cute as a button.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved buttons. I sought out every button I could find as a kid. I even made my parents stop at estate sales to find big piles of them. {Don't I sound like the coolest kid ever? Holy moly!} When my grandmother and great-grandmother passed in the mid 1990s, I inherited a few gorgeous boxes of buttons which I've held onto for years. And now, thanks to pinterest, I have plenty of ideas about what I can do with those special buttons--and all the others I collected!


{button projects: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7}

What did you collect when you were younger?

Have a fantastic Thursday! I'll see you back here tomorrow for Friday's Fancies! I can't wait :)
Don't forget to get all your entries in for the bfrend giveaway--it ends Sunday!
xoxo {av}

36 comments:

  1. I'm definitely going to make #3. When I was little I collected pogs and beanie babies.

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  2. What I great post and such creative ways to display your buttons. I've always collected music boxes. My aunt and uncle used to buy me one for my birthday every year.

    I used to love buttons too though. I always used to make my grandparents play that "button button who's got the button?" game haha

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  3. So many great ideas! I love that you can put your collection to use, unlike my childhood collection of troll dolls.

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  4. ^Hah! I collected troll dolls, too.

    Great meeting you last night, Alison! Hope to see you at more events :)

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  5. oh my gosh you NEED to make that A!
    i was a button collector too! i remember before my grandma passed away she bought a huge jar of them at a yard sale and painstakingly washed every one for me! on xmas morning it was the best present ever!
    (nerd alert!)

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  6. This is such a great post! Tonight we'll go to a birthday party and I will wrap the gift like the one in the first picture!! Brilliant idea!! Thank you so much for inspiring me!!!

    Hugs and kisses

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  7. The tea towels with the fruits are so cute! If you have little buttons like those they would be adorable! And they would make great little homemade gifts too.

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  8. Pinterest is driving me insane with all these beautiful buttons ideas! unlike you i didnt collect buttons as a child :( hahaha

    Lots of love
    simplycamylla.blogspot.com

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  9. I had spurts of different collection, but I know buttons was one of them. I love the idea of adding to a present.

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  10. What great ideas! I collected buttons like crazy when I was a kid too, but have no idea where they ended up. I really wish I still had them, I love that button monogram!

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  11. Is it shocking to say I collect, well hoard, seashells!? ha

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  12. I collected rocks, haha! And I still have them. I should follow your lead and create a rock board on pinterest! Love the framed button letter.

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  13. Oh my gosh excuse me while I go re-pin all of these! So so adorable, especially #3!!

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  14. Those are some really cute ideas! I used to collect postcards when I was a kid! I had several shoe boxes full of them!

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  15. I love the idea of using them in gift wrap! Cute post!

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  16. I started a button collection awhile back but haven't done anything with them yet. I think this inspiration is just what I needed!

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  17. I love #1 and #3! But #6 is such a great way to store them! Great post!

    Becca
    http://blondeslogic.blogspot.com

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  18. I adore vintage buttons and the look of a cute button detail. I collected (and still collect, for that matter) pill boxes when I was little.

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  19. i love that little A! so cute. xo

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  20. I think the framed initial in buttons is so cute! I may make one.

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  21. What? Didn't all the cool kids collect buttons?! (:

    I really like that button initial. There are so many pretty colors in it. Love!

    When I was younger I collected tons of different things. I actually had a pretty decent Pez collection, sadly I think they were given away! They're worth some money these days. Darn. I had the coolest Yoda pez dispenser too.

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  22. I love the idea of displaying them in Ball jars!

    My great-grandfather briefly worked in a button factory, and would always be bringing neat ones home to my great grandmother. The collection got quite large, and was eventually passed down to my Mom. She uses them for all kinds of things now!

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  23. My mom has boxes of buttons for sewing projects and I loved combing through them as a kid for my favorites!

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  24. These are all so cute - don't you love pinterest!!

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  25. 1 and 3 are my favs! Love love love both ideas!

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  26. So cute! I love the monogram made of buttons!
    Love, Leigh

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  27. So cute! I love the monogram made of buttons!
    Love, Leigh

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  28. I love the button magnets! I used to collect sea shells and would decorate little wooden boxes with them :)

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  29. Buttons are just so adorable! Love that you collected them! I used to save them just bc I thought I'd always need to use them after mine popped off my clothing! haha But mainly I collected rocks and stickers!

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  30. The bf's sister had a button motif at her wedding. It was super creative and I loved it, but I'm sure she has a million buttons still. (She did different colored buttons per entree on placecards, buttons on invitation suite, and her dress had buttons from her mother's, grandmother's, and great-grandmother's wedding dresses.)

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  31. gah! no way!! i collect buttons! i've done so ever since i was a kid, all the way through college, and still to this day!! my best friend actually hands over all of her "extra" buttons off the new clothes she buys whenever i see her! annnnd i have a button tattoo on my foot :)

    sorry, i got real excited. i always thought i was silly for collecting them, but there's just something about them that are so cute!

    thanks for the photos, these are great!

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  32. What a great post and post question. I collected anything with a smiley face and pens & paper. I still love pens & paper!

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  33. so cute!! i loved buttons too, and still do!! i used to cover wooden picture frames with them, and give them as gifts -- pretty cute, i must say!! but my biggest collection had to be my erasers, a la "lisa frank" :)

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  34. Are those napkins? hankies? TOO CUTE is what they are, that's what.

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  35. I agree, buttons are adorable! When I was little, I collected coins of all kinds and would take out coin books from the library to compare and hope that I had a rare, priceless coin! Lol.

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  36. You can also use large buttons to store your earrings so they don't get separated. I just saw that in Pinterest this week and couldn't believe I never tried it before :)

    Haley @ Cardigan Junkie

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