I have trouble visualizing quantities. And, because of that, I tend to acquire MORE than LESS. I make more potatoes than I need to for dinner, I buy more flowers than my flower bed can hold, and if you look at my yarn stash… well, need I say more?
So… here’s the real story. Back in the early days of EBay… I’m talking about the beginning days when people priced things as if they were having a garage sale, not owners of specialty shops, so long ago that my username is simply a 4 letter word, I use to buy many things on EBay.
One of the things I bought was a box of buttons. These were very interesting buttons. The seller said they were recycled buttons, with a wide variety of colors, sizes and shapes. Perfect! Well, when the buttons came in, there was over 14 pounds of buttons. Now, if you are anything like me, that probably doesn’t have much meaning to you, but trust me when I tell you… that’s a whole lot of buttons! AND, when the seller said they were recycled, she didn’t mentioned that there were still tiny pieces of thread and fabric attached to each button. These buttons were cut off clothing, granted, very close to the button, but to use the buttons, you had to remove the snippets of thread and cloth.
Basically, it took me a month of winter evenings to de-thread all the buttons. Now, that may sound like a complaint to you, but it isn’t. I actually enjoyed doing it! I got to handle each button while I used a seam ripper to remove the threads, and then I placed the buttons in LARGE mason jars by color. True story.
Of course… if you need 8 buttons all the same, good luck finding matches! However, we have embraced the beauty of using different types of buttons on projects, claiming artistic preferences! It works : )
I’m always on the lookout for new ways to use the buttons. Although I do come up with ideas from time to time, I’m sure some day I’ll be leaving behind a trunk of “Gammy” buttons!
The tutorial for making your own button heart can be found HERE.
~Kimara~
Reprinted on Facebook 3-27-13
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