How To Make a Button Bib Necklace {step by step Tutorial}

How to Make a Button Bib Necklace

{with pearl and jewel embellishments}

As you can see, this is one of those tutorials where my button hoarding came in handy.

Before I began this project, I gathered my button collection--consisting of every extra button that ever came attached to my clothing purchases, all my grandma's old/vintage buttons, and some extras from jewelry that I took apart because it was out of style.

So call up your momma, your grandma, your auntie or friend, and see if they have any fun old buttons or out of style jewelry that they don't mind you destroying up-cycling.

Here is what you need to make your own button bib necklace:

Felt

buttons

pearls

jewels

20 inches of necklace chain

fabric scissors

sharpie marker

hot glue gun

Here is a close up of the buttons I selected for this piece.

First, lay out approximately 1 square foot of felt.

Use your sharpie to mark the main edges of your necklace.

I purposely did not make my necklace border perfectly uniform. First of all, I am not talented enough to freehand the shape--and secondly, I kinda prefer the whimsical off balance look.

After you mark the main edges, fill in the space with your buttons.  Just lay them in place for now so you can move them around until you get a design you like.

Once you have them all in place you can start to glue each button into place.

Be careful to not use too much glue, because hot glue shows up on black felt and the random glue gun strings will make it look ugly. Also, if some of your buttons have that little hoop on the back where the string should go, you can use a pair of strong scissors to cut it off so that the button will be flush against the felt.

Once you have glued all your buttons into place, cut out your necklace along the edge of the buttons.

Now take your pearls and glue them down in any gaps or large open spaces you see.

{with pearls added in}

Now, flip over your bib and lay out your 20 inch necklace chain.  You will be gluing down about one inch on each side--so your necklace will end up being 18 inches when you wear it {you can customize this to any length you want, just remember to account for the chain you are gluing down}.

Apply glue to the entire bib, with extra glue over the chain.

Then flip it over and set it on top of the second piece of felt.

Press it firmly into place, then cut out the excess felt along the edges of the bib.

And that's it!

Happy Crafting!

I will be linking this project up to a handful of these fabulous link parties!

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