This upcycled button barrette is so simple to make! And it's cute and functional too! Make a bunch for your little girl. :)

How to Make a Button Barrette (Upcycled!)

Learn how to make a button barrette! I’m sharing an upcycled version of this simple craft that I think you’ll really love.

I never would have believed it had you told me how many clothes would come in and out of this household in the last four years. As in, how many baby and little kid clothes. I can now join the chorus of moms everywhere who cry, “How do they grow so fast?I

Most of the time, I bag up the clothes we don’t need anymore and take them to the thrift store. But as my daughter has grown older, there have been more and more cases of me realizing I can’t donate an item because, well, it’s kind of lost it’s luster.

In the case of the shirt pictured below, what you can’t see is all of the paint on the torso and the sleeves. I know I should always put a paint shirt on her for creative time, but there are still times when I think, “Nah, this time will be fine—she’s got this.” To her credit, most of the time she does, but we can’t be perfect all the time.

Also I guess they don’t use smocks or t-shirts at preschool because every time I send her to school in a new cute outfit, it comes back with paint and all sorts of crafty wonderment all over the place.

At least she’s artistic.

Anyway, back to this project. I really liked this cute little shirt, so I decided to upcycle it and cut out all of the buttons which then led to this cute button barrette craft. If you’d like to make something similar, you can do so by buying or upcycling buttons in your own collection.

Make a Button Barrette

To make two barrettes, you will need:

Two alligator clips (You’ll get a big bag of them—enough for a TON of cute projects!)
Hot glue gun and glue
Two buttons
Felt in matching or complimentary colors
Scissors

In my case, I cut the buttons and the hearts off of the shirt. You can just get the buttons you’re going to use out at this point. And plug in the glue gun. 🙂

This upcycled button barrette is so simple to make! And it's cute and functional too! Make a bunch for your little girl. :)

I cut out several circles (and some hearts) of felt that were slightly larger than the button I was going to use.

This upcycled button barrette is so simple to make! And it's cute and functional too! Make a bunch for your little girl. :)

For a couple of the button barrettes, I layered the felt circles (seen on the right barrette below.) I tried out a couple of ideas to see if I liked the alligator clip showing.

To assemble, use your glue gun to dot glue onto the alligator clip and press the felt on. Continue to layer each piece until you’re finished!

This upcycled button barrette is so simple to make! And it's cute and functional too! Make a bunch for your little girl. :)

These make the cutest barrettes, and I’m so glad these sweet buttons will live on in another life. It kind of reminds me of this sweet book about a mom upcycling her daughter’s clothes. (It’s a regular read around here—we love it!)

Hope you all have a wonderful {and creative} day!


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19 responses to “How to Make a Button Barrette (Upcycled!)”

  1. Stephanie Avatar

    Hi Jennie,
    I love this easy little craft. My daughter just turned one…and is finally growing some hair! I think I might be able to get a barrette in it soon. I can’t wait to whip these up. So cute and I love that you up-cycled! Thanks for sharing. Pinned it, too, so I don’t forget when I get a little time to get my craft on!

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Oh my goodness, Stephanie. Tiny barrettes in baby girl hair are the best. Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂 (P.S. I stopped by your blog and wow, your daughter’s 1st bday party was amazing!)

  2. June Rostad Avatar

    I added to my schedule to pin! These came out adorable. I have a habit of collecting all sorts of odd buttons, either when I stop at a store (I can’t resist that $1 button stash).

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Oh, thank you, June! Aren’t buttons irresistible? 🙂 Have a great weekend!

  3. susen Dabbling Momma Avatar

    how adorable, thanks for sharing with us on our FB page!

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

  4. Teresa Avatar

    Lovely! I love this kind of quick upcycle projects, and little girls can’t have too many barrettes anyway! Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party this week. Pinned!

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thanks, Teresa! Have a great week! 🙂

  5. Fiona Cambouropoulos Avatar

    these are beautiful and would brighten up any top #RealCraftyLinkParty

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thank you! 🙂

  6. Liz Avatar

    These are so cute! What a great idea!

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thanks, Liz! 🙂

  7. Sharon@BlueWillowHouse Avatar

    Adorable with a great tutorial. Thank you for sharing at Vintage Charm

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thank you, Sharon!

  8. Theresa @DearCreatives Avatar

    What a fun craft. I bet my grand daughter would love to make these with me sometime. Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight Party. Pinned & Shared.

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thanks so much, Theresa! 🙂

  9. Mary-the boondocks blog Avatar

    Jennie this is just adorable. I too am all about recycling my kids old clothes. Why I even took an old top of my daughter’s and used it to cover her desk chair. We are being so good when we re-purpose and we also hold on to the memories of the original clothes.

    1. Jennie Avatar
      Jennie

      Thank you, Mary! My mom always reminds me that fabric is fabric which has opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities out there. I love that you used a top of your daughter’s to cover her desk chair—so cool! Have a great day! 🙂

  10. Kileen Avatar

    So cute! Thank you for sharing at Link It Up Wednesday!

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