The Make-Your-Own-Button Book

Frances Emery is an editor and writer living in Nepean, Ontario.

From the story of the button-as-political statement to tips on making
your own button backgrounds (antiquing in tea, bubble prints from dish
detergent and poster paints, crayons for wax-resist statements, and
more), this booklet provides enough background and creative hints to
keep a young craftsperson happily occupied for at least a spring-break
period. The book’s package also contains four reusable buttons, along
with basic instructions on how to snap your own creations in and out of
the buttons to make your own “wearable art,” and several pages of
button blanks (colored circles to be cut out and used as the surface for
the artwork).

The authors relate the history of “pin-on” buttons, giving lots of
examples from the past, some of them Canadian: a Girl Guides of Canada
symbol illustrates the section on designing your own logo; a Trudeau
button (along with Clinton, Kennedy, and Perot) appears in the section
on “campaign communications”; and Richmond Hill Winter Carnival 1983
and Thornhill Village Festival buttons accompany buttons from Scotland,
Portugal, and Australia in “scenes from the past.” The major
emphasis in the booklet, however, is on doing it yourself, and a
creative young person will easily follow the instructions and have a lot
of fun. Highly recommended.