In the past year or two, I have become enamored of buttons, vintage buttons especially. I think this is a holdover of sorts from my childhood. When I was a child, my mother had a "sewing cabinet," in which she kept pins and needles, threads and snaps, scraps of material, and best of all, container upon container of buttons. 
This is the sewing cabinet, which was created in the 1950s by the late folk artist Peter Hunt of Cape Cod. Of course I lusted after this piece my whole life. Now it is in my home.
Buttons of every color, size and material, from metal to vegetable ivory, bone to wood, mother of pearl, shank and flat, covered, decorative and plain were kept in boxes and tins inside the drawers and doors. Besides the buttons that came off of clothing (you never know when you'll need a button, especially with a family of five), there were antique buttons from previous generations of family. I truly loved taking them out and looking through them.
So back to the present day and my current fascination with buttons, particularly those made from metal and also from glass. I began to have this vision of creating jewelry, specifically bracelets, from buttons. Who knows where this developing middle aged urge to create comes from, but I have it. So, I tried my hand at it, mixing vintage and contemporary together in a sort of charm bracelet style.
Here are two examples of my handiwork, currently for sale in my Etsy shop.
Like any collector, I enjoy showing off my collection. Don't want to bore anyone, so these are a sampling of what I have.
I went to Buenos Aires about two years ago, when this notion (no pun intended) of making jewelry from buttons was beginning to bubble up from my subconscious.
In a "mall," of sorts, I came across this amazing tiny shop, Botonera La Negrita, selling guess what?
It was so fun and I had to wait a long time to take the photo without anyone standing in the way, because it was a popular place.
The picture in the beginning of this post is a close-up of the "curtains".
3 comments:
I have the same sort of love for buttons, definitely born out of nostalgia from childhood when I used to spend time sorting through my grandmother's mason jars and sewing cabinets looking at her's. I also inherited her buttons and various sewing paraphenelia :-)
Awesome sewing cabinet! And wow, look at all those buttons. Your bracelets are lovely.
This is button heaven! I've never seen so many...I used to love diving a hand in my mother's button box. Your bracelets are great!
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