Button{ware} and My Vintage Buttons
- posted by: Wendy Jo
- posted in: Uncategorized, My Life, Contests, Inspiration
- on: June 15, 2009
Well another contest is all “buttoned up” and over.
Before I announce the winner, I promised to share some photos of buttons in my personal vintage button collection. The buttons were actually collected by my Grandmother. She kept her collection in two little storage containers similar to those that are usually found in a garage to hold nuts and bolts. A couple of weeks ago, my mother and I sat down on the floor and opened up each little drawer to take a look at this collection. Several of the drawers we opened had several matching buttons bundled together with some thread. I’m guessing that she collected these button when they fell off clothing or removed them prior to letting go of worn-out shirts and jackets. The buttons are of all sorts of shapes, sizes, materials and colors. I thought it would be interesting to add a penny to one of the photos just to show the variety of sizes.
In addition to some of these unique buttons, there are buttons of every color and material- wood, plastic, seashell, metal and cloth. I’m really looking forward to making some cool jewelry inspired by Amy’s book, so I’ve ordered a copy of her great book for myself from my local bookstore. This book has easy directions on how to create your own button treasures to wear. If you love buttons as much as I do, you won’t be disappointed if you get this book.
Now back to the contest… Up for grabs was an autographed copy of a very cool book called button{ware}: the art of making creative adornments and embellishments by Amy Barickman, a very cool button{ware} colorful link bracelet kit designed by Indygo Junction, and a complimenting Fiskars tool too.
I tossed out a challenge on a recent blog posted called “Get Creative with Vintage Buttons”. The challenge was very simple. Fiskateers were simply asked to show off their buttons. Most Fiskateers showed off their button storage and collections, some created layouts or cards with buttons as embellishments, one Fiskateer even posted a handmade button barrette and another Fiskateer posted a bracelet. So many great photos, but we can have only one random winner… congrats to Chris #6067. Please send your address and phone number to wendyjo@fiskateers.com to claim your goodies.
Jeannie #5377 says:
June 15th, 2009 at 11:57 pmLove the buttons Wendy Jo! They are gorgeous! Congratulations Chris!
Michelle 3624 says:
June 16th, 2009 at 12:13 amCongratulations to Chris and Wendy Jo your button collect is so cool.
Ms. Jackie says:
June 16th, 2009 at 12:17 amI love your grandmother collection of buttons. My Mom had a coffee can full of buttons. They were off of old clothes, or ones that fell off. You just never knew when you would need one, or more to add to something. I remember when I would sew, I would always check the button can to see if there was any that I could use.
However, what I love the most about it, was putting my hand all the way down to the bottom of the can and running my fingers throught all the different sizes, shapes, and colors. It was so calming. I could just set and do it for hours.
Tona #4437 says:
June 16th, 2009 at 12:27 amCongrats Chris!
Thanks for sharing your button collection Wendy Jo. I enjoyed seeing everybody else’s & reading about the story behind them.
Julie O. says:
June 16th, 2009 at 2:37 amCongratulations to Chris!!
Wendy Jo…I’m just drooling. Those are gorgeous!
doverdi says:
June 16th, 2009 at 5:17 amCongratulations Chris! Thanks for sharing your button collection with us. I love hearing the history behind these collections. I remember playing with my mother’s button collection as a child. She had inherited a bag of buttons from her mother & still has them today. I got my aunts button collection when she moved into a retirement home & added it to my own growing collect. Now that I have reorganized them & have them in one spot, hopefully I’ll remember to use them. Thanks for a fun challenge.
Niki_ray Bass says:
June 16th, 2009 at 8:10 amCongrats Chris!!! Woohoo XoXo Niki_Ray
Debby 2852 says:
June 16th, 2009 at 8:48 amcongrats Chris!!
Patty 2832 says:
June 16th, 2009 at 9:13 amYou have some great buttons WJ ! It would be hard to use some of the “cherished” buttons, but they are delightful to look at !
Congratulations Chris ! Enjoy !
And, yes, Wendy Jo, there were some HG stamps on that card!
maryannehoekman says:
June 16th, 2009 at 10:22 amcongrats!! great collection Wendy Jo!
Laura #1943 says:
June 21st, 2009 at 11:12 amButton Button who’s got the button !! Your buttons are beautiful…and I know how hard it is to part with favorites !! Congrats Chris !!