Button Monday

I'm a sucker for natural materials, especially those with patina and wear, so it stands to reason that today's buttons are amongst my favorites.  Here are some wood, bone, and tagua nut or "vegetable ivory" buttons. 

wood buttons

a wooden button carved in the shape of an oyster shell

 I love these make-do buttons made of cross-sections of walnut shells.

Vegetable ivory buttons were used as an alternative to ivory, and come from the nut of a type of palm tree.  They have a beautiful feel to them and a lovely patina as they age.

Bone buttons were often cut from cow shin bones.  These were common during the civil-war era. 

Hope you've enjoyed the buttons.  Happy Monday!

On the Mend

I had a small burst of energy today and though my cold symptoms still linger, I am feeling largely on the mend. For the first time in two weeks I worked on a project today. I needed some special buttons for it and wanted wooden buttons so I hiked out in the woods and came back with an armload of branches and roots and hit the bandsaw. I cut a number of button hopefuls and after sanding them down, rubbed them with beeswax. The colors just popped right out! These are so smooth and colorful that they almost look like stone and I'm really pleased.

I'm planning to reopen my Etsy shop on Monday and am hoping to add some new things (just one or two) later in the week.