Thursday, January 17, 2013

Crazy Cute Buttons From Plastic Dollar Store Jacks

I made these buttons and dangles:








From a set of soft plastic jacks from the dollar store.




I love them so much, I could marry them.




Want to DIY?  Here's how.

Begin with jacks that are flexible plastic; they need to be able to bend just a little.



Snip, snip.




Heat a thin poker and melt a hole.




Stack two colors of your new four-armed 'beads,' and sandwich them between bead caps.  Thread the sandwich onto a headpin.




Here I used some plastic flowers in place of those bead caps:



Tip: Try to use something symmetrical to make the 'bread' of the sandwich.  Off-center flowers, or bead caps with an odd number of petals, won't squish the jacks together tightly.  You'll end up with wavy balls.  And wavy balls are not normally a good look for anybody.

Finish with a wrapped loop at the top of the sandwich.







 Fabulousness!






To visit my original tutorial on turning beads into shank-style buttons (one of my favorite posts ever), click right here.


Question.  If I'd used these in a "Guess The Mystery Thing" game, would you have guessed jacks?  Or would you have been mystified?

Hope you enjoyed this funny upcycle.  See ya!



18 comments:

  1. They look fab-lili-ocious! What a brilliant re-use. Like.

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  2. Ha Ha! So pretty Michelle! Great way to use those Jacks!

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  3. What a gem of a post Michelle - pun INTENDED! What you've done to these jacks is... well... let's just say that I'd marry them too if such things were allowed. Fantabulous!!!

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  4. I love this, especially the bracelet.

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  5. How smart you are..ohh..and these buttons..I like their use as mobile thingies..so cute & colorful ;)
    P.S very nice post as usual..

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  6. Geeze...How do you come up with these fabulous ideas???!!! Those are so fun!! I'm stopping by my dollar store today. I didn't even know they made soft jacks! Great project....as usual!

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  7. I wouldn't have but I never do. My girls have had several games of those jacks. Very cute - love the bracelet...

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  8. LOVE!! I may have to make some of these! I love the zipper pull and Creative Mind's mobile thingie uses.

    I don't think I'd have ever guessed jacks.

    Question: Do you look at the jacks and think, ooh, I could repurpose those into crazy cute buttons? Or do you look at them and think, I'm sure someday I'll figure out how to repurpose those.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, the second one, every time! I never know what I will do with a thing, and sometimes a found object will totally defeat me. I should post some of those fails, shouldn't I?

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  9. I never would have guessed...never. When is the wedding?

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  10. Never would have guessed. DIY Fail posts...interesting!

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  11. I have to try this now. RIGHT now.

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  12. Love them too!Thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday!

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  13. Wow, those are crazy cute!
    ~Jamie

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  14. Wow! I love this! Just found your blog and I love it!

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  15. OMG! I just found your blog and love this....I also just bought my grandsons these plastic jacks and they looked at me with their dumb looks and asked What's that??? I think I will go and reclaim...grandma's can do that and make some bling for their sister!

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