"There were all the small buttons to sew firmly on, and the buttonholes to be made.
~Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 5, Working in Town~
~Laura Ingalls Wilder~
Miss Sandy at Quill Cottage is hosting a series of activities during the month of June in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today's blog-a-thon entry is about Beautiful Buttons.
I believe it's been mentioned once or twice that while I completely appreciate the "arts of homemaking", I don't profess to be proficient in many of them, especially those having to do with a needle and thread. As far as buttons go, I can certainly replace one, but it's a task that takes me a significant amount of time, mostly because I don't have the supplies readily at hand.
That being said, I used to love going through my mom's button tin, especially while I was really into the Little House books. Somehow, sifting through those magical circles and bits of plastic, leather, metal and glass transported me back in time. I can vaguely remember being allowed to string buttons together. I was never sure what one did with a string of buttons, but since it was a "pioneer pasttime", I was all about that!
As we went through the buttons, my mom would say things like "Oh, I remember the dress/coat/shirt this one was on!" The most magical buttons were the metal ones that could be covered with fabric. They didn't look very good on a string of buttons, but the possibilities were endless with just one little button and a small square of fabric.
I don't have a button tin. My buttons are in my cosmetic drawer. You know, the little plastic-wrapped "extra buttons" that come with blouses, shirts and dresses? I'm sure you've got them somewhere. Of course, I think that my buttons must hide, because when I actually NEED that extra button, I can never find it.
Maybe they run and hide in someone else's button tin?
6 comments:
I laughed my way through this post, it is so sweetly sentimental with a twist of humor. I remember stringing buttons on a string too, I'm not sure what one does with it either. Thank you for sharing your button memories.
I was just thinking about the Little House books and the button strings the other day! I was enchanted with that story. My buttons in the little plastic bags are never to be found either. Maybe all of them run far far away together.
I loved your post. I think my buttons must hide too, because like you, I can never find one when I need one LOL
I have those little packages of extra buttons stiffed in a drawer, too! :-)
Oh I think so, too, that buttons run off. It's a good day when I can find the correct match or even one that's "good enough." Thanks for a fun post!
I have the "extra buttons" still in their little envelopes in a drawer too. But, I also have a mason jar that I have collected various buttons in over my 43 years of marriage. It sits on a shelf in my laundry room, right next to an antique iron. It's there to be decorative, but it is also fun to take it down sometimes just to look at its variety of old buttons (and sometimes remember long-ago clothing they were on).
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