A BUTTON KIND OF DAY

Like so many of you trying to stick with your New Year's resolutions, I've been doing my best to get 2013 off to a productive start. Some—like drinking more water—I'm having only marginal success at so far. I'm up to two glasses a day, which doesn't sound like any great accomplishment, but it's definitely progress for someone who doesn't care for the taste of it. After suffering so many kidney stones, I started drinking Crystal Light last February at the suggestion of my urologist and am now trying to make the transition to unflavored water. In other new year endeavors, I'm making much better progress! This morning I organized some of my vintage buttons, which were scattered here and there. Most of the buttons pictured below are from my maternal grandma's button tins. I've been organizing many of my buttons into fabric-covered jewelry trays. I have about three filled so far. If you have creative button storage tips, please do share! I'm always interested in storage ideas that are practical yet pretty.

These white plastic buttons make quite a statement with their array of fanciful shapes.

Vintage pearls have long been close to my heart. These pink beauties were manufactured in Muscatine, Iowa—once the pearl button capital of the world.

I did not have many brown buttons before inheriting Grandma's. I could not get a very good photo of them because they are so dark but they are really quite lovely in shades ranging from dark chocolate to caramel.

When I was home for Christmas, Mom found this old piece of fabric with a bunch of vintage buttons randomly sewn to it that once belonged to Grandma. I wonder what kind of projects Grandma made with them? If only buttons could talk!

Several years back, Mom also gave me this wonderful old pincushion that used to belong to my great aunt Tilly, who I named my very first pincushion design after. I never met Aunt Tilly. I only know her through the stories that my mother told me. Apparently, she was a meticulous seamstress and cook. Everything she did was done with exquisite detail and a humble heart. In short, she was a perfectionist. Mom told me that she had a big sun-filled yellow kitchen and loved to entertain guests with lavish meals. This pincushion has survived the passage of time in fairly good condition. It is very firm and heavy and its floral motif appears to have been hand-painted. It is very sentimental to me and holds a place of honor in my sewing room.