Chicago Art Openings Tonight

Jesse Le Doux custom Busy Beaver Button-O-matic with 35 designs

Wondering how to follow up the magic of Devo playing the Vic last night?

Start off Friday the 13th with an exhibition of video, painting, and sculpture by Aline Cautis, Josh Mannis, and Andy Roche at the former Busy Beaver Palmer Square location.  Join curators and button-maker team Old Gold to transform the former button shop into a newly inaugurated gallery space.

Hop on the Blue Line to the designer toy store Rotofugi on Division where you can check out the Jesse Le Doux “Exit Strategy” art show and custom Busy Beaver Button-O-matic.  It’s filled with 35 different buttons, including original, hand-drawn button art.  You might recognize Jesse’s work from the Shins “Chutes Too Narrow” album art,  rock posters, and even a slime-filled Target gift card.  Click here for more info.

Click here to hangout with Busy Beaver.

Busy Beaver Welcomes Worms

Welcome the newest addition to the Busy Beaver Family

What’s slimy, cute, and transforms your garbage into compost?  Local company Urban Worm Girl hooked up Busy Beaver Button Co. with an indoor/outdoor compost bin and 1,000 red wigglers to turn organic trash into garden treasure.

Click here to see what worms like to eat.

Click here to hang out at BusyBeaver.net

Swell Season tours Button-O-matic

Custom Swell Season Button-O-matic goes on tour

Award-winning band The Swell Season is vending custom glow-in-the-dark, transparency, and full color buttons on tour with the Busy Beaver Button-O-matic.  You can collect them all, and win prizes like a Swell Season tote bag. Take photos to post on their MySpace.

You may be familiar with Swell Season from the Sundance Film Festival award-winning movie, Once.  Check them out at the beautiful and historic Auditorium Theater in Chicago, or click here for the nation-wide tour schedule.  Click here to see the Swell Season merchandise line.

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Even Patti Smith likes buttons on her vest

Patti Smith wears a one-inch button on her vest in Rock Scene magazine

The two things Busy Beaver has in common with Patti Smith is being from Logan Square in Chicago, and wearing buttons.  More here.  Click for BusyBeaver.net

Free Holiday Design Service

Where can you get 50 custom gifts for $29 with free shipping?
Busy Beaver offers free Holiday Design Service until December 5!
Stick buttons in a card, through gift wrap, or on the scarf of a loved one.
Click here to see how it works.

Trick, Treat, Badges, Pins!

Busy Beaver making buttons at Uncle Fun on Halloween

Thank you for a spook-tacular time making buttons with Busy Beaver on Halloween at Uncle Fun in Chicago!  Costume-appropriate buttons were made for politicians, pink gorillas, and octo-moms.  Click here for more photos. The glow-in-the-dark buttons were perfect for partying under black lights that night!

Click here for BusyBeaver.net

Scary BOOton Winners Announcement

Oh my gourd, it’s time to announce the Scary BOOton winners!  Cultural icon Svengoolie picked his favorite glow-in-the-dark buttons from amazing submissions, and said “..seriously, I like them all for different reasons!”

1st Place     Larry Keiser

design featured on BusyBeaver.net

autographed photo of Svengoolie

100 free glow-in-the-dark buttons

Busy Beaver Scary BOOton set

2nd Place   Llyn Hunter

100 free glow in the dark buttons

Busy Beaver Scary BOOton set

3rd Place    Adam Kovalcsik

Busy Beaver Scary BOOton set

Come celebrate Halloween with Busy Beaver on October 31 at the awesome novelty shop and Button-O-matic host, Uncle Fun.  We are selling “instant Halloween costumes” and making spooky buttons.  Click here for more info on the Busy Beaver Facebook.

Click here to visit BusyBeaver.net

₤€$$ !$ MØR€ Buttons

Chris Keating stuck two two quarters in the New Wave Coffee Button-O-matic and what came out, “cheered up an otherwise gloomy day filled with a friend in the hospital, a parking ticket and finding my passenger side mirror on the hood of my car.”  It was a gold-plated mystery button designed by Jennifer Daniel for Series 10, limited to one per Busy Beaver Button-O-matic with an edition of thirty buttons across the country.

Click here to visit the Jennifer Daniel website to see currency-inspired designs for The New York Times, Faesthetic Magazine, and Wired Magazine.  Her words about the Button-O-matic Series 10 are simple:

₤€$$ !$ MØR€ ¥€T I WANT MØR€

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Quality, Care and Speed

Project EARTH International uses buttons to promote their mission

Chris C. is a long-time button customer that uses buttons to promote his mission internationally.  Thank you for the kind words!

Greetings to everyone at BUSY BEAVER BUTTONS
On behalf of the Project E.A.R.T.H. International team in the USA, Nicaragua, Swaziland, South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya we would like to thank you for the amazing job you are doing.  We are quite happy with the quality, care and speed that you give to our button orders.  Your willingness to help us when we ask for something special is what has made you our exclusive supplier of these pins which are prayer reminders for all those who receive them.  Each pins is given to people as a thank you for what they donate to help us provide for people in need in the USA and around the world.  I would love to have a picture of your team that I can add to the many others I show the folks in those countries!  We consider you a part of our family.  Blessings to you and wishes for great success and growth in your business.

Sincerely,
Chris C.
International Mission Director
Project E.A.R.T.H. International

Busy Beaver Makes Buttons for MAKE

Busy Beaver Sponsors MAKE Literary Productions

A biannual publication, MAKE circulates 2,000 copies twice a year throughout Chicago and beyond.  Busy Beaver Button Co. is proud to sponsor buttons for the MAKE benefit soiree again this year.

Click here to visit MAKE and register for an evening of premium beer, appetizers, and readings by American Skin author Don de Grazia, poetry collection Shine Tomorrow author Joel Craig, and Busy Beaver Button Co. family member Kathryn Scanlan, who is an emerging writer.

Click here to visit BusyBeaver.net