Buttons can be made from many things.
These are bark chips that have tossed and turned in the ocean and been smoothed and rounded but not tamed: I get tiny slivers from them even after a bit of sanding and oiling.
A very old wooden baseball bat was sliced into buttons. I had expected more of a - oh, I don't know - grain? signs of age? indication of wear? - and in an attempt to add some visual interest inked on the adage. Maybe "buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks" would have been more appropriate. Oh well, there is a LOT of the bat left.
This is one of my favourite and already in use.
What appears to be a chip from a cedar stump on a chopping block appeared in the front garden - only one - and as soon as I picked up this rather mysterious item it felt like a button.
A wash and an oil and four holes and it became a button.
What is doubly intriguing is that the wood is still green so a piece of the bark on the back has already come away as the wood dries and I like the fact of watching it evolve as it dries.
Crocheted around rings and drapery hooks with yarn and cotton and hemp, these buttons are samples of what can be done - the top left is still in progress - and I like how exact to a vision a button(s) can get with such a process.
I am not sure if these rounds were examples of wood for a classroom or manufacturer - the left one has cherry written on the back, locust on the other, or if they were meant as coasters, but they make beautiful buttons.
Scented buttons. Knit in a yin yang pattern from cashmere, sewn onto a leather backing and lightly stuffed with pot pourri from the garden, the final touch a stem of Australian bushmint which is the most wonderfully fragrant plant both fresh and dried.
Felted by hand around plastic buttons using raw fleece in the bottom two and in the top two my handspun that I dyed with kool aid in the microwave.
Again I am intrigued by how one could knit a garment and then use the same yarn to felt the buttons.
I love the buttons that were probably wood samples.
Posted by: Crafty Gardener | November 24, 2009 at 03:52 AM
Morning Linda
They do retain the tree aspect, don't they. And now I know what locust wood looks like.
Posted by: karen | November 24, 2009 at 06:54 AM
I've been thinking buttons too - and plan to make some Saori buttons...
Love all the different styles and thoughts on buttons.
Posted by: Terri | November 24, 2009 at 09:43 PM
the one set of buttons you are showing might be slices of deer horns...I have earrings made from some....
Posted by: Esther | November 25, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Hi Esther
Could be horn, hmmm.
Posted by: karen | November 25, 2009 at 04:47 PM
loving the buttons you have been making! they have so much character to them...
I was thinking about you just yesterday... I was out 'op shopping' and came across a huge stash of silk ties... I petted them for a while, contemplating what could be made from them, but didn't take them home with me. Karen would know what to do with them, I thought to myself :)
Posted by: laughing purple goldfish | November 25, 2009 at 07:10 PM
Morning Terri
Much looking forward to your Saori buttons!
Posted by: karen | November 26, 2009 at 06:45 AM
Hello Mrs. Goldfish
Ooooh - a tie sighting! - and what fun you thought of me. I wonder how much they sell for in thruft (I am going to leave that typo!) shops in your part of the world. They are usually 50 cents to a dollar (Canadian) here but sometime I come across them for 25 cents and then it is hard to resist buying a bunch. Am using some as weft in a weaving project and will post when it is done. Good to hear from you.
Posted by: karen | November 26, 2009 at 06:52 AM
here in australia, you would pay at least $1 for a tie... and up to $3 in the fancier op shops
looking forward to seeing the weaving!
Posted by: laughing purple goldfish | December 19, 2009 at 01:37 AM
Morning Ms Goldfish Thanks for that info - generally $1 is standard but less cost is common too and in Value Village they are usually $3.95.
Posted by: karen | December 19, 2009 at 07:13 AM