesses, events, or parties.  There are quite a few people that have button-making services on sites like Etsy, so that’s a site to try.  You could try doing it on a local level through Craigslist or word of mouth. If you decide to do this, just make sure to value your time in your costing and have set rules/limits on the design work you do for others. For example, you’ll just do words, photos, or logos.  Anything custom may need an extra design fee.

As I said in the video, I purchased my 1.25″ button machine at American Button Machines and I’ve since purchased supplies for my machine as well.  You can scope out the prices there and various attachments and see what investment you would need to make to get started.

I also mentioned that I print my designs out in illustrator. While I couldn’t find Illustrator eps button templates online, I did find some 1.25″ templates you place in either Illustrator or Photoshop on the Buttonbiz web site.

I personally like the 1.25″ pinback buttons best.  They are really the standard size that everyone loves (not too big, not too small). I think the larger ones aren’t as wearable; however, they are great for other sellable items like can openers, mirrors, or magnets.  There’s a lot of broad uses of the way you can use the machine to make things!

Hope this helps you in your decision to venture into the button-making business.  It’s a really fun tool that I’m very glad I invested in!

Until next time Swellions!

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