Button Floozies

Someone  read my button-painting tutorial and asked a question and blogger wouldn't give me her email so I couldn't answer.  But she persevered and reached me through Etsy .  Since the answer was going to be lengthy I thought I would post it here in case anyone is curious how I started or where I got buttons and what about those pesky holes.  Her question was: "When you use putty to plug the holes on the buttons do you take the putty out when you’re done? Which is more desirable?"  and "Where to buy buttons." I started painting buttons about 15 years ago and I did them to add to each round robin block  as a personal touch.  For a long time dear Susan Elliott kept urging me to paint and sell them... It took a while but I finally listened to her...  At that time a woman sold buttons on Ebay under the name Button Glutton.  She had bought a house that had an outbuilding that was packed with inventory from a turn-of-the-century-butto...

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?

I spotted this three-tiered, button-decorated lampshade at the thrift store!  It's actually a hanging (pendant) lamp/chandelier.    It needed some cleaning, but, if I had a place for it, it definitely would have come home with me!

Here are some of the latest buttons that have come into my life!  A Salesman's Sample Book full of button pages -- the buttons are very common, but still lovely to see all arranged and numbered by hand! A lot of new-in-the-package, fancy buttons for embellishing! These cute "mother/daughter" buttons with an umbrella theme! Show me your newest buttons!