Saturday 10 April 2010

The button tin . . .

This week I became the very proud custodian of the 'family button tin'. This is a collection of buttons which my late mother collected over a span of probably 40-50 years, from when we were all little toddlers. It's such a lovely thing to have and it brought back memories of me thumbing through all the buttons as a little girl - some of them were particularly familiar to me and I must admit to feeling a little bit 'weepy' at seeing them again. Funny how something as simple as a button can trigger such vivid memories!

Isn't the tin great - 'National Dried Milk', probably from the sixties I'm guessing. I think I might use some of the buttons in my crafty projects, and of course it would be lovely to add my own buttons to the collection too (I purchased the ones above last month).

It's a great resource for me to have as a 'crafter' and a fabulous piece of family memorabillia too. 'Little S' is desparate to have a rummage through the tin, which would be fun to do together. He keeps complaining that I'm putting them away back into the tin every time he arrives on the scene!

Finally . . .

Typical boy, he soon got bored of them and left me to tidy up!! :D

Have a lovely weekend :)

11 comments:

Marion said...

I'd say the tin is probably early 50's, when rationing was still in force. Not that I remember, you understand!
Love old button collections - so many memories.

florcita said...

The tin alone is fantastic!
how nice to get this type of things.It's the simple things always that give such pleasure.
My mom gave me a bunch or her old buttons, some from my grandma too, and the thing is that I can't use them. Even if they are old and a bit faded, they are more "important" in the button box than the newer are... hahaha I know silly... but, emotions are like that.

Tweed Thoughts said...

Thanks Marion - I'm so used to seeing the tin, I hadn't given it too much thought!

Hi Mariana - I might find it a little difficult to use them, perhaps just one or two though :) There are a lot of buttons!

Swirlyarts said...

It's not just little boys who don't put buttons back after they have been played with, trust me!

LOULA BELLE AT HOME said...

You have reminded me of mine. I must get them out for my daughter to look at. I inherited mine from my grannie. I was asked if there was anything I wanted, and that was it. I spent hours playing with them as a child. I don't think I would have got away with not putting them back though!!! Love your tin too. Unfortunately, for some reason (?), my buttons didn't come with their tin. Shame really. Happy rummaging!

june at noon said...

My mom's given me a lot of her old buttons (and the accompanying jars), but I think she still has some in an old baking powder tin that I remember playing with as a kid.

Jennifer Rose said...

Buttons!! its so nice having a piece of family history like that :)

Biba said...

This is one fabulous piece of family heirloom, I love it (even better than family jewels...)! I really like your sheep buttons, though, I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll come up with for those (and I'll probably be tempted to buy that...). Have a lovely week!

Aileen Clarke Crafts said...

Ahh! we have that play rug too! We had it out on the patio yesterday with the play people set up on it. How lovely to have a family button tin. When my son was little we went visiting in Ireland and the family button tin was brought out for him to play with. We've got tonnes of buttons but not an official tin. My friend got a heap of buttons from her friend including a wee lilac toggle from her daughters baby jacket so she made a felt purse and used the toggle and gave it back to her. I thought that was a lovely idea.

Tweed Thoughts said...

Oh, what a fabulous idea Aileen - that must have been a lovely gift to receive! :)

Anonymous said...

There is something so special about a family button tin. Part of your family history. Love your tin!We have ours in 3 big old toffee tins. Enjoy using your buttons.