Button Floozies

Coming up on November 16 is the day set aside to celebrate buttons, National Button Day; this is thanks to the efforts of the National Button Society .  Here are some of the buttons that are currently giving me joy: Bakelite heaven -- sewn to a bracelet cuff in amazing colors!  Bakelite and other early plastics. When you have lovely friends you often received unique and beautiful button art as gifts!  Shell set in metal. Two lovely pieces of jewelry created by someone, from buttons.  Plastic and metal. I discovered some carded buttons that were identified at a recent estate sale I visited.  These are my current favorites! He's a little blurry because he wouldn't sit still -- look at this little squirrel!  That tail! Celebrate your buttons!  Use them, display them, enjoy them.  This morning I sewed one of the very first buttons I ever collected onto a pumpkin I created, just for fun: I hope you will take a little time on Tuesday to celebrate your b...

 A beautiful vintage button makes everything more special!  Here's a gorgeous, 3 colored antique celluloid button that artist KC Willis used to accent a work of mixed media art.  At the very top of her fabric collage, it has pride of place as a lovely embellishment! (Available here.)

  I found an old tin full of buttons at an estate sale! Here's what was in it! Watch as I go through the whole tin with you! Click here to watch the video on Facebook!

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At thrift shops near me, those button grab bags have become very expensive!  (Don't even get me started on the prices for a variety of really common buttons at an antique store sometimes...) But if they're cheap I grab them up for the thrill of the hunt.  This time, I lucked out when I found all these pretty glass buttons amongst the extra button envelopes in one of the bags.  Especially those little deer!

I found these deep, divided drawers at the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop.  They were used to store contact lenses originally.  I think they will make great button storage! My adult son was with me when I bought them.  He said, what are you going to do with those?  I looked at him and said, well, can you think of anything small and round like a contact lens that I have a lot of?  And he just got a knowing look on his face.  He LOVES  to tease me about my button collecting! If you know me well enough, you know I can't leave them as is, though.  I think I'll decoupage pretty paper on the outsides... and then spray paint the insides of the drawers.  I think that especially larger buttons will store nicely in here. Because I needed another project! (Not.)

Beautiful blues and various, vibrant greens mixed together with beads into a beautiful, woven necklace!  I love that there are a variety of ages and types of buttons...  Notice how the maker twisted the lengths for interest -- below, I have pulled them apart to demonstrate.  What a fun thrift store find!  I washed it and will enjoy wearing it! Let me see your button necklaces!

When I saw these at an antique store, I could not get them into my cart quickly enough! (Swoon!)

I found another bag of buttons at the thrift store and "splurged" the $2.99 on them because I could see there were lots of my favorites -- mother of pearl and shell buttons!  But, there was more than that...  Some very nice steel and metal buttons, and, the ones on the far left are glass with embellished tops!  More glass, tied together -- I just love that!  A few pretty celluloid, composition, and bone buttons, too!  All of the ones that are the same, on the left, are painted glass!  The ones in the very front are so special: one clear glass with ruffled edges, and one that is enameled!  Such a treat! As always, a few extras in the mix: a belt buckle made from what I think is apple juice Bakelite, a little pin from a service group, and some wooden beads.  You just never know what you'll find in a bag of buttons!

I love it when I find buttons like these, that have been carefully carded by a button lover!  bejeweled  summery  sparkly  shining  diminutive  green glass  black glass  red glass (plus a bit of plastic on the left...) dyed shell

These moments are rare for me, but yesterday when I was thrift shopping I noticed a carded button display in the glass cabinet at the thrift shop.  I really dislike having to ask them to open the cabinets as a rule, at thrift shops or anywhere else, but I was glad I did this time! Can you see where this cardboard is creased in the middle?  That's where it was folded and put into a plastic bag.  What I saw in the cabinet was actually only half of the button display, which I didn't find out until I purchased it for $3.79. What it lacks in beauty and presentation, I think, it makes up with charm!  I was initially attracted to it only for the shell buttons...  but when I got home I noticed the enameled ones, which made me very happy... as well as the additional quantity of pretty glass ones!  There are a lot of whistles (one holed buttons), too. The one int he middle with the two diamond shapes is my favorite, and I noticed there is also a small...

I went to a local button club's sale event Saturday, and will be posting some of the fun and pretty buttons I got there.  Here's the first: A plastic button of a button card! How fun is that?

I recently happened upon an estate sale and found this jar of buttons; instead of a price, there was a sticker on it that said, Make an Offer. Unfortunately, it was a cash-only sale and I found I only had $2 and some change with me, so I offered that and went home with the jar.  This morning I had the pleasure of sorting through it! I could see through the jar that it contained a whole lot of those little "extra button" envelopes, so I thought $2 was probably going to end up being a fair price for it. But then I saw a whole bunch of full cards clipped together... and eventually uncovered lots of my favorite buttons -- shell and mother-of-pearl. There were some pretty glass buttons, too, and these fabulous lucite studded with paste ones, and some that were fancy and beaded. Overall, I think it was a great haul, and a Saturday surprise.  Have you bought any button grab bags lately?