My cousin, Mary Ellen, holds a Holiday Open House and Sale at her house every year right before Thanksgiving. It's become a tradition over the past 10 years and her friends and associates visit to get a head-start on their holiday shopping!

I've been lucky enough to be part of this fun event for the past three years and her guests have grown to love my jewels. Man, I just love it when people love and appreciate my jewels!

This year was extra special because the day after our big event, Mary Ellen got out her stash of family jewelry. Her parents, my uncle and aunt, have recently passed away and to her delight, they kept many momentos that Mary Ellen didn't expect to find!

We played around with the items, thinking about all the ways we could incorporate these treasured items into new jewelry for Mary Ellen.

With my beloved Uncle Tom's Navy dog-tag and peacoat button and other special things, we made what Mary Ellen now calls her "Daddy Necklace".

Wow.

My Vintage Button Obsession

So.... my vintage button obsession continues...

Some would call it an addiction. Some would call it a peculiarity. I just call it a recent obsession.

I'm obsessed with finding buttons.


Special vendors at the Springfield Antique Show, the Indianapolis Fairgrounds Flea Market, and an antique mall in Waynesville have had beauties. My friend, Heather, took me to the shop in Lebanon that used to be where Maddie Lisee lived and he had some beauties, too. My friend, Jana, found a huge lot of vintage buttons at a recent garage sale and she let me hand-pick some of my favorites from her batch (in exchange for jewelry, of course... I love our Handmade Dayton Etsy Team trades... another blog entry for another time.) Some of the buttons in her garage sale find are ones that I've never seen before!

I'm obsessed with sorting and displaying my buttons.


I sort by gender first. There are female and male buttons.... Yes, there are... Think about it... Then I sort by color and size. I'm using an old typesetters box to display them on a coffee table. Wow! Some may not think this is exciting, but it definitely quivers my liver!



I'm obsessed with, of course, making jewelry using buttons.


Bracelets are my favorite. But the little button earrings have been a hit with my customers.

Give me a buzz if you'd like to check out the whole collection sometime. Maybe you'll find a special holiday gift for you or for someone else.