Week 19 – Some Sorting and Reorganising
Time for some sorting and reorganising this week.
I had been given a large bag of unwanted buttons at an event recently. Adding them to my existing collection I decided it was time to sort and reorganise them all.
These buttons come from mother’s, grandmother’s and great grandmother’s collections. Handed down and added to with each generation. Most families seem to share this practice and those of a certain generation can recall being given the button box to play with! How would our children and young people react to this today?
Getting Started
As with most things it is always that first move that starts the ball rolling. Or in this case the buttons spilling out all over the table. But once I began it was quite relaxing sorting them into their colours. At times I stopped to admire a particular button wondering when it last saw the light of day.
It is a challenge to find a suitable use for them and its unthinkable that they should be thrown away.
Display
It would have been all too easy to repackage the buttons into plastic bags and put them back in the cupboard. So I decided to make a display of them and sourced some small sliver lidded jam jars. I had plenty of white, black, grey and brown buttons to more than fill the jars. Other colours such as red, orange, blue and green were limited in number. They make a welcome addition to the shelf in my studio now and seeing them may help me come up with some creative ideas in the coming days.
Good Therapy
There is a good feeling that accompanies some sorting and tidying. The very process itself is calming and can help focus the mind. Seeing my little jars of buttons in this way is so much better than occasionally moving the big box out of the way when trying to find something else in the cupboard. In fact I took them to a local market and they were admired as part of the display.