Button Crumbs

 Where have I been for nearly a week?  It took me that long to sort and clean my latest button purchase.  It was daunting this time.  The lot weighed 5 pounds and I don't know when I have seen so many sick or broken buttons in a button box.  I think I discarded at least a pound of buttons.  Big sigh.  I always say I love a genuine button box but this one was a little too real.  That glass dish contains a couple hands full of "sick" buttons.  I thought it might be interesting for those of you who are not familiar with the term.  More on that below.

 I did manage to glean out a few interesting buttons but it was a struggle.  The horn buttons in the bottom of this picture were already strung together that way and I thought it was kind of a neat idea so left them.  The rest in this dish are glass.

 The blue and red on the left of the photo are actually glass beads.  The group right above them is fabric. Those big oval buttons are wooden and painted gold.  The paint is in bad shape but I thought it would be fun to repaint and decoupage them.  The big gold and black buttons are two-piece metal.

 That Lucite button with the tortoise center is probably the best button in the bunch.  So many cool buttons that were beyond rescue...8+(

 A few nice pearls.  There were plenty more that were just plain ones and luckily, MOP doesn't get "sick".  Two groups of interesting wooden buttons plus a couple plastic sets down at the bottom.

 The leather button in the center of this picture is another of my favorites.  Leather buttons are pretty predictable but this one was different, especially with the offset center.

 I realized that I don't think I have ever posted a picture of the leather accumulation. Yes, they get their own spot, just because.

And now to the button graveyard.  This is just a small selection.  I do not know what causes "sick" buttons but it probably has to do with the gases some of the plastics give off when they begin to break down.  Click the photo so you can get a closer look, especially at those button crumbs that are mixed in.  Those are the worst offenders.  If you have Grandma's button box stored away as a keepsake in the attic or under the bed, please, PLEASE check on them.  If you have sick buttons you need to remove them then wash and air out the ones that are still good.  The sick buttons will contaminate and ruin the other buttons they are stored with.
So what else is going on around here?  I am starting to get the art room shaped up for Where Bloggers Create 2013.  Are you in?