photo by Wilder Rees

My adventure into the world of button jewelry began by accident. About 6 years ago, I began teaching an art class at The Waverly School in Pasadena, where my son Wilder attends school. I asked the kids to bring in some buttons because we were going to string them together and make some simple bracelets for their moms as a Mother's Day present. I even asked my neighbors and friends if they had any extra buttons laying around for this project.

Before I knew it, people began leaving buttons on my doorstep, in my mailbox - they were everywhere! After the project was completed, I told the kids to take the buttons back home and they said "No, my mom said she never wanted to see them again"...so I was stuck with hundreds of buttons. They sat around for a while until I began to carefully sort through them. They were beautiful - buttons made of rhinestones, mother-of-pearl, hand painted ceramic, Bakelite, carved wood, antique fabric. They looked like jewels.

Eureka!

Aarrrr matey, I discovered a hidden treasure. What was once just 'bags of old buttons' suddenly became a new medium to work with. These buttons became my palette. I found an alternate form of paint, clay, pencil, woodblock etc.  My playground just grew. I messed around with some of the buttons and made my first bracelet, which I still have. I wore it a few times and everyone began to notice and asked where I got it and where they could buy one. That's how it all started.

I'm self-taught, trial and error - mostly error in the beginning. When you wear a bracelet and it starts falling apart and there's more buttons on the floor then on your wrist, well, you learn what not to do.

I use mostly vintage and antique buttons with a shank back. Sometimes I will use contemporary buttons if I like the color, shape or theme but I try to stay away from them. Newer buttons are flimsy and cheap and are made so poorly that they easily break. They have a disposable aura. Old buttons have charm as well as beauty. They were made to last back then and there was a sense of artistry. And, they hold history too. When I hold in my hand a button that I guess to be about 70-80 years old, I feel like it has stored up years of time, events and memories. There are stories to be told in there but they remain a mystery. Some buttons from years ago were even hand painted portraits and passed on to the next generation, like a photo album.

The tools that I use are 2 needle nose pliers. I use straight needle-nose pliers in my right hand and curved ones in my left. I don't know why this works but it does. I use a combination of different size split jump rings for assemblage; 6mm-10mm depending on the size of the button, the chain that it is going on and the size of the shank. 

I take into consideration the material of the button. Buttons made entirely out of glass are very fragile so I have to use a very thin, small jump ring for attachment. Sometimes, traditional jump rings don't work. They are just too fat. So I have to make my own from thin wire. It's time consuming, but it works, so I do it.

I have a fantastic magnifier/lamp that I bought at a thrift store. It's from the 1950's and used to belong to an architect. It's a floor model style and I couldn't live without it. It has a florescent light that gives off a soft comfortable glow, very easy on the eyes. I work using two different light sources, one from the left and one from the top. This gives just the right amount of light that's evenly dispersed.

So many elements matter. Is the color of the button the right shade of blue?  Is the shape right?  Is it the right size?  Too big?  Too small? Each bracelet has anywhere from 23 to 29 buttons. If I don't have enough to finish the piece, then I just wait until I find the right ones. Eventually, they will show up at a yard sale, flea market, thrift store, someone's attic, or left on my doorstep. In time, the buttons that I'm looking for will find their way home.

The process leading up to the actual construction of a bracelet is the most exciting. The design part is really fun and feeds my creative spirit. It all starts by laying down one button and building from there. I add some, remove others, switch this one and that, drop many, loose some to another universe, and replace others for ones of a different form. Then when I think it might just be complete, I let the bracelet sit and bake, metaphorically speaking.  Get back to life; do laundry, school pick up, cook, walk the dog. Then I go back and if anything about the bracelet bothers me, I make a change.

Once I feel that it has made the journey, I attach all the pieces (buttons and maybe some charms too) to a chain roughly the size of 8”. Next, I put it on and wear it for a while. I like to see if it’s hanging on the wrist well and weighted properly. And, it’s fun to wear - a new bracelet fresh out of the oven.



I guess the whole process takes a few hours. But, I’m always thinking about my next piece even when I’m not sitting at my space. It doesn’t stop and start. The process is an ongoing way of life. I couldn’t stop it if I tried.  I’ve made around 300 bracelets and have sold about 250 so far. I always have an inventory of around 50.

I don’t like to sell my own jewelry. I’m horrible at the selling part. Sometimes I attend what’s called a ‘trunk show’ where you set up a display at an event - usually held in a convention center or outdoors. This is my least favorite thing to do. It’s extremely time-consuming, boring, and I swear I will never do another one. I prefer retail stores and then the owner takes a percentage. My favorite shop where I sell lots of bracelets is a little place called Heather’s Store on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, California. It’s a sweet store about the size of my kitchen, but she sells dozens of bracelets on a regular basis. I’m really happy to have found the right place to sell. And, Heather and I have a good working relationship. I would like to find a few more stores where I can display my pieces. But, they have to be the right place to fit in with what I create.

I also have an online store on the Etsy website: BeccasPlace.etsy.com. It’s good to have an online shop as well. I can reach people from all over the country. However, it is time consuming. I have to photograph the bracelet from numerous angles, post the pics, write a description of the piece and then follow up if the piece is sold. That means packaging, paper work and a trip to the post office.

I LOVE custom orders. It’s really a challenge when someone asks for a bracelet to be made of a specific theme or color or for a special event. I’ve had all kinds of requests with unusual themes: Monopoly, island tiki, saints & sinners, iconic image art, breast cancer awareness, wiener dog, Day of the Dead. It’s fun to experiment.

some custom pieces:

Monopoly


Breast Cancer Awareness


Island Tiki

A while back, I made 7 bracelets for a woman using mostly buttons from her own collection. Some of the buttons were about 100 years old and belonged to her great aunt. They had special meaning. It was such a treat to work with this amazing slice of history. I worked with styles of buttons that I didn’t know even existed. Each bracelet was going to a different member of her family. They would all own and wear a piece of jewelry that was a part of their family heritage. In a small way, her great aunt’s life will live on.

Mother nature is my favorite designer. I study from nature - sunsets, trees, flowers, bugs, and desert landscape. The outdoor world is my inspiration. Take a good look at the Bird of Paradise plant. The colors live in perfect harmony together with just the right amount of purple to pay compliment to the luscious orange body and green stem. It’s all out there for us to see and enjoy and emulate in our own work of art.

Whether it’s animating a character, painting a picture, sculpting or writing…it all stems from an idea - a seed that’s planted. Do you want to water that seed and help it to grow? Or, are you going to ignore it and go do something else?


All photos used in this article are the property of Rebecca Rees.