Would you spend hours glueing buttons to a chair if it wasn't for a Gorilla glue contest? Well maybe. I actually started this project late one night and a few days later found out about the glue contest so this is my entry. I used Gorilla glue because having used it before for projects I really like how it has a bit of flex, buttons wont go breaking off if banged. Best of all it dries so fast you only have to hold the button for a moment on a vertical surface to get it to stick.

There is a bit of planning before you get started, so read all the instructions before you start going crazy with your buttons putting them just anywhere.

Step 1: Supplies

A wooden chair - preferably one with square legs vs round legs
Gorilla Super Glue
Denatured alcohol - for cleaning the chair
Rag - for wiping down the chair with the denatured alcohol
Buttons, lots of buttons. You want buttons without shanks (shanks are the either metal or plastic thing on the back that allows you to sew on a button without the thread showing)
pliers - these are for removing shanks on buttons with shanks

Step 2: A Little Planning Goes a Long Way

Doing this project is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You must start with the edges first. If you don't you'll run the risk of having buttons hanging off the edges or blank spaces because there is no button to fit the space you have left.

There were some spaces in the seat of my chair so I first stuck some buttons that had shanks into those spaces to save me the trouble of trying to get rid of the shanks.

Step 3: Tips

Contrasting different colored buttons next each other makes for a good looking design. I also tried to put different sized buttons together. You will really want to save you teeniest tiniest buttons to fill in any areas that you may have left over so don't use them until the end.

When ever you are able to do so, work on a horizontal surface. When I was working on the back of the chair I set it up on my kitchen table on its back.

Place 5 or 6 buttons before you start to glue them, I alternated between putting a dab of glue on the chair itself and putting a dab on the button. Both methods work fine, but when you are filling in a tight spot with a small button it is easier to dab the chair so as not to get glue on your fingers.

Step 4: Done

This looks like an easy project and it is - but it takes some patience as you go through your buttons looking for just the right one to go in just the right place. Most of these buttons came from my great grandmother, grandmother, garage sales and a friend. I have had the family buttons most of my life and I was always thinking of ways to use them but this is the best - because I have used them but I still have them. My girl friend sent me a jar of buttons she had been saving and being that they are from her (and she could even pick them out in the photo I sent her) makes the chair even more special.

Can you sit on it you ask? Yes! And the crazy thing is that it is more comfortable than it was before the buttons went on. I guess it just gives your butt more surface area to be cushioned.

Participated in the
Gorilla Glue Make It Stick Contest

33 Comments

winneremerald12

4 years ago

Looks like something Rhett and Link would use on Good Mythical Morning.

noahh

12 years ago on Introduction

Reminds me of this fantastic suit:

Abbylynn

sooooo cute

bongodrummer

Beautiful! I made a bath panel in a similar style once - good advice about planning the placement ;)
Do you keep the chair outside? If so how does the glue stand up to the whether?

I see you posted this a while ago, when's the next ible??
Thanks for sharing,
B.