March 2009 Hot Button Winners

Congrats to our
March 2009 Hot Button of the Month Winner!


March's Hot Button of the Month Contest Winner is…Kat Halsey from Handmade Store On A Bike in Los Angeles, CA. Kat's "Little Neon Squirrel" takes button-making into a whole new world!

"I make all my buttons out of recycled felt or vintage fabrics," Kat said. "Then I embroider them with animal or bird silhouettes and take them and sell them from my bike!"

Kat primarily uses the 1¼" button and omits the plastic cover, though she sometimes makes a larger button. She takes custom orders for her buttons and also pre-makes buttons to sell at farmer's markets, street festivals and other events.

"I try to promote the use of both bikes and recycling!" Kat said.

"People really seem to love them, and are happy to take home a little squirrel or duck or bat," said Kat. "I display the buttons on brightly colored swatches of felt so they really stand out and they get a whole lot of compliments!"

As the Hot Button of the Month winner, Kat received a $100 Badge-A-Minit gift certificate.
This month certainly proved that button-making is alive and well throughout the United States and the world! We were like the old lady in the shoe - we had so many entries, we didn't know what to do! But...we narrowed them down and narrowed them down again...and finally got down to 10 and couldn't eliminate any more! Each of the 10 March 2009 Hot Button winners received a coupon for 10% off their next purchase at Badge-A-Minit.com.

And we're not complaining! It's great fun to see all of your button ideas and we want more (who knows? if you send enough entries, we may have to hire a full-time person just to keep track of them, so think of entering as helping the economy)! Please keep those entries coming in - it's easy and quick to enter! And you could be our next winner!
City Nights
Heidi Burton from Primrose Lane Design in Tipp City, Ohio, designed the "City Nights" button to promote a show performed by the Tippecanoe Marching Band. The design idea came from Heidi's 15-year-old daughter Emily, who plays saxophone in the band and thought the jazzy skyline represented the music in the show. Buttons were purchased and worn by band supporters and the money raised was donated to the Tipp City Music Boosters, an organization that helps keep the music playing in Tipp City! Heidi notes that the Tippecanoe Marching Band ultimately received the highest award given in state competition!
A.D.D.
"The purpose of this button was to share with people that having a mental disorder doesn't always set you back," said L.H. Rivera from Roanoke, VA. "Folks loved my button idea, and it was great to have people come up to me and share their plight with adult attention deficit disorder," he said. We loved the pun AND the fact that the button builds awareness for a disorder that is misunderstood by many.
Mason
Jerry Pospeshil from Sioux City, IA, designed this button for his team to wear in a fundraising walk for CureSearch, a childhood cancer research organization. At the age of 4, Jerry's grandson, Mason, was diagnosed with Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma (cancer). Since Mason (who has been cancer-free for six months) loves hockey, the team was named "Shoot for a Cure." In addition to buttons, Jim made magnets for people who donated to the team. And since a hockey puck measures exactly 3 inches, Jim also cut out designs to attach to a hockey puck - and Mason LOVED the photo puck! Lots of people commented on the buttons, over 1500 people participated in the walk, and more than $110,000 was raised for childhood cancer research! A great result!
UNESCO School for Peace
Sylvia Lozano from the Montessori Sierra Madre School in San Antonio, TX, made this button to "show off" when UNESCO awarded their school the title of "School for Peace" after the school's participation in a Book Fair in Monterrey, Mexico. At the Fair, the school showed how they promote peace activities in the classroom and explained how important it is to teach children the importance of peace in their lives. The school had a contest for students to draw how they think of peace. The winning entry, submitted by a second-grader, was incorporated into the button.
An End to the Beginning - Easter Walk
Kira Long from Bethel Baptist Church in Saint Clair, MO, submitted this button, whose purpose was to create walking advertising for a free outreach "walking theatre production" at the church. A tomb built out of stone was featured in the production - and on the buttons, which were distributed to church members to wear. Kira notes, "The Walk was a huge success! We feel the buttons gave us the perfect exposure we needed for such a limited budget."
N.E.K.O.
N.E.K.O. is short for "Nippon Enthusiasts & Knowledgeable Otaku." This button, submitted by Kierstin Griffin from the N.E.K.O. Japanese Culture Club in Cleves, OH, was designed to promote the Club at Kierstin's college. Nippon means Japanese; Otaku means fan of Japanese art and animation; and Neko is the Japanese word for cat. Kierstin reports that the buttons "were a huge success! Everyone in our club has one pinned to their purse or book bag. The badges have helped us gain a great deal of recognition and new members for our student organization."
Camp Calumet
Douglas Behm from Camp Calumet in Shrewsbury, MA, designed this button to provide a unique name badge for visitors to Camp Calumet that would also promote the Camp. These badges are made without individual names imprinted, but have names added ON TOP of the plastic with a black permanent marker. Douglas noted that the buttons have been extremely popular with both Camp guests and staff - especially compared to the usual "stick on" paper name badges.
Round Tuit
Bernard Holland from Bernie's Used by Reuseable in South Dayton, NY, entered the Round Tuit button. He made the button "just to see the surprise on the face of the recipient when they are handed one the buttons." They've been a great success - people love them and order them to pass out to family and friends.
Sports Pins
While many people make sports buttons, this one, submitted by Colette Hutzel from St. Lawrence Elementary School in Lafayette, IN, has a unique twist. Her daughter's fourth-grade class had a "Mini Economy" project, where they "sold" items to classmates. She tried to sell a few things, but didn't have any success until she tried making buttons with the school's name on them. Sales soared! Her pretend "sales" were the highest in the class. The customers kept coming back each week to see what kind of buttons she would sell next (she did different sports/schools each week). Colette notes that it was fun to see the business going strong for a long time.
Tristian
This button, submitted by Jay Schleidt of Iowa City, IA, intrigued us. Here's Jay's entry, verbatim: "Made during the winter, I wanted to express a feeling of the warm currents coming up from the Tristian shoreline, with a local woman calling to her companions to join her in picnic. A dream of sharing the carefree life of marine animals under a sonic haze or solar waves. The wearer of the button is satisfied in their fashion sense, and has a generally pleasant mindset. Success!" Interesting, yes. Unique, yes. A Hot Button, yes!