This is so simple, I hesitate to even call this a tutorial…But did you know that you can use buttons as stamps to impress or texturize polymer clay?  All you need are some vintage shank buttons, a bag of wooden spools (I bought a bag of spools in the wood aisle at my local craft store), and glue (I like E6000).  Some of the buttons had a shank too big for the hole in the spool, so I used a file to make the hole slightly larger. Then I just gooped some glue on the top of the spool and in the hole. That’s it, just let them dry! One thing I learned, put these on a piece of wax paper so when the glue leaks out the bottom of the spool you don’t glue them to your dining room table.  Not that I did that or anything….If you try this out, please share pics of your polymer creations, i’d love to see them!

Would you rather just buy some? There’s a small assortment of them available in sets of 5 on my Etsy site: Vintage Button Stamps – Set of 5.

Side note, I made these stamps to take with me to To Bead True Blue in Tucson last month. I was thrilled to take part in a special event there hosted by Christi Friesen.  I taught a make and take with my wire-wrapped button rings (kits to learn how to make these are now available in my Etsy shop). Since Christi is known for her polymer, I wanted to show the fun ways to combine buttons and clay!  Here are a few pics from this special event.