arcpy - Making button that calls Python script as command rather than script tool?

I believe that in Arc9.3, commands could be created using VBA scripts. To add a custom command, you would navigate to Customize > Toolbars > Customize... and click UIControls. However, UIControls is not there in version 10.

I am creating two separate scripts for a map book project. One script will save the layout settings to a table, and the other will update the layout with settings from the same table. I want both of these scripts to be commands assigned to buttons in a toolbar. I created them as script tools, but whenever I click on them, they run the script as a geoprocessing tool. It brings up a progress window, and it takes about 10 times longer to execute than if I had run the code in the Python command line window. I don't want the progress window or the much longer execution time.

How can I make it so that the script isn't considered a "tool" and is instead a command similar to the Save button?