Button Jar Stories

I just love buttons. There are so many different varieties out there, both old and new. My mother-in-law has a big jar full of buttons that she has collected over the years. When my children were younger and visiting their grandparents, they loved to go get Grandma's button jar and dump it out on the floor. They would sort through all of the buttons, and would keep entertained for a long time in this fashion. Recently my daughters took some pictures of her collection. Here is a shot peering down into the same jar that they have been kept in for years:

And here are a few buttons that came off of a karakul coat that my mother-in-law wore as a very young girl. It was a favorite of hers, as well as her dog (a German Shepherd). She has told us a story of how the dog got a hold of that coat one day (while she was still in it), and dragged her around the house. I think maybe the sheep's wool in the coat just smelled all too real to the dog. The coat was ruined, but she managed to save the buttons.

Her button jar is full of stories, which make them so much more of a treasure. I think we could randomly pick a button out of the jar, show it to her, and she would immediately smile while delighting us with another of her wonderful stories.