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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 50 mins

Pretty flowers to brighten your day!
This is a nice, simple collage technique for making deightful flower badges (aka pins, buttons).

These will brighten your day and also make great presents!

Notes on equipment:

I'm lucky to have a badge-maker, which does make it easier.

However look out for some great tutorials on this site for ideas for making badges without a badge-maker!

Other alternatives: hire one, borrow one, or buy a kiddies one (I once saw an online video showing great results from a cheap plastic kiddies badge-maker)

Notes on time:

I use magazines and newspapers for my collages which means the time taken really varies according to whether I find what I want, and how quickly!

I like the element of chance involved...

I've put 50 minutes but it could take much less time, or it could take longer.

Posted by Suki F. from Cambridge, England, United Kingdom • Published 21st August 2009 • See Suki F.'s 6 projects »

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Kimya J. favorited Flower Collage Badge (Pin, Button) 03 May 04:35
Suki F. entered her project Flower Collage Badge (Pin, Button) to Kanzashi In Bloom Contest 23 Aug 09:09

Step 1
Find some old magazines.

I love using fashion mags because of the variety of textures, colour and light.

In the end I mostly used the French magazine, JALOUSE, for making these badges.
Step 2
Measure your background image.

I used a 58mm template. If you don't have a template use a ruler and a compass to draw a circle.

Remember to allow enough margin for the badge to tuck under (about 9mm).
Step 3
Cut out your background circle.

I used a special cutter, but you could also use small, sharp craft scissors.

I liked the idea of using natural images (leaves, grass) for the background and then using e.g. leather, fabric for the flowers, in a mix of nature and artifice.
Step 4
Cut out your petals.

I like them to look a little irregular so I cut them freestyle.

You could also make a template to make them look neat.

You will need about 10 - 12 petals for this size badge, depending on how you lay them out.
Step 5
For this particular badge I used a mixture of different images to make the petals.

Sometimes even buildings can make great petals!
Step 6
When you have all your petals, lay them out to see how they look on the background circle.

Use a template (or ruler) to check that the flower fits into the visible centre of the badge.
Step 7
Now glue your petals into a flower shape in the middle of the badge.

You can use most types of glue. I'm using pritt stick, which can be a bit messy for detailed work (even using tweezers).

But the beauty of a large badge like this is that the shapes are quite large, making gluing easier!
Step 8
Gather together your badge materials:

- metal support
- plastic backing
- pin
- mylar cover

(For a simple badge made without a machine you could glue the flower onto a card backing and add a pin - as I mentioned in my intro, there are some great tutorials with these kinds of techniques available on Cut Out and Keep!)
Step 9
Press the badge following the manufacturer's instructions.

I bought my badge-making supplies from Enterprise (UK).
Step 10
Et voilà: beautiful flower badges to wear, decorate school or shopping bags, and to give as gifts!

Have fun!

Sx