Saturday 9 June 2012

A very old button box


I love vintage things, especially things that have been passed down generations in my family. I store some of my fabric in my Granny's old toybox. It is a sturdy wooden chest, handmade for her by her uncle. I also have a bag of my Great Great Aunt's handmade lace that one day I will turn into something beautiful.

This week my Aunt gave me a very old button box. She thinks that this originally belonged to my Great Great Aunt, although there have been buttons and trinkets added to it over the years. For years and years it has lived in a cupboard.

Opening it up was really exciting! There are some real little treasures in there! I thought maybe you might be interested in seeing some of them...


Among some really prettty vintage buttons, some new and some still with threads on where they have been removed from clothing, there are buckles and pins. I found an ID tag belonging to my Great Aunt, with her maiden name and a very old address.
I found a tiny thimble which must have been for a very young child. There was also an old whistle. I love the whistle! I come from a long line of school teachers, and I think this whistle must be my Granny's. She was a PE teacher before she got married.

I've tucked all these treasures back in the box for now, but I can't wait to use some of them and bring them back to life.

Have a lovely weekend!
Fiona x

24 comments:

  1. Thats a beautiful collection!

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  2. Oooh, very cool (plans surreptitious trip to the north of the city ;o) ) Can't wait to see what you do with them!

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  3. Love it all! Such wonderful buttons and so nice you sort of know their history. Are you going to start using the whistle on your children now?

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  4. What treasures!! I am moved by the threads still attached to their buttons. Lovely post to start my Saturday.

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  5. Lucky you, it is so nice to have these connections to past sewers.

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  6. Oooh I could sit playing and sorting those for days - lovely x

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  7. I look forward to seeing what you do with these! I also have my grandmother's button collection, and have been thinking about how to showcase some of them. Hmm...

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  8. Oh these are so gorgeous Fi! I love things with a connection to the past. What a lovely treasure to have. Jxo

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  9. ooo I love a good old tin of buttons!

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  10. Isn't it fabulous to have a generational history of your creativity? What a beautiful thing to treasure.

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  11. gorgeous! I too am VERY sentimental about vintage things, even more so if they are family ones.

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  12. Fabulous ! I was a PE teacher in a previous life so I think that whistle is precious! And those green buttons- I'd be looking for the perfect fabric to make a sweet summer blouse by now!

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  13. wow, what amazing little buttons, so much history.

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  14. What a treasure to have these family items passed down to you!

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  15. Ooh, I have button envy! There is nothing more pleasing than an ancient box of buttons, especially one that has been passed through the family. I love imagining what each of the buttons came from or was bought for! Have fun finding uses for them all :)

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  16. I might be wrong, but I think your box might have originally been a tea caddy - my gran used to have one the same, that I 'borrowed' to be my childhood treasure box. Love those pearl buttons, especially the rectangular ones. What a lovely collection to be able to rummage through :-)

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  17. How fabulous - I'd love a good rummage in that tin!

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  18. Love tins like this. What a fabulous collection! Sadly my Granny's button tin was put in a damp cupboard long after she died and it rusted through and ended up being thrown out by builders about to remove the cupboard.

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  19. what a treasure trove. I love buttons and tins so you have both, you lucky thing

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  20. What an amazing box! My Grandmother is about to empty her house (she's going into a home, bless her socks) and I'm now wondering is she has something similar. I'm sure I remember an old sweetie tin with buttons. She's Aberdonian and a right hoarder but there was a huge clearout a few years ago - I hope the old tin didn't get chucked!

    P.S. My Scout whistle is an Acme Thunderer!! They are the business!

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  21. this is so super cool! what a treasure you have.

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  22. What fab finds! Love those green buttons, but wouldn't want to take them off the card!

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  23. Ooh I love boxes of old buttons, have fun!

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  24. Love an old button box Fiona!

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