Creating your own custom buttons

This is the last part of our series on creating custom buttons. You can read the full article here. We began this series by educating on how the user can create their own custom buttons, either for fun or by profit. We discussed button making machines, how they operate, and some of the different custom button types that can be created.

This article series finishes by discussing how to choose the right paper for your buttons. The commonly accepted paper is a 24lb weight. Aside from being too expensive, heavier weight paper is prone to jamming in smaller button machines. There is no benefit to a thicker, high quality paper when creating buttons. A lighter weight paper could start to become translucent, and depending on the design you might end up with some of the metallic backing being near-visible through the paper! Certainly not the desired result! The choice in paper also depends on the recommendations of your button machine’s instructions, so be sure to read instructions carefully.

Aside from the button blanks, a button making machine and some paper, there really is not a lot to it. These resources can be found readily online and are easy to work with. Button machines will have specific instructions on how to create a button using that particular machine.

For a simple hobby, it is easy enough to invest in less expensive equipment and just have fun creating custom buttons for your friends. But if you want to turn button making into a business, it might be recommended to practice with inexpensive equipment until you’ve learned how to create buttons quickly (or even see if you enjoy doing it), and then upgrade to an automated solution. In some cases, clients can pay $1-$2 per button, so it is not unrealistic to earn $200/hour for creating buttons! Even if it is just a simple, fun hobby, creating your own custom buttons can be a wonderful, fun way to get creative and let your imagination go wild and artistic! So go have fun making some buttons now!