The Care and Feeding of the Button Jar

When I was a mere slip of a child, my mother had a jar full of odd buttons. It was a large, heavy jar made of dark brown glass with a white tin lid. I remember it vividly because I played with it a lot. I would take it down from the book shelf, unscrew the lid and spill the buttons into a delicious colourful heap on the floor. I would examine each button one by one, sorting them by colour or by size or by shape. There were a hundred different kinds of button in there, from the basic plastic to mother of pearl, and even a couple of vintage buttons in the shape of elegant flowers, with green velvet centers.

I don’t know where that jar went, I assume mama threw it away in one of her cleaning out fits, which is a dire shame. While at Spotlight the other day, they had little bags of mixed buttons on special, so I bought one. The bag split once I got it home, so today I went to Savers and picked out a button jar.

The other night, when I couldn’t sleep, I tipped these buttons onto the bed spread and played with them. I don’t know what it is about buttons, especially in a pile. They are incredibly tactile, they need to be moved, and examined and played with. The feel of them running through my fingers is a soothing thing, examining each of them for colour and shape and anything else is a bliss.

So, what is the best way to care for and feed your button jar? It’s simple, actually. Any lost buttons, unwanted buttons or odd buttons should be tossed into the jar where they will wait patiently until you need them. For example, I bought a strip of three buttons to make eyes with for a toy. The third button now lives in the jar, waiting for a project to present itself.

Buttons cut off old shirts and blouses belong in the button jar. A true button jar has at least one button which still has thread in the holes, cut off a garment and tossed into the jar. It’s true you’ll never have a perfect match, should you need a button to replace one that’s lost, but you’ll be almost sure to have a “close enough”.

Perhaps it’s a hang over from Make Do and Mend, but I have a quiet thrill about my button jar.  The other night mama dug through the bag to find buttons to replace the ones on a vest. The original buttons ended up in the mix, and so now there’s buttons with a story to tell, all tucked away in my little jar.

The best kind of jar? Well I like one with a history in itself, which is why I bought a second hand one. It has a nice, tight fitting cork lid. No matter what jar you select, a tight fitting lid is vital because button jars are often knocked or dropped, and are more than happy to send buttons all over the place given the chance.

With the right conditions, and careful care and feeding, you’ll probably find your buttons breed. This is a good thing, and don’t be amazed if you find a button in your jar you can’t remember putting there. It’s the magic of the jar.