Customizing Ugly Buttons: 3 Easy Methods! 

For the rusted buttons, you can sand the rust off and prime with a rust blocking primer! I believe Krylon has a few! I used to work for a paint company and had paint that would cover rusted hand rails

i decorated an old button using air dry clay! i scratched up the button using a nail file before sculpting and waited a day or two before sanding the surface. it’s still a bit bumpy in some places and it’s a little too heavy to use but it’s cute clutter to have in my room (it’s shaped like giorno giovanna’s ladybug pins for anyone wondering 😁)

i hope it’s not weird, but it makes me really happy to see such a successful person with a family and child still dress in sub cultural fashion like the bright colorful rainbow clothes you wear! i feel like there’s always an expectation that we’ll “grow out of it” or that it’s not adult-like or professional to wear alternative clothes (goth, fairy kei, lolita, scene, etc), so seeing you just live your life wearing that kind of fashion makes me really happy!

Something that makes me really happy is that babylightful will so often be surrounded by beautiful colours. There are too many people trying to make their home beige and monochrome when they have children, even though they need colour in their life to develop properly. It's good to see the opposite, and know that this child will be surrounded by rainbows (and probably be given the cutest toys) as they grow up

yay!! I know you probably get a lot less views on these shorter, other-craft videos, but I really enjoy them! I love seeing what you get up to inbetween bigger projects, and particularly your videos where you sit down to paint or sketch really inspire me a lot!

Additionally to painting and paper, you can also use stickers! They can help cover up spots, too. Sealing afterwards is still important to help it last longer. Maybe you can paint over the edge of the Musharna one, the way people paint over Pokémon cards to expand the picture?

For my people out there who want a cheaper alternative: I've done a lot of just doing a traditional drawing and sticking it in there, just covering it up with boxing tape! They last and are easy to make! And re-use since you can just strip the paper and tape off

I feel like using an old nail polish sparkle topper would be a great addition to this process!

Im at college, so im always getting pins from clubs and political partys. I usually just plop a sticker on top but your fabric idea is so cool!

I have buttons from a fandom where the creator turned out to be a terrible person. So I'm covering these buttons and I love these ideas! Totally gonna use them 😁

For the button at the end with 3d elements; if you don't have access to colored hot glue, you can use regular hot glue and use paint / varnish on top of it too!

THE MUSHARNA BUTTON AAAA I gotta try using a Pokemon card with a button, that's such a cute idea!! 😭💖💖

As much as I love the full, LONG doll videos, I really enjoy these small bites of creativity!! Really gets me thinking about what I can do with my stash. ❤

I LITERALLY HAVE LIKE A WHOLE BAG OF AN AUSTRIAN POLITICAL PARTY PINS I GOT FROM A THRIFT STORE AND THIS WILL BE PERFECT!! AGHRJ been trying to figure out how to customize them and this is LITERALLY WHAT I NEEDED!!! THANK YOU!!!

Anywho. Dollightful is always so creative and i respect her so so much. Inspiring 🥺💛💫

i am in a pretty harsh depressive state and dont even have energy to go to a doctor get diagnosed with anything. watching you helps! i realized that during any video of yours i'm forgetting much of the world's stupid occurrences and I am feeling a sense of safety. i'll go get professional help in my due time, but i just wanted you to know that one video at a time you are making me feel better and better.

You can also go the stickers and modpodge route, sorta like Ruby’s skateboard! I’ve made several custom buttons this way, and its a great way to use cute, but low quality stickers that tend to be thinner and less sticky over time than good stickers. My dad and I love these little Japanese rice candies that come with a sticker in the pack, and I love using those stickers to make buttons because just about perfectly sized, they’re really cute, and they’re something special shared between me and my dad.

I make all of my pins from scratch with shrinky dinks/shrink plastic! ive found that colored pencils work the best for coloring them. You get so much freedom!

I am not a very smiley person, at least not on my own time, but every time I watch a dollightfuls video I catch myself just grinning. Her energy is so contagious!

Doing a base later with something like Rust-Oleum would help the rusted ones last longer.

This is such a great idea for a simple craft. So fun so personal so custom so perfect 🥰

I’ve been curious to learn how to do this for years! A lot of my fandoms are pretty niche and/or don’t have a lot of buttons available on this side of the world, and I’d love to make pins to show off my love for them. Thank you so much!!!

THANK YOU! I just got a butt load of buttons from a garage sale and I’m ready to give them a makeover

Nice! also a Button collector, this is a good solution other than just throwing them away and them going to waste.

Oh my gosh, buttons, buttons ,BUTTONS! they all look so cute!

CUTE PINS AND BUTTONS✨

I love putting buttons on everything. My backpack is covered in them. Lol

I CANNOT tell you how often I've looked at buttons I dislike and thought "Hmm, I wish there was a way to change them". Why didn't I try? Haha. I especially love the look of the fabric ones. Such a neat idea, thank you! PS: Recently got one of your buttons on Zazzle and I love it

Ahhh!! as a button collector, this is soooo helpful!!! I have this reallllly ugly button I somehow ended up with, and I've been considering just throwing it away, but redesigning it is a WAY better option and more eco-friendly! Thanks, Dollightful!!

This is such a good idea! I have some tired looking pins that have rusted from the rain so I will try to give them a new face :) It's worth noting that after a while, nail polish will start to chip off so don't use that as your sealer, use a spray sealer for spray paint or something similar :))

One of my favorite button making things is taking a particularly cool bottle cap, folding back the edges with pliers, and supergluing either a stick pin or a safety pin to the back. I’m very fond of weird sodas, so I have a lot.

BUTTONS! I LOVE BUTTONS SO MUCH!

As much as I LOVE your doll repaint videos, I'm also really enjoying these short and crafty ones! I'd never considered 3D buttons before! (And your other short videos like the neck-peg fixes and the studio tour were really great!)

it’s honestly so amazing to see how creative you can be with products that some people would just throw away, like the rusty buttons! truly an inspiration to the art community *^*

I've missed your videos some much man, I'm glad your still going at it even after all these years!!

remembering how i practically watched the channel grow and her vids always keep me entertained

Always gonna be a good day when you get a Dollightful notification! ❤

Can't believe I never thought "I can customize buttons and make them something appealing" until this video literally told me I can.

Yay a new dollightful video!!

I really love that last heart pin a lot!!! 💙💙💙

I really like these smaller videos about things besides a doll custom!! Always great to see a video from you, regardless of subject!

I never thought about upcycling rusted and old buttons so thank you for making a video about it. The fabric and 3D button reminds me of the button I recently brought at a con that is basically a round plush attached to the button. I think they're called minky button or something.

Some other ideas to add on: 1. You could print out Pokémon card art to get the design on a paper with the proper thickness. Magazine paper would also work great for paper buttons. 2. Glitter and rhinestones could be used to cover textured areas, or just as fun accents. 3. UV resin over the top could also help you get a smoother finish on top, and protect the surface. 4. Stickers!

Oh my gosh my goblincore heart is loving this!! I can make so many cool buttons now!!!

I have customized my buttons many times! A few years ago, I didn't do this in the best way, I didn't have the right tools, so I just chose stickers with a pretty design, disassembled the button into two parts and replaced the old paper with a sticker, and then assembled the button back. It looked a little rough and bulky, but I was happy with the result and proudly wore buttons with my favorite anime characters! But several years have passed, I now have a large arsenal for customization, acrylic paints, rhinestones, charms, high-quality glue and varnishes. And just recently I again customized several buttons to attach them to my brand new backpack, I am very proud that one of the buttons turned out with a space pattern and stars, and it is indistinguishable from the factory one! So yeah, thanks for the inspiration and the power of art! 💖

I love the little jack-o-lantern pin that was in the pin pile. It's so cute!

customising buttons seems like a great idea for a craft day with friends or with a group. The ability to use scraps and stuff that would otherwise be thrown away makes it affordable, and most of these dont take to long other than the varnish drying

I’ve been watching this channel for a while, and after wanting to for ages I finally customized my own doll! So thankful to these videos for inspiring my creativity.

I'm so happy you didn't erase the eevee, it's so cute!! the new background fits it so well

This is great for punks and alt folks that wanna customize!

That fabric idea is so good!

Green Magikarp brings me joy I'm excited to see wear she goes with the buttons The fabric buttons are my favorite, I really like the electric button and the decorated fabric one

this is so useful!! and would a very cute idea if you ever wanted to try selling buttons for a little cash! especially with the painting and fabric methods! (idk about the paper though) i also like the idea of 3D buttons with any leftover charms you may have!

I have a whole bag of boring buttons that I had planned to revamp. Thank you for the push to dig it out and get crafting!

ive been wanting to customise buttons for a while so ty for the tip, i didnt think about varnish at all so im glad i know now before i painted anythint!!

The fabric method worked very well,thanks!

Ahh your style is so cute, happy, and colorful! Love seeing you accessorize!

Thank you so much for sharing these methods. I can not wait to try that on my own old buttons. The cotton fabric method is my favourite method.

very cute and creative ideas! I modge podged stickers onto an old button I had laying around. as a creative person dollightfull is always inspiring !

This is such an amazing craft! I wasn’t sure what to do with my old buttons but you’ve inspired me! 🌸🌸

OMG, cant believe I've never thought of this! Sooo gotta make presents for friends w some old badges, thank you so much!

youre always so inspiring 💛💛 watching your videos always makes me feel like creating

I’m so excited for the studio era! You look so happy and I’m so incredibly happy for you

Ahhh, the memories. I collected buttons all through high school. I had so many, my aunt started calling me Buttons. She even made a button for me that said Buttons.

These are such cute and fun ideas!! There's definitely a few buttons I have that were well meaning gifts or have just acquired too much rust to use. These are excellent ways to breathe new life into them! Thanks so much!! 😊

I never thought of this!! I’m DEFINITELY going to start customizing some buttons!!

These are so cute! Nail polish is one of my favorite things to use as paint, since it dries so quickly and can give such beautiful effects.

These are so cute and such a great idea to make over not so great buttons. My daughter made buttons of her artwork for an art show she did, but some of them didn't print completely. This is a great way to repurpose them.

I've made 3-D buttons in school by layering colored paper in different colors. You glue them together, and once dry you sand the edges at a 45° angle to slowly show off the colored layers, then hot glue or super glue the pin backing to the back of your pin! Make sure you coat the whole thing in a few layers of arnish of decoupage. You can do any shape, and add a sticker to the top if you want!

I've decorated so many of my old buttons, I usually put my own design on thin paper like a sticky note. I personally prefer my own design because its something you won't find anywhere else

So fun! Would love to see other smaller craft videos like this too

Well I know what I am doing with my unloved buttons. I have a habit of saving 99% of thing I can diy and I am glad I know know what I can do with them. Thank you for the great ideas. Your awesome. Oh and FYI. I also t these short clips just as much as the big projects. It is nice to see what kind of little crafts you have going on as well. ❤😊

the little clips of you posing at the end!! you are too cute!!! so thrilled to see what creative endeavor finds you next!!

I hadn't thought of this, but this is just a creative idea!!!

You Make the Old Buttons So Amazing!!! I love your Artworks and Have a Nice Week 😻💖

What great timing! You posted this just as i realised the humidity messed up a button i got at a con last year and destroyed the art. I love the paper idea! Def gonna try it as soon as i get home!

I love all these pin ideas! Thanks for being such an inspiration to me while I create my own doll customizing channel!!

Ooh, I'm gonna be on the lookout for cool pics for my boring buttons now

These turned out so cute! 🥹

These are so cute!!! Thanks for the ideas!!! ❤️❤️❤️👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

These turned out so cute. Thanks for this tutorial

I would love to see more simple videos like this of just fun little crafts!

I just lost alot of my friends, I'm in tears right now, but Dollightful's post man... I'm so fucking happy to see them

Golly your creativity and love for life and color are so awe-inspiring! I have to confess that your videos are sort of my medication, I am myself an artist and struggle with depression and diagnosed OCD. My thoughts are always taking me to a dark abyss where I take comfort in not producing nor creating anything, as my thought process always convinces me of the futility of even trying, but then, I watch one of your videos and your amazing creations, I am then reminded to create for fun, love and myself. So thank you, for everything truly. You are a beacon in my life.

I never considered customizing my old rusted buttons, so thanks for the inspiration

This is a super cute and fun idea! ❤️

Perfectly timed video! I just deep cleaned my room and found a bunch of old buttons that don't fit my current style, but now I don't have to throw them out!

This is PERFECT, because I just found some old buttons with terrible designs and I didn't know what to do with them!!! ♡♡♡

Not me finding all the buttons I discarded to decorate them now- Thanks for the lovely video! It sparked my creativity again!!!

When I was at camp, they had a pin press/ pin maker. EVERYONE Had so much fun making pins!

Bruh I’m literally working on my first ooak rn (cutting yarn for the hair atm) and I went to check on RU-vid for something to watch and Dollightful just uploaded? An omen for sure lol Also I have a bunch of bottle caps I’ve been meaning to turn into pins, so this’ll definitely come in handy🩵

i'd love be as bright and colorful as you!! you just look like you leave a trail of sunshine and rainbows wherever you go and that's something i really aspire to do as well!

THANK YOU OMG! I have some old pins that are water damaged/just plain ugly and have always wondered if there was a way to fix or change them, i could never find anything of the sort but i kept holding out hope someday something would show up. and now here is this video!! finally I can fix those old pins❤

I could not have left that crane game without getting one of each!

I wanna do this now. I love putting pins on my bag

For 3D: Foam clay is great to use bc it doesn't make the button too heavy and you can carve into it with a rotary tool really easily! It is also super fun to change the shape of a button entirely: you just sculpt beyond the button, glue some thin wire to the base to make a stable armature ✨ I made a little Navi fairy for a friend's Link cosplay like that once and we even added some LEDs to make her flicker in blue light :) You can also experiment with UV resin, gluing rhinestones or lace or even marbling them in a water basin :)

I absolutely love whenever and whatever dollightful posts. She always makes my day with her creativity and passion for her crafts. This channel is truly an inspiration and I appreciate every video that is posted ❤ I love your channel and please keep going !! ❤

The fabric is especially a cool tip!

I LOVE DOING THIS! I always paint on ones I don't wear anymore

Ohhh im OBSESSED with the energy card button i need to do that