So this works when adding the item to the nav bar, but when i add it to the toolbar set in the bottom bar via interface builder, the background image doesn't show up.
UIBarButtonItem *resetButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]initWithTitle:@"Reset" style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(resetCriteria:)];
UIImage *img = [UIImage imageNamed:@"someImage.png"];
img = [img stretchableImageWithLeftCapWidth:5 topCapHeight:20];
[resetButtonItem setBackgroundImage:img forState:UIControlStateNormal barMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
self.toolbarItems = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: resetButtonItem, nil];
Not only does the background not appear, none of the other behaviors work as well (but they work fine when adding these barbutton items to the nav bar)