Today, November 16, is National Button Day!
The designation came from the National Button Society, which formed in 1938 to celebrate the hobby of button collecting (so crafting and collecting craft supplies were always two different hobbies!).
There were some special buttons I wanted to celebrate today. They actually belong to my mom, who grew up in Muscatine, Iowa. One of Muscatine’s major industries used to be “pearl” buttons; oyster shells from the Mississippi river would be cut into usable, beautiful mother of pearl buttons. Mom doesn’t call them mother of pearl, though. They’re just pearl buttons. And she would know, because she grew up there and her father, my grandfather, used to have a job making these buttons, so I’m going with it.
To our knowledge, though, my grandfather did not make the buttons I used for this National Button Day. Mom bought a variety of sizes on a trip to the National Pearl Button Museum in, you guessed it, Muscatine, Iowa. Since these buttons we sentimental and beautiful, I decided to make a little jewelry!
All you need is a handful of buttons and 18″ of a nice cord thin enough to thread through your buttons. Here’s a little demo of my bracelet:
Hope you enjoy your National Button Day as much as I did!
FahrOut Fiber Adventures 