Power Button Necklace

I first saw a power button necklace posted on Pinterest,  it was called an iNecklace which can be found at Adafruit, it is made from CNC machined aluminum and the light gently pulses.  But with a price tag of $75 I opted to try to make one myself.  Mine is what you'd call the poor women's power button necklace,  it was put together from stuff I had lying around the house. Although my necklace is plastic and the light doesn't pulse, it cost me hardly anything to make and I put it together in one afternoon.

• Power button from an electronic device (mine came from an old computer case)
• 10mm LED -I used a blue one
• 3V button battery (I used a CR2016 from a dollar store)
• Jewelry wire -to make the loop for the chain, I bought mine at a dollar store
• A badge
• Sugru
• A necklace chain
• Needle nose pliers
• Drill or awl
• (Optional) Electrical tape, black paint

The power button that I pried out of my old computer is fairly large in size, I could fit a 3V battery inside of it. I used a 10mm blue LED and sanded it so that the light would be more diffuse.  I bent the poles of the LED to fit around the button battery and then taped them so that it would stay put.

Obviously, not all power buttons are the same size, so if you make your own you may need to explore smaller size options for the LED and battery such as sequin LEDs and CR927 3V batteries.

Next I needed a backing to hold the LED and battery in,  I also wanted to be able to remove it to change the battery when it died.  I found a small badge, that was the right size and used the badge shell for the backing.  I used some Sugru to form a seal around the back of the button to hold the shell on.  I took off the shell while the Sugru was curing so that it didn't become permanently attached. Once cured it created a snug fit holding the backing in place and it can be removed with a screwdriver or your fingernail when you need to change the battery. 

I poked a hole in the top of the button with an awl to fit the loop for the chain which I formed with jewelry wire and needle nose pliers.  I also painted the rim of the button with black paint because I thought the button might otherwise look too large (since black is very slimming). I also painted the backing to make it look uniform.  Once the paint had dried I popped in the battery, but the backing on and it was ready to wear.