DIY Button Christmas Tree Ornaments

I have a confession to make - I love buttons! Okay, that's pretty well known. I've been collecting them for years and years and have a whole hoard of them. Usually, I work them into my jewelry, but I'm always looking for other beautiful ways to repurpose them.

While the idea for this project isn't anything new, I think my take on them is a little different. Most of the tutorials I've found for them have you starting at the top of the ornament and working down. It only made sense to me to work in the other direction. But first, gather your materials.
You'll need:
Wire 
8-12 buttons in increasing/decreasing sizes
Star beads
Chain-nose pliers
Wire cutters
Round-nose pliers
(I have links to all of these materials on Amazon at the end of this post)

I used 26 gauge copper-colored wire, but any gauge up to about 20 should fit into your buttonholes and beads. And, I found the star beads at the Dollar Tree!

To begin, cut your wire down to about 10 inches and bend it in half, but don't crease it, leave it in a gentle bend. Then insert the two ends into two of the holes on your largest button.

Slide the button down to the crease, then begin stacking the rest of the beads getting smaller as you stack. Make sure that for four-holed buttons you insert the wire in the holes that are diagonal from each other.

Keep the wire separated until you reach the top.

Twist a little of the wire together.

Slide on your star bead, making sure to insert the wire into the bottom of the star so that the point is up.

Create a wrapped loop above the star, ensuring that the loop is large enough to insert an ornament hanger, twine, or ribbon into it.

For the above ornament, I left it without the base, but it's easy enough to start with a couple of brown buttons to make your tree trunk.

In fact, I created a video on making one of these Button Christmas Tree Ornaments that includes using the brown beads.

I used white buttons for most of my ornaments to give them more of a Farmhouse Style feel, but you could use whatever colors match your other decorations and your style.

It's easy to get carried away and make a whole forest of them! I've got all mine hanging on my tree, but am considering adding them as accents on some of my gifts as well. Have fun with this project and let me know if you make any of these cute button trees!

I've shared this on the Handmade Hangout Party and DIY Salvaged Junk Projects

Also, if you'd like to find any of the materials I used on Amazon, here are links to similar ones:
White Buttons Button Mix 26 gauge Craft Wire Assortment Jewelry plier set *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

13 comments:

  1. These are adorable! Thank you for the tutorial. I will try these. I think I'm going to make some non-breakable ornaments and put up a tree next year (cat proof). I'll miss my pretty vintage glass ornaments, but it will be fun to have a tree again.

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    1. Ann, I'm so very happy you like them! Depending on the size of the buttons, they're still kinda small ornaments, but I have them on my tree with some traditional decorative plastic ornaments and a ton of Disney ornaments, so these added a touch of handmade-ness to my decorations.

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  2. Replies
    1. Aw, thanks so much! Like I said, it's not an original one but is my take on the craft. I can't resist a good button project.

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    1. Thank you, Lorraine! Now I just to make some more ornaments for my tree before the big day. I'm loving having a tree this year.

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  4. These mini trees are so so cute. It is a great idea Hope. I wish I had buttons of different sizes in my stash to make similar trees.

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    1. Divya, Thank you! If was a little bit of a challenge to find buttons of varying sizes as it seems there must be standard sizes of some of them. But, I guess I'm fortunate that I have a LARGE stash of them. Of course, you have all kinds of other interesting materials that we don't have available over here. (like those copper tongue scrapers!)

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  5. I love these!! And I got those same star beads at Dollar Tree too! I plan on making some of these with my buttons - thanks for sharing you cool idea and tutorial.

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  6. I love these, too and have been planning to make some for ages! Reading this, I realized I had a bag of white star beads somewhere... Maybe next year :)

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  7. Hi there, I'm making these this year and don't know if I can get those star beads at the Dollar Tree. I was wondering if you had an Amazon alternative? Thanks so much - they look awesome!

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    1. Thank you! I think you asked the same question on my video and I've added a link there. I'll be adding a link today to this post. Great question and reminder to get some links on this post. I really appreciate it.

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  8. I've been wanting to make these for years and never did. Now that my button stash is strongly reduced, it would be a challenge but your post inspired me to at least try :)

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