18 Ways To Repurpose Leftover Buttons Into Stylish Home Decor

Have a jar full of spare buttons you are wondering what to do with? With their abundance of sizes, materials, and varieties, these small elements can pile up over time, whether you are an avid sewer or not. Vintage buttons, in particular, often sport very interesting materials and designs, so it's a shame to keep them hidden away. Rather than languishing in a drawer or sewing kit, these buttons can easily be repurposed for all sorts of decorative projects around your home. From simple gift handmade tags to gorgeous mosaic projects, buttons can help you add endless amounts of texture and visual interest to all sorts of DIYs — including the 18 unique ideas we've listed below.

You probably have a lot of random buttons lying around and may be looking to repurpose these old or unwanted items to keep them from sitting in a jar or ending up in a landfill. Or, if you don't already have a button collection, you could hunt down cool buttons in places like thrift stores and flea markets, where they are often sold in bulk or by the bag. Look for buttons with interesting shapes and materials like mother of pearl, wood, and intricately-carved brass, all of which work especially well for creating distinctive home decor items.

Turn pretty buttons into cute upcycled bouquets. Just use some hot glue or E6000 to secure the buttons to a stretch of heavy gauge wire as the stem. Wrap them together as a bouquet and place them in a cute container like a vase or upcycled bottle. You can also make a pretty arrangement to put in a cloche jar as a piece of floral art. This works particularly well for buttons that already have a floral shape, but any shape and size will work for this DIY.  For a glam look, use gold, silver, or brass buttons.

Turn buttons into fun coasters with a vintage vibe. Place a pile of buttons inside a round disc mold from Amazon and pour over a two part resin (available from Michaels). Use the buttons alone or add other elements like glitter, sand, or dried flowers to create additional texture. For additional color, mix your desired shade of acrylic paint into the epoxy. These colorful coasters make a great DIY for preserving vintage buttons you can find at thrift stores, antique sellers, and flea markets. They also make great handmade gifts. 

Take any throw pillow from blank or generic to fabulous by adding vintage or new buttons as accents. Use them as trim or create fun shapes like hearts or spirals. The buttons will help make your pillow cover custom and unique and can be adapted to a number of aesthetics. For a cottagecore or vintage look, use older buttons, or opt for wood or simple mother of pearl buttons for more neutral spaces. For a touch of glam, create a border or design in gold, silver, or brass buttons. 

Buttons can be used to create images and dynamic pieces of art for your walls. Use buttons of various colors to make a cute rainbow design or use them under paint to add texture and dimension to the canvas. Alternatively, create a simple grid of vintage buttons in a beautiful frame for a minimalist piece of décor that fits cottage and farmhouse style spaces. Use hot glue or an adhesive like E6000 to adhere buttons to paper, canvas, or wood. This makes a fun activity for kids that uses any extra buttons you have lying around.

Buttons can make beautiful accents on ordinary photo and art frames. Stick them on with hot glue to add a border or all-over mosaic effect to any simple frame. You can also add them before painting over the frame for a textured effect that makes any piece look much more luxe and detailed. For an eclectic or maximalist look, use buttons in different colors, shapes, and styles, or use a grid of the same or similar buttons for a more modern and contemporary vibe. To get a glossy finish, add a coat of resin in a recessed frame. 

If you are making handmade bunting to decorate for a celebration or just to use as an everyday decor piece in your home, use some old buttons in the design for a cute accent that adds just a little something special. Even store-bought bunting can be given a more handmade feel with just a few pretty buttons sewn on. Add them randomly on your fabric with thread or create a border around each piece with very small buttons. For whimsical floral bunting, use vintage or antique buttons as the center of flowers to add texture and a 3D feel. 

For a pretty accent that gives your lamp a more bespoke feel, add buttons to any ordinary lampshade. Use a few dabs of hot glue or E6000 to adhere buttons directly to the shade. You can do this randomly, all over, or concentrate on the bottom of the shade for a subtle bit of texture. On a solid lampshade, assemble your buttons into a floral design, using embroidery floss to create stems and leaves for cute and whimsical cottage style lighting. Add some lace trim or rick rack around the bottom of the shade for a more finished look. 

Large oversized buttons make excellent checkers for a vintage-style game board. Sort your extra buttons into lighter and darker colors, then use them as a stylish alternative to plastic game pieces. They move around the board just as easily as store-bought pieces and allow you to customize the colors of your game to match your decor. Or, use a square of plywood with a painted grid to create a cute piece of hanging artwork that would be perfect for a playroom, man cave, or game room. Just add glue to keep the checkers in place. 

Use any ordinary container, like an upcycled jar or can, to create cute and very functional storage. Just affix buttons around the perimeter of the jar until the surface is entirely covered. Not only will this make a one-of-a-kind decorative container, but it will also rescue both the container and buttons from the landfill. Use the jar or can to store items like pens or pencils on a desk, makeup brushes in a bathroom, or silverware on your table or countertop. For an extra finishing touch, add jute twine or ribbon around the top rim.

For another cool resin project using upcycled buttons, make an adorable tiny dish that's perfect for holding small objects like office fasteners, jewelry, or keys. You can buy molds for bowl shapes and add buttons to your pour or just use any plastic bowl you can throw out afterwards. Line the bottom and sides of a shallow dish with buttons in a single or multiple layers, then add the epoxy resin. You can also cover it in your desired shade of paint to create a simple bowl with a lot of texture.  

Buttons are just one of the elements that can help you construct dynamic pieces of junk art made from everyday metal and plastic bits and bobs like game pieces, springs, bolts, screws, and more. Just use hot glue or E6000 and some creativity to build small creatures and robots by piecing everything together. Larger buttons are great for stacking to create the body or legs, while smaller buttons can be used as eyes for your design. This is also a fun activity to do with kids as a lesson in eco-friendly art and upcycling. 

With some minimal sewing skills, buttons, and fabric scraps, you can create mini-rosettes perfect for adorning all manner of linens and soft materials like throw pillows and sweaters. Cut out a circle of fabric in various patterns and bunch them together at the center, adding a sewn-on button right in the middle. Then, use other fabric pieces and ribbon to create the hanging elements. This is a particularly great project for more 3D and sculptural vintage buttons made from wood and metal that are tiny works of art in themselves. 

Use a stack of buttons in descending sizes to create adorable ornaments shaped like evergreens or snowmen. They make perfect additions to a tree or just as freestanding accents you can use as part of arrangements or centerpieces in your holiday décor. Use glue to stick buttons together to form your shape, then thread some twine, wire, or thread through the top buttons to hang. These small ornaments also make cute and festive accents to add to packages and gift bags.

Buttons are a great element to add to any mosaic design, where you can mix them in among elements like glass, china, marbles, beads, costume jewelry, and mirrors to create color and texture. This can be done on anything from vases and wall art to large benches and tables. Use buttons in multiple colors along with other pieces to create a simple rainbow mosaic using a mosaic grout to keep everything place. You can even make a custom mosaic mirror or add a mosaic treatment on upcycled figures like animals or dolls using small objects you have around your home.

Use pretty vintage buttons to create a fun upcycled wreath. Glue a multitude of buttons to a simple foam wreath frame or attach them amidst other materials like fabric scraps. Use red, green, or white buttons to make a simple holiday wreath for your door, or add gold or brass buttons to a glam wreath mixed in with greenery and vintage accents like bulbs or old brooches and other costume jewelry. If you want to use the wreath all year long, add buttons to the inside of artificial flowers to give them a little more visual weight and interest. 

Make adorable tags and gift cards using buttons to add a homemade feel when giving gifts. The buttons will add a sculptural touch and whimsical feel to handmade paper cards, or they can be used to make even store-bought cards more visually interesting. Sew them on with thread or use hot glue to attach them to cardstock or paper.  You can even assemble them into fun designs like flower shapes and hearts or create a border around the card using smaller white or colored buttons. Use large buttons as a cute way to liven up simple blank gift tags. 

Try using buttons to create cool upcycled wind chimes. Use thread, wire, or fishing line to thread buttons together in several strands that will make soft sounds when they clack together. Add other noise-giving elements like small bells or pieces of metal to create more sound. This could also be a creative way to repurpose old keys. Make a fun eco-friendly upcycled wind chime by using buttons and plastic lids hung from a larger lid at the top that's been punched with holes. Hang your windchime on a porch or in a tree to add some color and sound.

Buttons are a great lightweight material for adding a little something to the outside of plain pillar candles. Wrap the candle in twine or wire strung with leftover buttons or affix buttons directly to the wax itself with an adhesive. You could also slightly melt the wax and then stick the buttons on. The buttons are great for adding additional color and texture to a space. Not only is this a fun DIY project that is totally beginner-friendly, but these candles make excellent budget housewarming gifts that are just as pretty as they are functional.