Buttons

It's funny how something so small, so utilitarian, so simple, can capture our interest isn't it? I remember when I was little, my grandmother Halstead had button boxes. She sewed clothes for all of us grandkids and never wasted anything. So of course, when an item of clothing was worn beyond use, she saved the buttons. I remember rainy days spent sorting through her boxes of buttons. Cigar boxes, though grandpa didn't smoke cigars. I was fascinated with the colors and textures and shapes. It seemed that every time I went through those boxes I would notice something I hadn't noticed before. Buttons remind me of grandma.
Last summer as I was garage and estate sailing, I came across a wonderful sale. It was the estate of an old lady who had died and her children had opened up the house. It was such a great sale I went back the next day, amazingly enough, I found a lot of things I hadn't seen the day before, including an ice cream barrel full of buttons. For $1. I could not believe I had missed it before and snatched it up. When I came home, my girls dumped it out and sorted the buttons. (click to enlarge)
There were silver ones...

gold and tortoise and rhinestone...

vibrant pinks, yellows and greens....

Beautiful blues.....

And, from my own grandmothers button boxes, (I got these when she died), beautiful cream, white and mother-of pearl.

I am posting this as part of Leesiebella's button challenge over at SugarSugar. Stop over and check it out. She has lots of beautiful buttons herself and a long list of lovely bloggers who are sharing their little treasure troves of buttons too!

My current favorite song:>) The video is lame, but the song is great!

(One of my bowls)

I stopped by for tea with Mary this morning and was so moved by her post. She writes about a need to create and wonders if anyone else feels that way. Oh yes! I have always wanted to create, in fact, even though I did not pursue a career in art, I have been compelled to create all my life. I grew up in a very rural area of Michigan, on a farm, with lots of hard work and a very practical mindset. Art was a fun pastime, but to think about it as a way of life or career was pretty much scoffed at. "You can't make a living with art." So being the practical hard working farm girl I was I set about making a life. I went to college for 2 years,(first in my family to do so), met my husband, and (gasp) dropped out of college. Probably the biggest mistake of my life (the dropping out, not the husband :>) Worked hard for years and put all my creative energy into raising my girls. I homeschooled, decorated on a nonexistant budget, taught art to the homeschool group I belonged to, taught Sunday school, and painted and created as a hobby. In the 90's I dipped my toes into the craft show circuit and was pretty successful. My first inkling that you could make a living with art. But I soon gave that up as I went about the business of raising the girls. Now I have two beautiful daughters who are all grown up. My baby goes to college this fall. I knew a couple years ago that I would have to make a drastic change. I was losing my full time job as a mother. A job I loved but which eventually gives you the pink slip:>)
I decided it was time to do what I really wanted to do, and that was to explore my creative side more fully. To give myself the chance to follow my dreams and my muse. My husband has always been my biggest fan and supporter. I am so thankful for his love and the belief he has in me! I signed up for pottery classes, took out my sewing machine and paints and started blogging. I feel like my world and my options have opened up! All I can say Mary is follow your dreams, this is your time, you have worked hard for it. I know you will be successful because you have such an eye for beauty and you could not find a better support group than your blogging friends! And to anyone else out there who has a dream that they have put on the back burner, just do it! I would love to hear how and when your own creative journey began!

I just had to show everyone our Easter dessert, my sweethearts cheesecake of the moment...Chocolate Mocha. Yummm! It has a bottom layer of chocolate cheesecake, topped with a layer of mocha cheesecake, topped with ganache piped with whipped cream and ganache mixture. Oh. my. goodness. Fortunately it is gone because today I begin my "Oh my gosh, it's almost warm weather and all my winter fat is going to show!" diet. Yeah, kiss that Mocha Cheesecake goodbye. No more of that! (and please, ignore the grout, I have grout issues that must be dealt with!)
And this will be on my refrigerator to remind me.......So, here I am, it is a beautiful (cold) sunny morning, the house is still clean from the super cleanup for Easter (yay), I have the day off (super yay!) and I thought I would do just a little more spiffing up. I found my old lace curtains in the cedar chest with my tablecloths yesterday and decided it was time to take down the toile and put up the lace. The windows in the dining room face east and north and the morning sunshine is so wonderful. I dont see much of it in the winter so the heavier curtains don't matter, but spring sunshine just brings the room to life.

Ahhhhh. Sweet husband made the wooden valances for me a few years ago and we covered them in toile. I like my chairs mismatched. The nieces used to like getting the pretty ones when they came for dinner:>) The chandelier is still wearing some green beaded wreathes from christmas, tied up with black gingham ribbons. I think they look just as pretty in spring as they did in winter so I left them, and they do catch the light and add a bit of sparkle in the morning. The dining room table belonged to my dear grandmother and I spent many hours coloring and drawing and eating dinner around that table in the kitchen with her when I was a child. I was so happy to have it passed on to me when she died. Most of my fondest memories revolve around grandma in her farmhouse kitchen. So there it is, my dining room. I think I am going to find some pretty fabric to back the shelves in the corner as it can be a bit dark in there, but all in all, I love my cosy little dining room and it has been the scene of many happy holiday gatherings with the family:>)

He is Risen Indeed!