Today was a lazy day! It was overcast and threatening rain all day so instead of planting peas like I intended, I played! Sometimes during the night, I have dreams of creative projects..I guess they are more like visions because they are just fleeting thoughts, not really dreams. Anyway, most of my creative endeavors involve these ideas that pop in the head in the middle of the night and today, I decided to act on one.
Years ago, almost every woman could sew well and it was the habit of most to save buttons. It was a matter of necessity as buttons were expensive, hard to come by, and much needed. In earlier days, women sewed the family's clothes and zippers, velcro, and other fasteners were not yet invented. Buttons were always carefully snipped off of worn-out clothing and saved to be used again. Almost every woman kept a fine button box! I am not a seamstress. I can sew enough to get by but I will never profess to "knowing how to sew". My daughter and daughter-in-law both are excellent seamstresses so it stands to reason that they both have taken over these responsibilities when necessary! BUT..I have button boxes! Notice that is plural! I have button boxes and jars and bowls. I have wooden, ceramic, nacre, plastic and metal buttons. I have buttons of every color of the rainbow. I have buttons! The ones pictured above are just a few of the ones in this house! I fell heir to not only my grandmother's, mother's, great aunts' and several aunts' button boxes. I have acquired a friend's mother's box and even (for some unknown reason) found one in hurricane debris! So, yes! I have button boxes which brings me back to the idea formed in the middle of the night!
The brilliant idea was a piece of jewelry created from pieces found in some of these boxes! This would not only open up a new line of crafts, it would also make use of some of my so-called "junk"! In the visionary piece, buttons were combined with glass beads to create the pendant for a necklace. This is not a new craft, it has been around for years and years. It is just new to me! Today, being dreary, was the perfect day to play in the "junk"boxes. I pulled out masses (way too much) stuff and set to work! After a bit, I held up what I think is a satisfactory piece! I am quite happy with the outcome of my labor..the necklace could hold its own against some of the pieces I have seen in shops. This made me smile..now my button boxes were no longer junk! They are needed craft supplies! And the "family heirloom" buttons can be passed on and enjoyed instead of being crammed in boxes, jars, bowls, bags, sacks, drawers.......hehe..they are now treasures!
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