Button button who’s got the button?

There is something just sooooooooooo magical about buttons.  It seems to me that buttons have the capacity to tell stories.

The buttons in this photo came from a second hand store in Quebec City (including the 6 inch diameter ancestral photo ‘buttons’):

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Many of the buttons have gone back to Québec City, as I used them to embellish a handmade book that I made for a dear friend in Québec City. And, she will fill the book with her poems, and I am willing to bet that she will hear the whispered stories that the buttons are imbued with.

Another friend gave me a wonderful card of vintage shirt buttons:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I can’t bring myself to use these buttons, as it is such a sensual delight to run your fingers over them – they feel like scales on a dragon. Perhaps, I could use them in the same pattern, closely organized and running along so politely in their perfect little rows. I don’t think they could stand being separated from the rest of their family, so it’s all or nothing with them.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

When my husband’s Mum passed on a couple of years back, one of the important things that sisters and I did, was to quietly, carefully, lovingly, divide up the buttons in Grandma’s button jar. It was very significant for all daughters and  grandchildren (great-grandchildren, really) to receive some of the buttons from Grandma’s button jar.

I have had a wonderful time, making jewelry and other treasures,upcycling of some of the buttons in Grandma’s button jar.

To celebrate Grandma’s button jar, I have made a  series of little wearable Story People dolls that incorporate the buttons and bring their button stories to life:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Zephyrama posted a very neat tutorial on how to make a unique bracelet from vintage buttons: Zephyrama’s bracelet

But, what if the buttons on a coat are dreary and un-inspired?

Why not make your own?

That’s what I did for a coat that I inherited from my dear Mum-in-law:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Here’s the tutorial on how to make one of a kind handmade buttons from twigs and spool knitting: Twig buttons

To make sure you are keeping the Twig buttons a very green craft, please DO NOT cut twigs from living trees. Only use twigs that have been pruned correctly or are dead and on the ground already. And, of course, never take them from public parks…..

Did you know that there is a webring for button collectors? Yep… I googled to see what was on the interwebs about vintage buttons, and found all kinds of things…. webring

So, next time you see an old button, maybe think about the story the button has to tell….