Button Bracelets

When my mom made my clothes, she would assign me the task of finding enough matching buttons for the project in her button box. I’d rake my fingers through the shoe box-sized containers full of buttons that had been salvaged from worn out garments. Sometimes I found enough for what I wanted and sometimes I didn’t.

My mom doesn’t sew anymore. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t want to or that sewing projects are more complicated than she wants to handle. On our last visit, I asked her if she still had this button treasury and if she wanted to keep it. I was delighted when she said I could take it. I’ve seen some interesting projects on Pinterest that I couldn’t wait to try and a shoebox full of buttons would give me plenty of source material.

As I washed the buttons and sorted them (yes, sorted them. Only by color. I would still be hunching over the counter if I had tried anything more detailed.) I discovered buttons that I remembered. The purple flowers  that I had used as eyes on a sock puppet. The snaps Mom had cut from Dad’s overalls. In one smaller box, I discovered several brown buttons with a crystal in the middle. I suspect these were from Mom’s wedding dress. I’ll save those for something special. So what did I do with the rest of the treasures? I made bracelets. The first from some large white buttons. I strung them on elastic string and hopefully knotted them well. 

This is my favorite. All the buttons are interesting and some seem pretty old.

These buttons all had a mother of pearl finish. Some were green and yellow tinted. I haven’t decided whether to keep this one or give it away.

This one has a bit of a chain appearance.

There was also a bunch of worn metal buttons. Most were painted blue or black, but some were green and half the paint was chipped away. I suspect these were from my Dad’s work shirts. 

What other things can I do with all these buttons?

Tags: altered clothing, buttons, creativity, pinterest ideas