Ideas With Buttons
- A collection of old buttons can turn into jewelry or decorate an ordinary item.buttons image by Eldin Muratovic from Fotolia.com
Homemakers saved and reused buttons in the 19th and early 20th centuries because they were utilitarian works of art in durable, attractive and sometimes valuable materials. Even when buttons for everyday clothes were being mass-produced in plastic, they were often removed from worn-out clothing and saved for application to new garments. Honor both the savers and the craftspeople who created the buttons by reusing them in decorative ways. - Tiny shank buttons, especially shoe buttons and those meant to be sewn on by small metal loops, can be strung on beading thread, with or without knotting. They're most effective when either strung en masse and tightly together, or spaced out along a fine thread and knotted in place like briolettes. Make matching earrings with loops of thread or wire to hold the buttons.
- Show off a small group of buttons in mixed colors or styles by creating a bracelet or choker. Metal or wood buttons will also show off well on leather strips.
- It's a lot of work, but an evening bag is great way to display the tiny mother-of-pearl shirt buttons that were made from mussel shells in the first half of the 20th century for women's and children's clothes and in slightly larger sizes for men's shirt fronts. Pack the buttons close to each other on the fabric and stitch them down with a lustrous white thread or durable fishing line. Mix in a couple of shank buttons --- pearly, metal or featuring rhinestones --- to vary the design.
- String buttons from a really large collection -- especially one made up of nondescript, plastic, flat buttons -- on button-and-carpet thread or fishing line and hang them from a rod in a door or window. The buttons should hang flat against the thread if you run through the top hole (use just two holes on the diagonal of a four-hole button), then the bottom, and back through each again.
