I already had a few buttons that belonged to my dad's mom, so I was excited to have a collection from both sides of my family. I'm sentimental about family things, so I knew I'd want to do something with these old buttons rather than hide them away.
My amazing sister, Ali, was visiting us this week and I thought this would be a fun project for us to tackle together. We pulled out the buttons late one night, when Evie woke up. I got her out of bed and let her join us for a bit. She was so excited by these buttons!
After Evie went back to bed, Ali and I got busy arranging the buttons on this interesting white burlap. It's mounted on heavy paper and I've never seen anything like it (I got it at Bettertex fabrics in SoHo). It a nice heavy weight and the color is interesting with the white fibers on the yellow paper. I'm sure a stiff burlap or a grasscloth would work similarly.
I cut the fabric down to size and ironed it flat. Then we arranged the buttons by color in horizontal lines, but tried to be a little loose about placement so that it didn't look overly thought out.
The top row is green, then yellows/golds, two rows of whites and creams, blues, blacks/browns/purples and then reds/pinks.
I'm happy with the way this easy project came out. I like that it is colorful and has great texture. And I love that it is something that can be studied. There are lots of pretty and unique buttons. Many of them are connected to childhood memories I have of my grandmothers.
This space is still very much a work in process, but the buttons are a fun, graphic addition. Seeing them every day makes me smile.