Vintage Buttons

On Friday I poured myself a beer, put on Netflix and settled down for a evening sorting out my button tin. I'm an archivist by profession, so sorting things is what I do for a living, and I'm comfortable enough with my nerdy side to say this task was a real pleasure for me.

Until Friday my button collection looked like this...

... a pretty tin, but a nightmare to find anything in...

I'd been planning to sort out my buttons for ages and had a few different ideas of what to do, but then I saw this in Reads at half price.

Isn't it great? 16 little boxes with lid, and a neat container to keep them all in. I decided to sort the buttons by colour ...

... and have easily filled all 16 boxes.

I'm already thinking of getting another set, to keep some of my other sewing notions in, and I think I should be able to attached the plastic frame for the boxes to the wall of my new sewing room, which would make it even more practical.

Now, for some shameless shots of some of the highlights of my buttons collection (aka button porn). Firstly some of the vintage buttons I was given for Christmas from the stashes of one of my aunt and another friend.

These extraordinary buttons have been in my stash for a couple of years as I have never known what to do with them, but I just love them - they remind me of boiled sweets.

And finally, possibly my favourite buttons

These are from my dad's uniform when he used to be a fireman, when I was a little girl. There are five of the ones on the right, and one of the ones on the left. I think these buttons deserve a very special project, and I have some vague plans for a red, tailored vintage military style jacket.

Any suggestions for what to do with the boiled sweets buttons or the fireman ones, will be gratefully received.