Red and yellow, black and white...they are precious in my sight...
A while back, I was digging around in my messy basement and found an ice cream bucket labeled, "Buttons". I had forgotten, when going through some of my late Grandma's things, I had taken home one of her ice cream buckets full of buttons. What a treasure I'd found! The kids and I dumped them onto the living room floor and started sorting them by color. "Oooh, I like that big, pink one..." "Is this shiny one from an army guy?" I was awash with memories of the Grandmother that loved sewing, knitting, and creating. She had sewn many beautiful dresses for me, and graced our newlywed bed with a beautiful quilt.
I remember her scavenging buttons from anywhere she could find, cutting them off old clothing, coming across baby food jars of them at garage sales and thrift shops. Her love of scavenging and taking something old and turning it into something beautiful was definitely passed on to me! Grandma taught me how to sew, starting with doll clothes, and graduating to matching up plaids, and laying out a pattern. My Grandma could take whatever she had available, and turn it into something useful, something of beauty.
I'm still adding to my vintage button collection. They are hard to find, so I can't say I part with them often! I keep them close to my heart, which means I keep them in the kitchen!
I can enjoy looking at their beauty, and Happy Girl and I can have them close at hand whenever we need a little extra beauty to grace our projects!
Hope this Valentine's Day lets you enjoy fond memories of those you love, unconditional love, and all things beautiful and creative.
My Grandma passed away 9 years ago. She went to meet Her Lord, hand in hand, with her earthly love-my Grandpa. They would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary one month later...on Valentine's Day. Their lives impacted me in a great way, and even those lives they had touched in the previous hours to their death. Guess that's what it's all about...LOVE...unconditional LOVE.
Oh how I love this post. My Grandma also taught me to sew and shared so much love with me, I actually started my little Etsy business because of the button collection she left me! If you would ever like a memory bracelet made from some of your favorite buttons of hers, I would be happy to put one together for you.
Posted by: maybaby | Friday, February 17, 2012 at 06:38 AM
That sounds like a great idea! The flowered Aqua ones in the photo are my favorite, and I've wanted to use them in a special way! I'll have to look at your Etsy site for some ideas! I'm so excited!
Posted by: Lora Bloomquist | Friday, February 17, 2012 at 06:55 AM