i was looking through oodles and oodles today, and saw a few posts about buttons... oh, so pretty! (the most recent issue of threads has an article about buttons too, so i've kinda had buttons on the brain lately)
the part that amused me was the comments about how many buttons she had! that's barely any! i'm sure she has more hidden away, since all button hoarders seem to, but even so... i cringe to imagine what her commenters would say about how many i have!
this is my button box. note that it is overflowing. it is frickin heavy. also note that i have many more buttons stashed in various places around the house. as a matter of fact, i bought more the other day that aren't in this pile. when you think about how small buttons are, that's A LOT of buttons.
this bag is full.....
and those cardboard pieces sticking out of the left side of the box? they're full of buttons too!
see?
the green tupperware is also full to the brim, of pretty good ones.
(side note - i LOVE those tupperware containers! i have them in two depths, and they're AWESOME! i wish i could find more of them, and i wish they weren't only in ugly colours!)
here are some of the baggies inside (the pic was taken over a year ago, but they're still the same!)
very few of these are new buttons. very very few! i generally hate new buttons, and buy them only when absolutely necessary (such as with the owl garland and the owl ornaments). and most of them have been sorted already, so there are very few "crap" buttons in this box. locally i find buttons most often in small bags or sets, or on cards, so i only buy the ones i like. and when i buy buttons back home (oh, prairie thrift stores, how i adore thee....), i usually sort them before i leave, to avoid lugging 5 times as many (or more) buttons home with me.
i particularly love BIG buttons, like the kind that were often used on 60s swing coats, and bright plastic ones. i'm not a button snob, i buy ones i like, regardless of their "value", though it would be kinda cool to discover that i have something insanely expensive or something!
so yeah. i have a button problem! (i also thought it was amusing when she suggested a muffin tray for sorting - much too small for me!) i thought it was okay if i could contain it to one box, but apparently i've passed that point without realizing it... one day i'll find a way to properly store them all, as it is right now, what isn't loose is in ziplocks by colour. and i think i'm going to hang some of the boards of buttons on the wall in my studio, i just haven't gotten the floor in there clear enough for a stepladder yet! i also want to try checking some of them to see if they're bakelite, especially after seeing this post (via craftzine, apparently that's how i found oodlesandoodles!). that sounds so much easier than rubbing them until your fingers are sore! and one day i'll get around to taking pictures of some of my favourites to post here... i'm particularly fond of my curling set (curling! i'm so canadian sometimes!), and the little 40s cigarette pack.... oh, and the ones with rhinestones.... and the brightly coloured cut out onew.... that might be a big post!
7 comments:
WOW! Is there a buttons anonymous? I am a horder of fabric - but nI can't even begin to compare :)
And no such thing as an ugly color (well, almost)...just a color that hasn't found it's rightful place to look good.
Good luck sorting - Sofie has lots of toes - maybe she can help :o
oh christ, i hoard fabric too. it's so ridiculous. vintage linens, fortrel, jersey knits, flannel, quilting cottons that i can't bear to cut, suiting fabrics, anything halloween, even if i'll never use it.... it's mostly all in rubbermaid containers now, two different sizes, i have 6 or 7 of the big flip top ones, and probably double that of the smaller ones. i'm such a packrat! i'm slowly going through it and getting rid of some, but the pile isn't getting much smaller!
Got any particular tips for finding *big* buttons? I am looking for some to make button flowers for my wedding bouquet and I haven't had a ton of luck so far.
Since you're a self-professed button hoarder with a particular fondness for big buttons, I thought you might have source suggestions. ;)
kelly, if i did have source suggestions, my collection would be MUCH bigger!
most of the bigger buttons i have were just fluke, found mixed in with all of the tiny buttons i've purchased.
are you specifically looking for vintage, or would modern buttons be okay? and what size is big enough for you? and what colours?
Doesn't have to be vintage -- new buttons are a-okay by me.
I'm looking for ones that are over an inch wide in red or white and I haven't had much of luck finding them in my usual haunts.
There are some higher end sewing/craft stores in my area that I haven't looked into yet, but... $10 for a single button is kind of making me sick. :)
i wish i'd known yesterday, i just went to dressew, and they have two whole aisles of buttons! (there's a link to pics of that store in my "things i love" post)
how soon do you need them?
do you want them to be decorative, or just plain buttons?
do they need to be flattish? (like, are you layering smaller ones on top?)
how many do you need of each colour?
what shade of red? cherry, poppy, burgundy, etc?
i have very few true red buttons in my stash (weird, but true! it's hard to find the super bright colours), but i can try dressew for you. i just don't know how soon i'll be going down there again.
I just realized I never responded to this -- duh.
I actually had some pretty good luck last weekend at a local antiques fair finding both red and white large buttons. Yay!
Now I really need to put them together and see how many I have and how many more I'll need (by July, to answer your question about that.)
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