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?

A Good Day Junking

 Wednesday?  Really?  Sometimes I don't know where the time goes.  Well, most of the time....  Last Saturday turned out just the way I hoped.  A lovely time going out to breakfast and then a trip to the VOA.  Even though it was already after noon I found not one, not two, but THREE poke sacks of buttons.  A good day junking!

 There were plenty to add to my stash for Etsy plus MANY to add to my personal accumulation.  Shoe buttons, carved MOP and those bone buttons that I have such an unnatural fascination with and another one of those walnut buttons.

 Lots and lots of glass and chinas, more than I usually find in one button lot.  Did you spot the extra special ones yet?

 Some fun plastics.  I always save those, even when they are contemporary.  When there are sets of plastics I usually just keep one for myself and the rest go into the Esty basket.  I haven't listed any in a while and need to get busy on that and share the button love!

 I keep the cards that are "special" to my eyes.  Those two buttons in between the Pacific buttons are vegetable ivory and have shading around the edges that is kind of different. As always, you can click the pictures bigger for a closer look.

If you didn't spot these yet, they were the score of the day.  EIGHT china calico buttons.  It is unusual to find just one in a poke sack and I was thrilled to find eight of them in three different patterns.  Life is good!

Why We Junk and a Few New Buttons

 I made a couple of new altered book pages that I haven't posted yet so here we go.  I love the quote on the right.  It is by Mary Randolph Carter.  If you aren't familiar with her, she authored "American Junk", "Garden Junk", "Kitchen Junk" and a few others.  She validated the love of junk for me.  Her books are pure eye candy!

I also got a new lot of buttons this week.  Nothing to shout about but these are the favorites that will be added to my accumulation.
Going out to breakfast with #1 son and family to celebrate the DIL's birthday tomorrow morning.  I love going out for breakfast!  Rain in the forecast for the afternoon so junking may be in order... 8+)
Happy weekend to you!

Buttons and Herbs

Does this woman think about anything else you might wonder.  Well, of course I do!  Sometimes I think about junk and snacks and coffee and even beer. Oh, and then there is the big girl job, but that is a different story... I scored a new tin of buttons last week and these are my favorites.

A few glass buttons to add to my collection.

A few metal buttons.  I keep the uniform buttons in their own special category.

Lots of interesting plastics. Love that star and the two clear saucers with blue centers.

A few buckles in this lot.  The black diamond has already made it's way into a new inspiration kit for Etsy.

One card of button. The buttons aren't really anything too special but I love the card. Miss America Buttons!

I planted cilantro and chives in pots tonight. Clearly we are still working on laying down the landscape cloth around the new garden and no bark yet because getting the plants going is taking priority but we are making progress every day.  We are having an extended dry spell and the weather is warming up now so we even had to start watering this week. We are getting the planting done just in the nick of time!
Blogger seems to be having a belly ache tonight so I hope I can get this posted after about two hours of trying to get connected and load the pictures.

"Sweaty" Buttons...

 ... as Mike and Frank would say!  These buttons were especially dirty with a lot of broken buttons and crumbled sick buttons.  I had to work hard at the rescue, sometimes with a toothbrush, but there were treasures to be had and they cleaned up pretty nice.

 This is what I started with.  No complaints on the eBay seller - this is just the way I like to get them.  A real button box.

 Love, love those three glass balls.  They remind me of the claw-feet on vintage furniture.

 An amazing art-deco style green Lucite button with a black top. I am not really sure if this is Lucite or not.  Does anyone know if there was a transparent plastic earlier than Lucite?
I find Scout buttons from time to time but they are always plastic.  These are the first metal ones I have found.

Pretty MOP and those three red plastic buttons are a design I haven't seen before.  They are ball-shaped sew-through with two holes visible from the top and bottom.
I love the thrill of the hunt and clearly don't mind kissing a few frogs!

Amy's Buttons

 Remember that baggie of buttons Amy gifted me with at Plucky Maidens?  Well good things do, indeed, come in small packages!  There were some neat buttons in there and these are "the good stuff"! You can click the pictures for a closer look.

 I always save carved MOP and unusual shapes.  That square shaped button in the center is actually a flat but is cut in such a way that it looks like a cube.

 The large cream colored button with the gold trim is metal.  I had this button once before but it was rusty.  This one is in perfect condition.  The two white cameo buttons are glass.

I think the little doggie is Bakelite.  The glass rose isn't a button at all, it is a flat-back cab.  It is so pretty I couldn't resist showing it.
Speaking of pretty, did you notice the plate the buttons are sitting on?  My Grandmother bought it in 1922.  That would have been when she was 12 years old.  She turned 103 last Monday.  Go Grandma!

My Favorites

 These are my favorites from the last big button score.  I always save the carved, dyed and odd-shaped MOP.  I got so many ordinary white mother of pearl buttons in the last junk score that my jars runeth over and really need to list some of those on Etsy.  Up until now I have only parted with the dark ones but, seriously, how many plain MOP buttons do I need??  Oh wait, doesn't the one with the most buttons win??

 These rhinestone buttons are all plastic.  I do love those cream colored ones!

 Vegetable ivory and the three at the bottom are metal.  I'm not sure what the black material is on the two with the pearl centers.  I think it is actually a cuff button.

 The glass buttons.  I have never had one like the beige one with the speckles.  It is painted glass.

A nice little pile of plastic buttons.  My favorite is the Lucite one at the bottom right side.  It looks like confetti inside it.  You can click all of the pictures bigger for a closer look.
Love love the button treasure hunt!

I Warned You....!

 Yep, I can't seem to score any junk lately so yet another button post.  The latest lot of buttons included some really neat old cards so I thought I would show those first.  You can click them bigger.

 I more than ADORE {all caps} these two.  I like how they are the same but one has leaves on the button flowers and the other doesn't.  Mother of Pearl, of course, and all are carved.

 Two more MOP cards plus a complete card of green glass buttons marked "Made in Germany U.S.-Zone".  The Husband was born in Germany so we have a few things in our collections.

 Another Lady Washington card and two perfectly stunning Lucite buttons.

 Some more fun plastics and the silver buttons on the right are metal.

This is the rest of the story "as found".  I will show my favorites from this pile in a future post.  In the meantime, I hope I can finally score some junk this weekend and stop boring you with button posts.
Oh!  I did win another lot of buttons on eBay.  I checking the tracking number earlier this week and they lost there way between PA and Oregon and they are currently  on vacation in Hawaii.  I hope they come home soon!

Some Things I Think I Know About Buttons

 I got quite a few questions on my last post and some from "no-reply" bloggers so I thought I would try to answer some of them here.  First of all, I am NOT a button expert, I am not even a button collector and I have never been to a real button show.  I am just a button accumulator with a curious mind.
Some asked what "whistles" are.  They are buttons, as shown above, that have one hole on the front and two holes on the back.  Yes, I have tried blowing through them, because I am like that, and no, they didn't whistle. I have no musical talent so that may be the problem.

 This is the back side where you can see the two holes. 
Someone asked about vegetable ivory.  I have no idea why it is called that because they are actually buttons made from the tagua nut.  I believe the three brown buttons above are made from vegetable ivory.  They are often stained or dyed.  The dye doesn't penetrate very deep so they can then be carved and the lighter color underneath is revealed.  It is especially common to find them with a groove carved on each side of the shank so you can insert a needle and the groove is often lighter in color than the rest of the button.

I mentioned in the last post that I should have taken a photo of the milkglass whistle from an angle where you could see the ball shape so here you go.
More questions and answers...
Yes, bone buttons are really made from bone.  They were made from the shin bones of cattle.  I find it admirable that our ancestors made use of every part!  There are even buttons made from the horns.  The holes in very early ones sometimes don't match because they lacked the technology to do that.  I have also heard there are ones with three holes but I have never found one.
Mother of Pearl buttons have nothing to do with oysters or pearls.  IOWA was once the button capital of the world and the buttons were made from mussel and clam shells harvested from the Mississippi River.  You have probably noticed that some of the modern clothing you buy still has MOP buttons.  They are made in Asia now.
Tight Top buttons are typically made of celluloid that is firmly attached to a metal back.  By the way, I always talk about washing buttons but you should NEVER wash a two-piece button that has metal parts.  The water will get inside and ruin it.  I just use a damp dishrag to clean them.

Someone asked about my button books.  These are what I have, but I have room for more!!  The Internet also offers tons of information.
Button Button by Peggy Ann Osborne.
Buttons by Diana Epstein and Millicent Safro
Antique & Collectible Buttons by Debra Wisniewski
Old Buttons by Sylvia Llewelyn
I hope this helped answered some of your questions.  Happy button hunting!