Buttons

I've had a little stash of buttons for a couple years but have never been a button collector.

I'd swear I have another jar but haven't seen it since moving last summer.

Recently I have read posts about buttons from some of my blog friends such as Linda from Unlimited Possibilities  and Laurie at Button Floozies and started to pay a little more attention to buttons at estate sales or flea markets.  Recently I found Kathy's blog, Kluless and fell in love with how she displays her buttons. If you look here and here you can see how she put her beautiful buttons in a vintage jewelry box. So cute but I didn't have a box like that. Then I was out with my sisters the other day and spotted a great antique shop that I'd never been to. As soon as I walked in the door I saw a perfect jewelry box to use for my buttons and it was only $3.

The next day I pulled out my buttons and grabbed my new box and I started to sort. Actually, before I started sorting I noticed that when I moved the box, I could hear something sliding around on the inside but I couldn't get at it. I suddenly started dreaming of a diamond ring or something valuable. I had to pry up the floor to get my treasure but only found the key to the box. It was a nice dream while it lasted. Ok, back to buttons. First I must tell you that I don't know a thing about old buttons but that some are pretty and some are not so much. Here is what I came up with so far.

This isn't all the buttons, just the ones that fit in my "some are pretty" category. So far I love the ones with the rhinestones the best.

The three on the top right don't even have stones in them but they appear to.

I seem to have tons of mother of pearl buttons so obviously they aren't rare. I have lots more of them in the can and jar.

I got some books from the library to learn more about buttons so I have more to go on than some are pretty and some not so much.

See these four cans?

They are filled to the brim with old buttons. One can is my mothers and the others were from both of my grandmothers. Technically they still belong to my mother so I can't go take all the pretty ones out and put them in my jewelry box no matter how much I want to. My sisters probably wouldn't like that either. But I will have fun looking through them and learning to identify the different types. My little round box has the same floral design as this much bigger button box. 

So, thanks to the lovely button collecting ladies I mentioned earlier, I am inspired to learn more about buttons. Should be fun! I hope I find buttons at the estate sale tomorrow!