Christmas Round Up 2012: Button Tie Clip

This tie clip idea came after seeing a rather boring silver tie clip at Target in the dollar bins.  I figured at that price, I could do something with it.  Brian wears a tie everyday to work, but has never owned a tie clip. Perhaps he needed to start?

I found a white button in my sewing stash that looked relatively well-proportioned and was smooth on one side.  Then, I cut a piece of thick bristol paper to match the size of the button.  On this tiiiiny piece of paper, I painted a silhouette based on the photo we took on our sunset date last February.  In the photograph, Levi's was not so prominent, so I used a little artistic license here so it was obviously a painting of all of us. 

After completing the painting, I used diamond glaze to attach the paper to the smooth side of the button.  I also used the glaze to paint a coat over the top of the painting.  This stuff is great as it is an adhesive and a varnish in one.  It is similar to mod podge, but feels thicker and more durable.  After the glaze dried, I attached the button to the tie clip using my favorite strong craft glue, E6000.  

You don't need to be a painter to personalize a tie clip like this.  You could use a photo, decorative paper, comics, fabric, almost anything!

more man-gifts coming right up!