Buttons and Beads

Buttons and beads make a perfect match when married together in your beading designs, and Beadshop is constantly adding to its collection of both. Sometimes the inspiration for a jewelry design develops around a button. This may be why Beadshop's newest arrivals of full moon buttons have been very popular with beaders lately.

Red Luna

Measuring 18mm in diameter, the Red Luna button is made of glass and comes from the Czech Republic. On the back is a 1.5mm metal shank. 

Amber Luna

Enhanced with the color of amber, the Amber Luna Czech glass button has an Aurora Borealis coating, and like many of the beautiful buttons in this collection, the coating on each bead may vary due to the unique nature of each button.

Total Eclipse
Project by Brittany Ketcham-Roney ~ Sample by Karen Marshall 

Clearly, the moon button clasp on Karen Marshall's Total Eclipse bracelet influenced the design of this wrap bracelet. The laddering technique was used for this, and it is a free project available on Beadshop. You can download the free pdf instructions and quickly collect all the ingredients you need to make one for  yourself on the Beadshop's Total Eclipse project page. 

Here are some other free projects that incorporate unique buttons in the finished piece:

In Across Cultures, Toes in the Sand, Design by Janice Parsons ~ Sample by Grace Noland - A gold-tone sand dollar button became part of the toggle. 

Toes in the Sand 

Garden Path, Project and Sample by Janice Parsons - This button has a beautiful dragonfly on it. 

Garden Path

Whether making a necklace or bracelet using simple crochet techniques, like those in Grey Gardens, using a button as a clasp adds even more character to this beaded jewelry piece, designed by Emily Miller. An interesting square-shaped button, called Off Beat, was added to this piece. 

Grey Gardens

There seems to be no end to the possibilities of buttons teamed up with beads.