bugaboo, mini, mr & me: button, button, who's got the button?

Last time I hung out with El, she showed me the most adorable button bracelets she’d made. Then I saw this bracelet for kids on Martha’s site while doing some research for the CSI Project's latest theme. I thought the button bracelet idea was adorable. Then I thought it would be even more adorable for a kid if you used those huge buttons in primary colors. THEN I thought, why stop at bracelet?? How about a toddler-sized button belt??? And then I thought I wonder if there’s any pistachio pie left. (But that’s beside the point).

This is the easiest belt you’ll ever make. (Well, that’s probably not true. If you ever tie a scarf or sash around your waist and call it a belt, that’s way easier. But this is pretty darn easy.)

Seriously, THAT’S IT!! Isn’t it great? Oh, you’ll need a pair of scissors too, or some other cutting implement.

First things first. Measure the waist of the toddler. If the toddler’s waist is not around, measure across the back of a pair of the toddler’s pants that fit well and multiply by two. If a pair of the toddler’s pants is not around (i.e. you are making this for your niece) then measure around a different toddler’s (of the same approximate size - i.e. your son’s) pants. (I was pretty sure bug couldn’t pull off the button belt thing... it seems a bit girly don’t you think? So I made it for K, knowing full well that it will get handed down to mini - if it survives. (crosses fingers)

Now, lay out your tape measure and line up your buttons to the length you need - to make sure you have enough.

Now you can lay out the pattern you want (I used a color pattern, making the sizes of the buttons random). You can combine the first two steps, I won’t mind. In fact, it’s really the smart and efficient way to do things.

Take your elastic cord and measure how long you need it to be.

Then, double it.

Then add about two inches to give yourself room for tying a knot.

Now, take the first button and one end of the elastic. Thread the elastic through a hole, back to front, then down through the hole next to it, front to back (so the elastic is going across the front of the button).

Slide the button down the the mid-point of the elastic.

Now, take the other end of the elastic and thread it through the bottom row of holes in the button, the same way you did the top holes.

Now you have two “threads.” One for the top row of button holes and the other for the bottom.

Make sure to leave a little lax in the elastic, so you can pull it out to form a loop.

Continue threading buttons.

Keep threading.

Around the half way point, begin to wonder if making a bracelet wasn’t a much better idea?

If you have a button you want to use with just two holes, instead of four, take the top elastic and thread it front to back and the bottom elastic and thread it back to front. This way, the button will stay oriented the way you want it to and the elastic will still be shown on the front of the button, like the other buttons.

When you’re done threading all of your buttons, tie a tight double knot in the two ends of elastic and trim the ends off.

To attach, just pull on the elastic at the end of the belt (the very first button you threaded) to create a “loop” and pull this over the button on the opposite end. A belt! (Or a necklace, really, looking at it now...)

Done!!

Take it over and give it to your two yr old niece.

Coax her into trying it on.

And now, the most challenging part of the WHOLE PROJECT. Try to get a good picture of her modeling the cute belt. Good luck with that, it may be impossible.

(the belt in motion. Literally.)

Can you guess what THIS pile of buttons will be?

When I finished the belt, I decided I needed to make my sister a bracelet, so she didn’t feel left out. I used two hole buttons and threaded them the way I explained the two hole buttons above. Perfect little present for that crafty someone in your life! And so easy too!