Rainbow Peace Sign Sun Catcher

Do you have bags of buttons lying around that you don't know what to do with? When we were challenged to come up with a metal project by a group of bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY, we knew we could kill two birds with one stone and upcycle not only metal, but our stash of buttons too. Actually, as you'll find out later in the reveal, the whole purpose of this project is NOT to kill any birds :). 

Grab some chicken wire, a metal peace sign and some rainbow cord to make something that will look jewel-like when it catches the light!

[If you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered (disclosure): The blue links in this post may be affiliate links. We earn a commission from qualifying purchases which we proudly donate to Alzheimer's research. But don’t worry, you don't pay a cent more! Thanks for helping to support our fundraiser!]

For this project, you will need:

• Chicken wire
• 14" peace sign wire form (dollar store)
• Staple remover (to get buttons off cards) - this is our preferred one but we couldn't find it!
• Sharpie marker
• Wire cutters
• Xuron double flush cutters (for cutting your own jump rings
• Variety of 3/4" colourful buttons
• 2 pair needle nose pliers
• Jump rings (6 mm and 14 mm) - or wire and cylindrical object to cut your own
• 2 mm ombre rattail cord - 20 yards

I've had a roll of chicken wire forever; it goes a long way! I used it to make this mannequin for Halloween (see Oh My Goth - Part 2). But the piece I'm upcycling for this project was temporarily used to replace the glass in this diy china cabinet makeover. The picture above is right after I stripped it (click the link to see how it looks now - sans the chicken wire!).

Since I no longer need the chicken wire for the cabinet, it's great to put the chicken wire to good use again!

Along with the chicken wire, we're using this dollar store peace sign wire form. I love the idea of a peace sign; don't we all wish for peace these days?

I also have bags of buttons from both my mom and M.I.L. And of course there are tons more courtesy of Hubs sewing machine restoration hobby. People just can't wait to unload them, and I'm only too happy to repurpose them!

My first step is to weed through the buttons and find ones that are colourful and 3/4" in circumference. You'd think that would be easy but it was actually a tall order to find ones large enough for this project out of all the vintage buttons. Ideally, you want to use only translucent ones so the sun can shine through them.

If you want to be sure you'll have enough, put the wire form over the chicken wire and centre the buttons into each section. That way, you can also play with the colour placement.

After that, I sorted the buttons row by row onto a cookie sheet with a silicone mat so they wouldn't slide off.

Some of the buttons were still on the original cards and were wrapped through the middle with metal after pulling away the paper. So use a staple puller and needle nose pliers to remove the metal.

Lay the wire peace sign over the chicken wire and mark at least an inch away from the edge all around with a Sharpie. This particular chicken wire has a seam running down the middle so I centred that with the middle of the peace sign.

Cut where you marked with wire snips.

Use twist ties to attach the chicken wire to the peace sign through the middle. That will keep it from shifting as you wrap the edges in the next step.

The most challenging part is attaching the chicken wire to the peace sign.

You'll need to unwind any spots that are doubled-up. Do all the unravelling first before fastening to the peace sign so you can lift the chicken wire as needed.

Once unwound, cut the hex pieces in the middle so you can wrap each end around the peace sign. Other's will unravel into single strands, like you see in the last picture, and you can trim them shorter. Then, using the needle nose pliers, wrap them around the edges where they meet the peace sign. You can use the wire cutters to trim them or wind until you reach the end.

Since the buttons require a larger jump ring, I thought I'd try to make my own! I found a socket wrench with a handle that is the perfect circumference (14 mm). By the way, if you don't want to take time to cut them yourself, you can buy this larger 14 mm jump rings on Amazon.

After winding the wire around the socket wrench, you'll get this 'spring' coil. The secret sauce to cutting them so both sides are flush and will join up when closed, is a double flush cutter! You can use a flush cutter instead, but you'll have to flip the cutter over for each ring.

It's easiest to cut them one ring at a time and let them drop away (as you see on the video at the start). Before you know it, you've got jump rings for your buttons.

I really wanted to emphasize the lines of the peace sign so they wouldn't get lost amongst the buttons, so I crochet around all the edges and lines. It's a simple single crochet stitch. If you don't know how to crochet, but have always wanted to learn, check out our newest Crochet for a Cure eBook - Beginner Crochet: Learn the Basic Stitches (it all gets donated to our Alzheimer's fund drive). 

Attach the small jump rings to the chicken wire. Use the needle nose pliers to open and close them again, as shown on the video. 

The particular wire I used for the large jump rings is from the dollar store, so it can be attached without tools (but it's also not very strong, so use a better wire if making your own). 

Now, to attach the buttons, the larger 14 mm ring goes through the button - but don't close it yet.

Then it's easy to attach the larger jump rings with the buttons already attached to the smaller jump ring on the chicken wire and close it up.

What do you think of our rainbow peace sign sun catcher? I love the bright bold colours!

Although the sun catcher looks a little busy in our window because of the suburban surroundings, when the sun streams through, it's so pretty! But that busy-ness is actually a bonus when you're on the other side of the glass! That's because the whole purpose of this suncatcher DIY is to prevent birds from flying into our new - clear - windows. An important function when your blog name is Birdz of a Feather is to make sure no harm comes to birds and I think we've accomplished that!

The second picture shows how it looks in natural light outside. Some of these buttons belong to our moms. So it's a wonderful way to get those buttons out of jars and bags and make something beautiful to remember them by.

If you love to recycle/upcycle/DIY too, check out our other projects! And if you like to learn new skills, don’t forget to get your craft mojo on at Birdz of a Feather and subscribe! You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.