Introducing 1 inch Ponytail Sets!

When ancient man needed to find a more efficient mode of transportation, it resulted in the invention of the wheel in Mesopotamia around the 5th millenium B.C.

When colonial American man needed a way to light dark rooms other than the candle, it led to the inspiration of that famous stormy night in Philadelphia and, ultimately, the invention of electricity.

And when society was plagued by loaf after loaf of frustratingly unsliced bread, it led to what was, at the time, the greatest invention in the history of the world and perhaps the entire universe. Yes, you know of what I am speaking: sliced bread.

But today, ladies and gentleman of the buttonsphere, is truly a landmark day. Why? Because no longer will great things be called “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

No, there is now an even greater discovery, a greater invention, that surpasses even the previously peerless greatness of sliced bread. Thus, henceforth, whenever something great or fantabulous happens, you will now all be compelled to use the phrase in its new incarnation:

…”the greatest thing since 1″ ponytail holders.”

That’s right folks, the long anticipated day is here: 1″ ponytail holders are are now a reality.

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Customer Spotlight: Barrel of Monkeys

Welcome to the first ABM Customer Spotlight! 

We are very excited about this new feature here on the Button Blog, where we will be spotlighting the wonderful and creative button making work of some of our most loyal customers.

The first ABM Customer Spotlight is Jill Hamilton-Krawczyk, the creative genius behind Barrel of Monkeys. And rather than having us tell you about Jill and the story behind Barrel of Monkeys, we’ll let her tell you.

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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 Blog Update: New Posts Coming!

Hello there fellow button makers! We have not posted on The Button Blog since the Button University series ended, so I wanted to explain the short hiatus…because more posts are on their way.

For a long time we have received inquiries about the differences between American-made button maker systems and the 3-in-1 (or all-in-one) button makers manufactured in China. In an effort to provide a substantial and detailed response to these questions, we have been hard at work preparing some content around this topic. The articles are currently in the editing and staging phase and will be posted in various forms both here at the button blog and at the American Button Machines main website.

So stay tuned, because more content is coming. And if, for some reason, you come to the end of this post and just happen to be in the planning stage of a button making project and looking for a little guidance as to what button sizes you should choose, hop on over to the main website for our newest page about button sizes; or stay right here and read the button sizes post we did during the Button University series.

We’ll see you soon!

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.