It's a great day for Goofies!

I love Goofies or realistics (O.k. let's face it, if it's an interesting button of any kind I probably love it!)  They almost always make me smile.  Technically, Goofies are plastic realistic buttons dating from the 30s - 50s era.  They can be in any shape or theme.  You can find circus characters, devils, fruit and lots of animal buttons.  They're often made from either Bakelite or Celluloid.  Buttons made from other types of material or from a different date range are usually referred to as realistics, though people often refer to newer buttons as novelty or snap-together. 

Whichever term you use, the buttons all have one thing in common.  They are made to look like an every day, ordinary object.  Although some can be quite expensive (such as a Weeber fruit) others can be had fairly cheaply.  Thus, if you're just starting a button collection this is a fun category to collect.  Plus, since this category includes modern day buttons as well, there are lots of fun finds out there.  Since I make jewelry from both vintage and contemporary buttons, I can often be found in the button aisle at my local craft store.  There's always something that gets my creative juices flowing.   Being that Halloween is just around the corner, this is what I've done with some new novelty buttons:

This bracelet is currently listed on Ebay and is made from a novelty packet of halloween buttons plus a few interesting teardrop beads.  Definitely fits the Halloween theme as there are pumpkins, tombstone, a ghost, potion, spell book and other spooky stuff all of which started out as buttons!

Goofies and realistics - fun to collect, fun to create with, and always guaranteed to make you smile.

Bakelite, charms, lapel buttons and BOLTS?

You've probably gone to an estate sale or bought a box of buttons at an auction only to find the box contains things other than buttons.  Now I expect that a vintage sewing tin might have things such as needles, pins, zippers, etc. mixed in with the buttons, but often I find other things as well.  Some of them it's easy to understand how they ended up in the button box, but others seem so out of place you just have to wonder how they got there.

The other day I went to an auction and was the winning bidder for a really nice big box of buttons ( lot of which will be turned into vintage button charm bracelets).  After bringing my treasure home, I immediately began sorting.   I was very pleased to find a huge carved Bakelite belt buckle as well as both bakelite and celluloid sweater clips.  Digging further into the box I pulled out some nice vintage lapel pins and some religious charms.  These plus some really great buttons all made my collecting heart beat a little faster.  As I pulled out the next handful, the weird stuff began to appear.  Nails, screws, bolts and brass fittings!  There was even a little hammer that unscrewed to house a miniature screw driver.  Not that you could've used that tiny screwdriver on those screws as they were huge!  By the time I was done sorting, I had filled an entire cigar box full of nuts and bolts.  That got me to thinking about all the stuff I've found in button boxes (besides buttons) through the years.  There's been brooches, broken chains, a few rings, several charms, some coins, the occasional piece of child's jewelry, and lots of marbles. 

So, what's the weirdest or most interesting non-button thing you've found in a button box?