Buttons
Buttons
I have inherited 2 large Hefty bags full of buttons from a seamstress. Some are on cards, some strung together, but most are loose. There are no cute, hip or trendy ones, mostly plain metal, plastic or pearl in all different colors.
Any suggestions for what I might do with them?
Any suggestions for what I might do with them?
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown
Two Hefty bags??? Ohmygoodness, that's a lot of buttons!
Assuming you won't be using all of those for your own crafts, you might think of donating some to the art departments of elementary and middle schools in your area....Art and early el teachers are always looking for things like this. Been there.
Also, my Mom just spent two weeks in a rehab facility for a broken hip, and there was a Recreational director there that did crafts with the patients. He is always on the lookout for craft items.
As well, the Occupational therapists there used things like buttons and coins for activites to improve the dexterity of hands and fingers of some of the patients.
Buttons are good.
Assuming you won't be using all of those for your own crafts, you might think of donating some to the art departments of elementary and middle schools in your area....Art and early el teachers are always looking for things like this. Been there.
Also, my Mom just spent two weeks in a rehab facility for a broken hip, and there was a Recreational director there that did crafts with the patients. He is always on the lookout for craft items.
As well, the Occupational therapists there used things like buttons and coins for activites to improve the dexterity of hands and fingers of some of the patients.
Buttons are good.
Go check out the "Garden Junk/Art" thread in the Garden Discussion and Design section. Mary Ann has a picture of some smaller garden globes covered with buttons. Here's the link
download.php?id=35246
The buttons are sort of ornate, but I'm sure it would look great with all different colors of plain buttons also.
Just don't ask me how to do it!!!! (Not sure if Mary Ann made or bought these.)
With my bunches of old buttons, I filled an old-fashioned half-gallon canning jar with them and put on an old zinc lid. It sits in my sewing room and looks cute.
download.php?id=35246
The buttons are sort of ornate, but I'm sure it would look great with all different colors of plain buttons also.
Just don't ask me how to do it!!!! (Not sure if Mary Ann made or bought these.)
With my bunches of old buttons, I filled an old-fashioned half-gallon canning jar with them and put on an old zinc lid. It sits in my sewing room and looks cute.
JaneG
Start slowly . . . then taper off.
Start slowly . . . then taper off.
My original plan for the buttons was to use them in a very large (4 x 4.5') mosaic. The area in front of my potting bench has such compacted soil that grass doesn't grow and I end up standing in mud. The mosaic will be of Astraeus, the God of the Four Winds and done in shades of gray, white and black.
The more I think about it, the more I worry about plastic buttons surviving through the bitter cold winters we have. I've decided to go with stained glass instead.
Now I have all these buttons. I was hoping someone would come up with a few ideas before I donate them all to the nursing home activities department of the facility I work in.
A friend's young granddaughter in San Francisco has a button collection. When she visits, we all let her pick through our button jars. If I still have the bags next time, I can just imagine the look on her face when I bring them out for her to look through.
The more I think about it, the more I worry about plastic buttons surviving through the bitter cold winters we have. I've decided to go with stained glass instead.
Now I have all these buttons. I was hoping someone would come up with a few ideas before I donate them all to the nursing home activities department of the facility I work in.
A friend's young granddaughter in San Francisco has a button collection. When she visits, we all let her pick through our button jars. If I still have the bags next time, I can just imagine the look on her face when I bring them out for her to look through.
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown
Find a large glass bottle or jug that they will fit into, fill it with the buttons, add lamp hardware, and voila! A custom lamp. I have one I made from an old 3-liter Almaden wine bottle (yes, I drank the wine ) that is full of small white shells from the Caribbean. Looks great, is functional, and reminds me of a great trip and some good memories each time I see it.
jd in nh
janet's list
It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. --John Andrew Holmes
janet's list
It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. --John Andrew Holmes
Button wreathes are kind of cool looking, too, depending on the buttons, of course. The Garnet Hill catalog had a stunner on the cover a couple years ago. They got so many comments on it, they started selling the wreathes the next year!
jd in nh
janet's list
It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. --John Andrew Holmes
janet's list
It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. --John Andrew Holmes
Ah, Janet, you tease, you! I did a Google on Garnet Hill button wreath and came up with some literature on the background of it, but no images! You've really got my curiosity peaked with the thought.
I did get a response on using buttons on an outside mosaic and it was a no-go. As I thought, the plastic won't hold up to the winter temps nor the pressure of being used as a walking surface.
Now to try another search engine for that wreath . . .
I did get a response on using buttons on an outside mosaic and it was a no-go. As I thought, the plastic won't hold up to the winter temps nor the pressure of being used as a walking surface.
Now to try another search engine for that wreath . . .
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown
I cleaned out a closet last weekend and guess what I found . . . yep, 2 Hefty bags of buttons.
Think I'll pick the best out and donate them unless anyone raises their virtual hand and asks for them.
Dianne
Think I'll pick the best out and donate them unless anyone raises their virtual hand and asks for them.
Dianne
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown
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I saw a cute display in someone's sewing room online where they collected jars with different colored lids. Then filled the jars with the same colored buttons. They sat in a window and were really kinda cute for a sewing /craft person or room?
Jane (from the middle of the Mitten state)
My hosta list: viewtopic.php?t=39540
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