Button Love!

Oh my!  After a marathon of cleaning and sorting, I can finally reveal my favorites from the recent Button Motherlode.

You can click these pictures bigger but I took a bunch of close-ups so here we go on a photo-heavy post.

All of these buttons on the ecru paper doily are glass.

I adore those clear ones with the painted flowers!

The milk glass buttons right below them are whistles.  Sorry I didn't get an angle where you can see the side with two holes.

Big white Moonglows.

There is a little black and white china stencil down at the bottom, above the glass flowers.

These rhinestones are set in plastic buttons.  Glass rhinestones are a favorite but if it sparkles, I'll take it!

There were a lot of the tortoise shell-type buttons in this lot.

These cut steels are the result of my rescue attempt.  They were in the smelly tin that I had to dump straight in to the soapy water, in spite of what they were made of.  Just way too stinky to even have inside my house.  Naturally, they rusted.  I did the best I could to clean them up but I suspect the original finish was somewhat different than what I ended up with.  I am still happy to have them and managed to salvage about 20.

The black buttons at the top are unusual, or at least I haven't encountered them before.  The dark part is made from some sort of composite material and the centers are clear plastic that seem like it might have been poured in.

These beautiful blue buttons are metal.

BIG Lucite buttons with white centers.

I still can't get over the variety.  Those red buttons did not warp when I washed them.  They started out that way and I think that is the way they were originally made.

Looking at these photos, I see those green ones and the red ones down at the bottom could use a little more cleaning.

There are quite a few that I think are Bakelite but it isn't that important to me to know so I haven't bothered to test them.

I already gave these butterscotch ones another clean after I took this picture.

Love these little "gears"!

These have a metal ring set inside them.

More plastic rhinestones. I can't usually bring myself to part with them but there were so many duplicates in this lot that I listed some on my Etsy.  I will be putting together some mixed lots for Etsy, as well.
Maybe someday I will be a real collector and mount them on cards.  For now, I just started a new jar. I really should sort some in to categories and take some intentional pictures for Pinterest.  I already have a huge virtual collection on my Buttons board but I never seem to get around to posting any of my own buttons.  So many ideas and so little time.  I am going to ROCK retirement one of these days!
For those of you who suggested Barkeepers Friend for the mark on the Pyrex bowl - THANK YOU!  It worked like a charm and I have a new tool in my cleaning arsenal.

The Button Motherlode

I heard through the junkvine last week that Nina had some buttons for me so I hit Nina and Joe's in addition to the new The Bins on Saturday.  Boy howdy!  I never thought you would hear me utter these words but I think I might have too many buttons - lol!  I couldn't open that big tin in the back for these sneak-peek pictures because there are some sick and STINKY buttons in there.  They went straight from the tin in to a sink of soapy water.  Luckily only a few had to go to the big button box in the sky.

Some of the tins are (were) really pretty, too, but I made a HUGE mistake and put them in the dishwasher and ruined all but one.  They came out nice and clean with most of the paint gone down the drain.

I have been cleaning and sorting for days and my work table is still covered. Buttons in a fabric softener box are okay in my book.

Lots of carded buttons.  I will keep the ones with pretty cards as they are but I think I will be removing most of them from the plain cards so I can wash them.  They are very dusty.

A lot of the cards are marked with original prices of 7 cents and 10 cents.  Those were the days!

This chocolate tin was the sole survivor from the dishwasher.  BIG lesson learned.

Broke my heart, or at least put a dent in it, when I lost this tin with the pretty flowers.  Black and pink is my favorite color combination.

My favorites will be another post.  I need to get busy listing as soon as I have room on my table to take pictures because the junkvine says Nina already has some more.  If you can't find me, look under the buttons!

Rescued Buttons

My favorite buttons from the previous post.  Yes, there were a few treasures among the trash!

It's hard to beat a little attention and a good bath.  The fellow with the pipe tickles me - I expect he was a hottie in the day.

These are the not-boring plastic buttons. You can click the pictures bigger.

These are mother of pearl and glass.  The big blue glass buttons were my favorite from the lot.
The saga of the missing comments continues.  I am not having as many missing notifications but a couple followers have reported not being able to leave a comment at all.  I'm staring to wonder if it has something to do with browser versions.  Anyone else having these issues??

The Rest of Those Buttons

 When we returned from vacation last weekend I finished cleaning and sorting that huge tin of buttons.  I already showed you the plastics in this post.  These are the rest of the "keepers".  The buttons above are all glass.  The little ducky is my favorite!

 LOTS of MOP in that tin!  On the far left are the dyed ones, or the far right are the abalone shell and the apothecary jar full is already listed in my Etsy.

 These are the ones I kept for myself.

 China buttons.

 Bone buttons. I don't know why I'm so stupid on those silly things.  I think I just like the resourcefulness of using what was on hand.

 On the far left there are some unusual leather and metal ones. The round ones at the bottom are wood.  The rest are wafers and tight tops.

 Most of the metal buttons were in pretty bad shape but I did save a few.  I am especially fond of the copper in the upper left.

 Vegetable ivory and a few uniform buttons.

These two little Cub Scout buttons are my favorite from the uniforms.
This was a HUGE lot and I've gotten my buttons fix for a while!

About Those Buttons

 Time to show you the buttons I teased about in this post.  These are the "keepers" I picked out of the pile to add to my accumulation.

 A wonderful, big, celluloid with an applied bird and a set of buttons with a raised green center.  Love it when I find this type!  I don't think they are technically "hat" buttons but that is what they remind me of.

 This rose is applied, too, not molded inside.  I am always happy to find vintage buckles in the  poke sack.

 The purple and black button is a dome-shaped tight top.  I should have taken a picture from the side. It is at least 1/2" high.  I think the two gear shaped buttons are likely Bakelite.

 The button at the top is wood.  The set at the bottom is plastic and they feel like Bakelite but I have never seen it with streaks like that.  Maybe a reader will enlighten me!  They are about 14" thick and perfectly straight sided with no taper of any kind.

 I apologize for the crummy picture here but the button right below the buckle is a dark, stunning, carved MOP.  I don't usually like the dark ones but I do when they are carved like this!  The silver floral buttons are plastic, not metal.

 Plastic rhinestones.  This is the first time I have found the ones with the white border.

Glass and china.  Sadly the Calico is pretty worn out but I will take them most any way I can get them.  At least when they show wear it is a fair bet they are old and not reproductions.