Buttons From Avocado Pits

Intro: Buttons From Avocado Pits

I’ve been inspired by avocado pit carvings for a while. However, because of how much the pit can warp while drying, I didn’t really get into it. So I had the idea of making little buttons. This project is quite simple, and the result is beautiful and can be used in other projects. I had a lot of fun doing it.

STEP 1: Preparing the Pits

Leave the avocado pit in a dry place for a day or to until the skin becomes dry and crackly. Peal the skin off and split the pit into two halves.

STEP 2: Start Cutting

The peeled pit surface is shiny, but the inside is matte. Using a knife cut off thin layers from the surface of the pit until no shiny areas are left. This helps prevent wrinkling and warping when drying. Cut the bottom so it's flat.

STEP 3: Shaping

Push a round cookie cutter into the flesh of the pit. Remove the cutting from the cookie cutter and slice it into 5 mm thick sections. Repeat this until you run out of avocado pit. Using the knife round off the edges by cutting off small sections at a time until you get a smooth shape.

STEP 4: Drying and Sanding

Dry the buttons under a weight. Sand the surface so it’s smooth. Mark out the buttonholes with a pencil.

STEP 5: Drilling

Drill the buttonholes using a hand drill. To hold them in place while I drilled, I used double sided tape to hold it on a wooden block.

STEP 6: Finishing

To make the colours more vibrant and make the buttons more water resistant I used a mixture of beeswax and coconut oil. I rubbed it in using a piece of cloth. However, any wax meant for wood finishing that you have on hand will work well. That’s just what I had.

STEP 7: Experimenting With Shapes: Squares

I tried the same process with a square cookie cutter. I found it difficult to remove thick chunks of avocado pit from the cutter so my recommendation when using cutter shapes with corners is to first slice the pit halve into 5 mm thick sections and only then use the cookie cutter on them. With squares I also drilled 4 holes instead of 2.

STEP 8: Experimenting With Shapes: Triangles

I used the same process for triangle buttons. It worked well. The shape isn’t very practical, but they make really cute decorative buttons.

Comments

[lindbergh27]

How long do you let it the buttons dry under the weight?

Does't putting a weight on top prevent water from evaporating?

[indivisibl]

I put the buttons between some sheets of paper towel, so it soaks up the moisture, and check every few days if they're dry. After a couple weeks they dry out. Then I left them out a few more days. It does slightly slow the drying process, but it also limits warping so it's worth it

[tah5561]

Was your weight breathable, like wood, or like metal? I used a really heavy metal weight, but they got moldy. Maybe I need more paper towels. I also had a few crack, maybe I made them too thin, or took the weight off too soon. I’m going to keep trying! I’m going to take my botched ones and see if I can dye them.

[indivisibl]

Dyeing them is an interesting idea! I'm sorry it didn't work out at first. I guess there was just to much moisture. Maybe if that's the case you could try just letting them air dry without weights for a couple days. And when drying under weight check if the towels need replacing every few days. I just placed it under a plastic box filled with stuff.

[tah5561]

Ok, thanks! I will try that. I will get it right eventually.

[WUVIE]

A very cool idea, indeed. I admit, I've been saving avocado pits off and on over the years, but have never thought to make buttons with them. I like this idea!

[indivisibl]

Thank you 💚

[wannabemadsci]

What variety of avocados are these? The avocados that make it to our household have spherical pits/seeds and are hard as rocks. No cookie cutter application here. :-(

[indivisibl]

Hi, the avocados that are mostly available where I live are Hass avocados, though I have tried a few varieties. With all the ones I've seen the pits are soft enough to cut with a knife when fresh. I guess there are a lot more different varieties and some might not be right for this application

[ImprovCrafting]

Cool use! Do you know (yet) how well they hold up and what care they need? (Do they have to be removed before handwashing? Do they survive machine washing and/or machine drying? Handwash-soaking, like when you forget you left something? ...yeah, that's "hypothetical"...)
I realize you might not want to risk destructive testing.

[indivisibl]

Thanks 😁 I haven't tested it out yet but I wouldn't machine wash, hand washing should be fine, the wax protects them to some degree. Of course if you want them to be more resilient you can always use varnish instead of wax, but I prefer the more natural look of the wax

[ImprovCrafting]

Thanks for the response!

[SparkBark]

I never knew you could carve avocados pits! that's awesome.

[indivisibl]

Thanks 💙 Yeah people do some amazing carvings with them

[bluebird129]

This is such a cool idea. Great Instructable!

[indivisibl]

Thank you 💙

[Knitknut]

I do a lot of knitting, often adding decorative buttons. I love the avocado pit buttons! Thanks so much for the great idea and instructions.

[indivisibl]

Thank you 💜

[cspann560]

Intriguing! My wife is the knitter and loves avocados. I'm the woodworker and I think they're yucky. She gets the buttons and the avocado. I get the fun if making these!

[indivisibl]

That seems like a pretty good arrangement 😀