Fun Friday Finds

If you're a button lover you have to take time to see this!  This lady's button collection is absolutely amazing. 

Even better, the buttons have been displayed in amazing ways.  There's buttons by category on standard display cards and then there are buttons that have been used to create art.  Lots of pictures and well worth the visit.  Just looking at all those lovely buttons makes me want to go button hunting!  House cleaning and work can wait there are new buttons to be found!  Hope you have a great weekend and may all your finds be good ones.  Feel free to stop by and share your treasures.  I always love seeing cool buttons!

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.

Buttons, string them one by one thus a charm string is begun

Button charm strings are a unique part of American history.  Also known as memory strings, they were all the range in the 1860s and remained popular up to the 1900s.  According to folklore, when a girl collected 1000 buttons on her string she would meet her prince charming.

Now, you couldn't just string a bunch of buttons together as there were rules to this game.  The buttons were to be one-of-a kind, with a pretty or interesting theme.  The girl was not to buy them, they were to be given by friends and family members.  They could also be traded with another stringer.   Until the string was completed, it was kept in plain view as a way to inspire visitors to contribute buttons.  I'm sure, much as we do today,  stories were also recounted about how certain buttons were acquired. There were bound to be buttons on the string that commemorated events as well, such as the button from grandma's wedding dress, a mourning button from the time of an uncle's death, etc.

Strings were always begun by tieing on a large button known as a touch button.   The material used for stringing was either ordinary string or wire.  The girl would continue stringing on the prettiest,  finest small glass and jeweled buttons of the period. Original charm strings of the late 1800s often had a large quantity of very small and dainty glass buttons, Victorian metals, and early paperweight buttons.. It wasn't uncommon to also find non-button items on the string such as religous amulets, small carved wooden charms, coins and other small items.

Nowadays it is very rare to find a charm string.  In truth, most strings never made it to the required 1000 buttons.  Many strings were destroyed, with the buttons being used or divided up amongst family members.  Still others fell to the hands of button collectors who couldn't resist taking the buttons off the string.

If you actually do happen upon a string of buttons, it is wise to check to see if you actually have a charm string as they are quite collectible and valuable.  The way to do this is to first look at the age and condition of the string or wire.  Secondly, look at the buttons themselves to see if they were made during the proper time frame (roughly 1850-1900) 

Charm strings are thought to have eventually led to the practice of charm quilts (also known as memory or friendship quilts)  With the quilts the practice was somewhat the same in that the goal was to make a crazy quilt with no 2 pieces of fabric being the same.  While both practices are now things of the past, it doesn't mean you can't revive them and start your own charm string - all you need is a few good buttons!

Should you be lucky enough to own a vintage charm string I'd love to see your pictures!

Best places to find buttons

Vintage and collectible buttons can be found in all kinds of places.  Of course the easiest (and cheapest) place is to simply ask family and friends if they have any old buttons.  Many people are more than willing to give up that old button box that's been sitting around gathering dust. 

Of course half the fun of button collecting is the hunt itself.  In a way it's like hunting for buried treasure.  You never know what little gem will turn up in that ordinary pile of buttons.  There are so many places to seek out buttons that the list is almost endless!  

Estate sales often yield good results.  Even if you don't see any buttons out, asking if they have some will often net a good group of buttons.  People often don't think of grandma's button box as being something that will sell.
Next on the list would be your local antique or resale shops.  If you don't want to spend a lazy afternoon going from shop to shop, calling and asking if they have buttons is easy enough.  Again, if you are at the shop and don't see any, ask.  One of our local shops never has any buttons out, but if I ask she usually pulls some out of drawer somewhere.  Seems she throws them in there when she finds them mixed in with other things.  Luckily for me she sells them cheap!

Another great place for buttons is auctions.  If you enjoy local auctions or have always wanted to try one but aren't sure where to find them, you will benefit from checking out Auction Zip    This website allows you to search for auctions within a set distance from your zip code.  It then brings up the choices by date and auctioneer.  Once you click on an auction, you'll usually find the auction house has posted both a general description of items as well as photos of some of the items.  Auctions can be a lot of fun and net some great buttons.  Of course internet auctions are also popular.  Everyone has heard of Ebay and it can be an excellent place both for large lots of buttons and individual buttons.  Since it is so popular, competition can be stiff.  An excellent but lesser known site is Proxibid.  Proxibid merges real auctions with online ones.  You can search for specific items and it will bring up auctions happening within the next few weeks.  Click on a link and you can see the item and leave a bid if desired.  On the actual day and time of the auction you can follow the live link in real time.  There you can either watch each lot as it comes up or bid against others - both online and at the auction.  Since most auction houses charge a premium for internet bidding, it always pays to read the house rules before you bid. 

Besides these ways to find buttons there are many button sites as well.  Doing a google search will bring up 100s of choices.  Join a forum and you'll be amazed at how many people are selling buttons or willing to share good websites to buy buttons.  Joining the National Button Society and your state or local club are also excellent sources.  Not only will you get tons of really useful information, you'll also learn great sources for buttons. 

Speaking of the National Button Society (NBS) the yearly convention is a button collector's dream.  Buttons in every conceivable shape, size and material or on display.  Some are entered in competition, others for sale plus there are LOTS of button vendors!  If you go, bring cash as you won't be able to resist!  The convention is held in a different state each year so it's possible to plan your vacation around the convention.  The NBS always has details posted well in advance. 

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?