Welcome to The Button Blog
by American Button Machines!

We are so glad that you have decided to join us at The Button Blog, where our goal is very simple: to celebrate the wonderful world of buttons.

Please, browse The Button Blog to learn more about making buttons, and to discover the many varied uses of a button machine and the myriad novelty items that you can create with your own button maker.

***Featured Product: 1" Ponytail Sets

You asked and American Button Machines listened, and we are now proud to announce our brand yaba-daba-new 1" ponytail sets, which have never before been available for purchase anywhere.

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Recent Posts

Common Myths About Chinese-made Button Making Kits

Over at our American Button Machines website, we recently posted a couple of new pages that offer a detailed comparison between American-made button making kits and Chinese-made button maker kits. While we are sure that some of you have noticed the links to the new pages on the ABM homepage and checked them out, we are quite certain that most of you do not spend your days hitting “Refresh” on our homepage awaiting new links.

Thus, we are going to post the content of those pages here, in a four-part series that breaks the content on the website up into four smaller chunks.

In the first part of the series that we are posting today, we are going to provide an overview and take a quick look at a few common myths about 3-in-1 button makers that are manufactured in China.

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Button University Lesson 10: Badge-a-Minit Button Making Supplies – Size and Other Differences

Hello once again from your button blogging friends at American Button Machines. We are thrilled to have you back for the 10th and final lesson of Button University. (Please, take moment if you need to go grab tissues so you can wipe away the tears.)

Yesterday, we talked about fabric button machines and systems. Today, we are going to talk about Badge-a-Minit Supplies. For some of you, you are asking, “What in the world are Badge-a-Minit supplies?” Let me explain.

There are basically two kinds of button making supplies in the USA.

1. Industry standard button-sized supplies. These supplies fit 99% of all standard-sized button machines. Yes, we are in that 99.9%.

2. Badge-a-Minit sized button supplies. These supplies are slightly larger than the industry standard. They are designed specifically to fit Badge-a-Minit machines. People who are not aware that Badge-a-Minit machines don’t work with the US industry standards can end up wasting a lot of money when they buy the wrong sized button supplies.

To help out our customers, we also offer Badge-a-Minit supplies for a lower price at. Our BAM Supplies are Certified and Guaranteed and Badge-a-Minit “sized”. They will work…hassle-free.

Not only are they less expensive when purchased from us, but our same standard of excellence applies. Here are the differences between their supplies and our BAM Supplies.

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Button University Lesson 9: Fabric Button Machines and Systems

Welcome back to another installment of Button University Lessons! In Lesson 8, we showed you some quick videos and outlined step-by-step button making guidelines, reconfirming the simplicity and speed of our machines. Today, we are going to talk a little bit about fabric covered buttons.

Our Fabric Button Machine allows you to make your own fabric buttons or ponytail holders! In fact, Using our large eyelet two-piece button sets, fabric covered buttons can be attached to shoe laces, flip flops, shoe charms, hair ties & more!

There are a couple of machines that we have that will cater to whatever needs you have. Here are the details on those machines.

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Customer Spotlight: Houston Museum of Natural Science

We are proud to call the Houston Museum of Natural Science one of our customers and it is our pleasure to feature HMNS in an especially timely edition of our Customer Spotlight today.

Why is it so timely? Well, because the HMNS is distributing buttons to commemorate an impending experience that has been described as “a combination of rotting vegetation and rotting flesh.”

Wait…what?

Allow me to explain.

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Button University Lesson 8: Making Buttons Is Easy!

Yesterday, in Lesson 7 of Button University, we talked about ways for you to create your templates for your buttons. Today, we are going to show you how easy it is to make a button when using our easy to use, quality button machines.

Watch it happen. Check out the videos of the process. The longest one is only 24 seconds! It really is that easy to make a button!

• Button Machine Video
  
• Adjustable Rotary Cutter Video
• High Volume Die Cutting Press

Here are some more simple step-by-step guidelines on how to make a button using products from American Button Machines.

Button Machine Step-by-Step

Step 1: Place the button components in the Pickup Die and the Crimp Die.
Step 2: Rotate the Pickup Die clockwise until it is underneath the Upper Die.
Step 3: Pull the handle down, easily crimping the shell, graphic, and mylar in the Upper Die.

Punch Cutter Step-by-Step

Step 1: Insert the paper strip into the punch cutter and center the graphic in the hole.
Step 2: Push the handle down until the punch goes all the way through the paper.
Step 3: Remove the cut graphic and place to the side.
Step 4: Pull the paper strip through, center the next graphic, and repeat steps 2 and 3.

As you can quickly tell, it doesn’t take long to make a button. And it’s certainly not very difficult! Join us tomorrow as we talk a little more about Fabric Buttons.

Button University Lesson 7: Button Template Guidelines

Good afternoon! In yesterday’s Button University lesson, we let you in on the small differences between the beginner button making system and the professional button making system. Our hope is that the information is helpful for you as you decide the best system for your needs. Today we are going to be talking about Button Templates and Guidelines for using them. Let’s get started.

As you can imagine, the last thing any of us wants is to spend a lot of time designing a button, only to find out that all the dimensions are off and the photograph of Uncle Larry seems to have him missing an arm once you put the poor guy in the button. So, in order to help you avoid unnecessary frustration and to help Uncle Larry keep his arm, here are the tools for your templates.

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Button University Lesson 6: Beginner Button Making Systems and Professional Button Making Systems

Glad you’re back as another week begins to visit The Button Blog and increase your button making success! On Friday, in the fifth installment of our Button University series, we discussed button paper — specifically, how to choose the right kind. Today, we are going to show you the elements of beginner and professional button making systems.

The readership of this blog varies between both beginners and professionals, and with that come natural questions. Although it may seem like a beginner will need a completely different system than a seasoned professional, that’s not completely true. In fact, the only difference between a beginner button making system and a professional button making system is the type of paper cutter you’ll receive. Our Beginner Systems include the Adjustable Rotary Cutter while our Professional Systems include a Punch Cutter.

Once you order the appropriate system you can begin making buttons in minutes… literally.

Below I’ve listed a complete list of what you’ll get in both the Beginner Button Making System and the Professional Button Making System.

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Button University Lesson 5: Choosing the Right Kind of Button Paper

Welcome back!

In our last Button University post, about cutters, I promised you we’d talk about paper button makers, and I am here to deliver on that promise. Friday is half over now, and weekend plans are underway. If it’s as rainy in your city as it is in mine, then it may very well be the perfect time to start creating those buttons! In order to do that, let’s talk about button paper.

A common mistake when buying button paper for use in a button making project is spending too much money and making it too complicated. We’re going to simplify the process for you today.

Unlike the paper cutters of other manufacturers, our cutters have been designed to make your paper-buying experience less expensive and hopefully a bit more fun!

Here are some simple tips on how to choose the right kind of button paper:

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Button University Lesson 4: The Three Different Kinds of Cutters

Sorry for the late posting time on today’s Button University lesson. Sometimes the phone just rings and rings and rings and our duty as gatekeepers to the wonderful world of buttons beckons from sunrise to sundown. After a moment to catch my breath, it is now time for some late afternoon fun here at The Button Blog.

Yesterday, in lesson 4 of our ongoing Button University series, we discussed design standards for button machines and gave you the reasons why ours have the best button machine design available on the market. Today, we are going to dive feet first into cutters. And if you are a graduate of Indiana University, no, this post does not have anything to do with the Cutters race team or the Little 500.

(Raise your hand if you understood that reference? The movie Breaking Away? Anyone? Okay, not many hands up. I hear crickets. Let’s just move along now, shall we?)

So, let’s say that you are getting ready to start a button project. You have your button machine, you have all of your button supplies, and you even have sheets of neatly printed circular graphics ready to go. Are you ready to start making buttons?

Not so fast. Your gorgeous and beautiful graphics must be cut out!

How are you going to accomplish this?

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Button University Lesson 3: Best Button Machine Design Standards

Welcome to the third edition of our continuing daily Button University series. In previous posts, we tackled issues related to button making instructions and button sizes, and today we look at button machine designs; and specifically, how ABM products incorporate the best button machine design standards in the ever burgeoning button maker market.

Let’s make one thing clear right off the bat: we believe that our button makers incorporate the finest materials and technology to consistently produce quality buttons time and time again. In no way is this meant to disparage our competition. Rather, it is a simple proclamation to our customers that you can completely trust that the products you receive from American Button Machines will be the best. Period.

Why are we so confident that our products employ the best button machine design standards? Let’s count out a few of the reasons:

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