Tech Tip: A Quick and Easy Way to Make 1.25 Buttons

Regular readers know that we make a lot of buttons in our various tween and teen maker activities and one of the most popular sizes is the 1.25 size button. These are great for backpacks and are super popular with the youth. And if you go into a place like Hot Topic, you can buy them there for all your fandoms for about $1.00 each. But if you have a button maker, you can make your own! Although I will of course, always caution you about copyright. So consider yourself cautioned.

Thing 2 and I (age 12) are both super into instant photography and photo printing at home. In fact, we have moved a way a bit from the true instant photography because you don’t have great control of your final outcome (and we are just maybe not that good at it). So we have started printing our own photos onto instant paper, and there are several printer options. I have tried many versions and they all have their pros and cons. I’m particularly a fan of the Polariod square instant printer. HOWEVER, I came across the Canon Ivy printer and want to recommend it to those of you that make 1.25 buttons FOR ONE VERY SPECIFIC REASON:

The Canon Ivy printer has sticker paper that works perfect for the 1.25 button maker. So you can format and print your photos using their app and print them onto stickers, like this:

Those stickers work perfectly in the buttons:

Our placement is a little bit off in the picture above, but we eventually worked it out and it’s amazing!

The great thing about this process is that:

1. You can make original buttons using your personal photos quickly, you no longer have to worry about copyright and you can make very personalized buttons.
2. Using a smart phone and various apps gives you much more control over what those photos look like, and then you can print them and print them again, whenever you would like.
3. The Canon Ivy stickers fit perfectly in the 1.25 button size and who doesn’t love a quicky, easy, personalize button.

With a smart device, a printer, some sticker photo paper and a button maker, you can walk tweens and teens through the complete button making process in a program or makerspace setting. You can make fun giveaways to take home after the program. And honestly, it’s just really cool.

The Canon Ivy printer is around $100.00 and the photo paper is around $24.99 for 50 sheets. That’s about $.50 cents per sheet, and two stickers per sheet. So you’re looking at $.25 per sticker and it’s another $.10 per button piece, so it’s about $.35 per button after your initial investment of the printer and the button maker.

So if you want a quick and easy, and relatively inexpensive after initial investments, way to make personalized buttons, this is a great way!

Filed under: Button Making, Buttons, Photography, Tech Talk, Technology