B2S Tip for Teachers: Teach Business and Have Fun with…Buttons!

As you are probably aware, it is now September. This means a number of things: in most areas of the country it means that leaves will start changing colors; it also means that both college and professional football are set to begin new seasons while baseball winds another long one down; it also means that shorts and tank tops are replaced by jeans and wind breakers.

And, most importantly, it means that kids are back to school. (Hence the “B2S” in the title…our attempt to start the next “LOL” or “BTW”. So pass it on…)

Another year of school starting means that teachers across the country are looking for new classroom activities that can not only hold students’ attention but also teach them valuable lessons. For any teachers out there looking for an innovate way to teach math, teamwork, business concepts, and even simple economics, we have the perfect idea.

Yep, you guessed it: buttons! (What were you expecting? Textbooks? Ha!)

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Button shows that not even the stench of death can deter one happy bride

By the time their wedding day comes around, most women have dreamt about it and visualized it over and over and over again.

The dress, and the ring, and the cake, and the music, and the invitations, and the flower girls, and, oh yeah!, even the groom…for most brides (and certainly for whoever is in charge of planning the wedding) that special day is one for which all the t’s must be crossed, the i’s must be dotted, and even the tiniest curveball can be cause for concern and consternation.

So you might that think that even the most even-keeled bride would turn into a bridezilla if they had to deal with what Jessica Zabala feared she would have to deal with on her wedding day.

And what is that, you ask? Oh nothing…nothing at all…just the smell of death emanating from across the street, nefariously infiltrating the noses of everyone in its vicinity.

Ms. Zabala’s reaction? Wear a button that says “I Love Lois” in honor of the famous “Corpse Flower” from whence the smell was wafting.

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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 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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Event Fundraising Ideas for Non-Profits: Use Buttons to Promote, Enhance Event

Custom buttons can be a great way to help market and advertise events hosted by your non-profit organization, and enhance your fundraising initiatives. Buttons can be used as gifts, advertisements, and status symbols, as well as many other uses. Non-profits that utilize buttons for promoting events employ a cost-effective way to get their message out to a large audience.

Using buttons to advertise for your non-profit organization is a low-cost way to boost fundraising efforts in several ways. Here a few proven event fundraising ideas for non-profits that can help your non-profit fundraising efforts:

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ABM Video Series: How to Create Ponytail Holder Buttons

As we continue our one-by-one journey through the tutorial videos that we have posted on our button making videos page, today’s video involves the creation of ponytail buttons.

The beautiful thing about making ponytail buttons is that the process for making them is very similar to the process for making any type of button, as you will see in the video below.

Here is the main difference: our ponytail kits include an eyelet that is easily inserted into the back of the button. This eyelet then allows you to easily add an elastic ponytail cord.

When you watch the video, you’ll see just how uncomplicated these additional steps are.

Follow the link for more information about purchasing our ponytail sets, which will allow you to start creating and customizing your own ponytail buttons today!

Video: How to Make Ponytail Buttons

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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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So Many Names, So Many Uses, So Many Possibilities!

One question that we get asked a lot by potential customers and people who are just curious about button making is: “What is the difference between a button machine, a button maker, and a button press?”

Well, I am afraid that the answer is quite complicated. In fact, it is so complicated that it will require all of one word, two syllables, and seven letters to explain:

NOTHING!

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Summer Uses for Buttons!

Now that we are smack-dab in the middle of the summer, this seems like as good a time as any to discuss a few summertime uses for buttons…and even a Fall back-to-school use or two.

So what are some ways that button making especially useful during the summer?

Summer Camp

Do you help run a summer camp or know someone who does?  Do your kids attend summer camp?  If so, think about how useful a button machine and some pinback button supplies could be.  Whether for use as nametags for camp counselors, or as nametags for kids so the counselors can quickly learn their names, personalized ID buttons are both fun and functional.

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Monogrammed Belt Buckles: Fun, Easy, and Inexpensive

When I say “belt buckles” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

(And if you don’t say “Texas” or “cowboy” or some synonym of either, I am calling you out right here and now for lying!)

Well the truth is that belt buckles’ reputation for simply being an accessory for snakeskin boots and ten gallon hats is far too narrow to actually represent reality. You don’t have to live on a ranch or make garish spectacles with your wardrobe to have a little fun and customize a belt buckle.

More and more people these days are finding understated yet fun and personalized ways to dress up their belt buckles. How do we know this? Because of the consistent stream of requests we get from visitors to our website who inquire about monogrammed belt buckles.

And in our unyielding quest to give our customers what they desire, we have joyfully taken the plunge into the wonderful world of monogrammed belt buckles.

And here is the best part from your perspective: it is not that expensive nor difficult for you to take the monogrammed belt buckle plunge yourself.

Here is how it works:

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