Unusual and odd buttons in a button box are fun!
I’ve sewn nearly all my life, having grown up with a mom and an aunt who sewed nearly all of their lives. As a mom at home raising three children (eventually 4), I had to sneak time in here or there to get to my sewing machine. I tried to sew during naps or while the kids ate lunch but more often than not, a child or two would end up right by my side just as I sat down to create.
It became frustrating because most of the sewing notions weren’t meant for small hands to touch, and the fabric I didn’t want small hands to touch! Then my oldest daughter discovered the button box. It was a plastic box covered on flowery fabric that held all of the buttons I’d collected either from over-purchasing or a project that had yet to be completed.
Quiet as a mouse, bless that kid, she sat down and placed those buttons into little piles according to their colors. When she was done, I asked her if she could now put them in piles sorted by size. Once she’d done that, I asked her to separate them by type or style. Some were little animal buttons, some had fabric covering them, some were shiny, and some were dull.
Soon, the kids were arguing over who got to play with the button box while mom was sewing. I began to use the button box to my advantage. I offered it up as a reward for good behavior sometimes and, when we were at the fabric store, I would let one child choose some buttons to add to the coveted box.
My kids at very young ages were learning shapes, colors, and sizes with items so basic, but so fun and interesting, that I continued with the button box when my fourth child arrived. She was just as enthralled as the rest. In fact, being the last child and having a 9-year difference in age between the next oldest child, she became quite possessive and insisted that it was her and mom’s special button box. She wasn’t around during the years when her siblings played and learned with those same buttons.
The other day I was in the fabric store and I couldn’t stop smiling as I picked out several small animal buttons and placed them on the counter. My 3 year-old granddaughter says it’s for her and her “shoo-shoo’s” special button box.
*Caution: Young children should always be supervised while playing with buttons.
