Giant Button - a Nice Handmade Gift for Crafters

So maybe you, or someone you know likes to sew and craft, and has a burgeoning button collection that hasn't quite gotten off the ground yet, and is also in need of some nice original wall art to decorate their home with? Look no further because making your very own giant button is the perfect thoughtful and creative answer!

The 18" button is hand crafted from pine boards and "sewn" with parachute cord. Now all I have to do is find a really big sweater...

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Materials

18" pine round circle from Home Depot
parachute Cord
paint
picture hanging supplies

Tools

router w/ circle jig
palm sander
ruler
square
painting supplies
drill
large spade drill bit

Step 2: Find Center of Circle

I just wrote an entire dedicated Instructable specifically on this topic.

Check it out and use it as step 1...How to find the center of a circle.

Step 3: Route Out Center of Circle

Now that we've found it, it's time to route it out.

I used a Jasper Circle Jig to create a crisp boundary on the exterior of the area that is being routed out. I then routed out the center by freehand.

I used an 1/4" bit with the Jasper Jig since that's what it requires, but then switched to a 1/2" bit to do the rest so it would go a bit faster. All in all it took about 10 minutes. Not too bad.

Step 4: Sand Smooth

The wood was left with some inconsistencies from the routing process. These can easily be sanded out with a random orbital sander. Pine is soft, this takes no time at all.

Step 5: Prime

I painted a coat of primer onto the table so that I'd get a really nice second coat of color. Why did I prime before all the woodwork was done? I don't know really, I just thought I'd stay consistent to whats shown in the pictures.

Step 6: Mark and Drill Button Holes

I marked four points approximately 4 inches from the center of the circle. They're evenly spaced and represent the four corners of a square.

I then used a large spade bit - the bigger the better in this situation I think, and drilled out four button holes on those marks.

Step 7: Route Out Space for Thread on Back

This step is sort of optional, but I had the router handy so I decided to go all the way. With a straight bit in the router, cut out some channels for the parachute cord to lay in on the back of the button. This way it can hang flush against the wall should you or your recipient choose to mount it that way.

Step 8: Paint It a Nice Color

I chose to paint my button a nice sky blue. You can paint your button any color you like.

Step 9: Mounting Hardware

I bought a simple picture hanging hardware kit from the store and screwed it to the back of the button.

Step 10: Sew It

Parachute cord seemed to be about the right weight and cost to use as thread for the button. All in all I think I used about 20 feet of bright yellow p-cord to "sew" it on. In reality it just loops around the back and is tied into place.

I opted for the standard cross stitch button sewing pattern, as opposed to the square box stitch just because I liked it better and I think it looks more iconic.

Putting some duct tape around the top of the string/thread helped me pass it through the button holes easier. (I didn't think that making a giant needle was necessary too...)