THE Button Nut!

I talk about the things I love, but there's one thing I love that I haven't told you about yet. And it's such a biggie that I can't believe they don't have a 12-Step program for people like me who love them..."My name is Debbie, and I'm a button-aholic!!!"

  I'm almost embarrassed to show you all of my buttons! There's enough of them, if one was dropped every 4 seconds, to help Hansel and Gretel find their way out of a 40 mile wood!!! LOL

  My friends and family, instead of helping me get over this addiction, encourage it! They give me all of the buttons off of clothes they're throwing away, find, or spot in a store. They call and say: "Oooooo! Guess what I found?!" I know that it'll be either some new and interesting button....or one of my other addictions.

   OKAY! Buttons is not my only addiction!!!!...*Lowering my head in shame*...Thankfully, my addictions aren't against the law! They include: Buttons...of course...shoes, hats, jewelry (especially necklaces and earrings), purse pulls and pendants, books, board games, recipes, jewelry boxes, and candle holders. That's not all of them, but I just realized while I was listing them JUST HOW SICK I AM!!! LOL

  I get absolutely giddy about them. So you can just about imagine how much fun my tag sale was recently! It took my hubby and friends DAYS to talk me into putting some of the things out for sale. I got such peace when most of it didn't sell and had to come back into the house!!

  My love of these things doesn't have anything to do with their value, necessarily. Everything has a story and a memory. I guess being a poet, I live on the stories behind things...and the people who tell me the stories. You should see the emotion in the face of my friends when they give me a button that came from a collection that used to be owned by their grandmother, or that they saved from when their kids were babies.

   So, you see, buttons are just one avenue for me to collect love!...Enough talking! Let me show you some of them!...It'll be pretty easy to see why I love these...

 ...they're all flower buttons! This one is a particular favorite!

  I love the way it's so airy and easy to sew on...I'm kind of fond of a swirl too!

   And if it's a big wood button...with a swirl...EVEN BETTER!

Truth is, I love both sides of this wood button!

    I guess the flower I make will dictate which side I use. The person who buys the flower brooch I make with it will have to re-collect the button after the flower is unwearable, and make something else with it, showing the other side of the button! (Okay...delusion and wishful thinking creeping in! I keep forgetting that this is MY addiction, not everybody else's!!! LOL)

  Sometimes they're really simple, and not expensive buttons. Sometimes the simplicity doesn't tell the whole story. Look at these. Which ones do you think are the more collectible and expensive?!

  I think you'd be surprised at the answer!...This one IS a collector's item...

  You can just look at it and see the story, can't you?!...This one too.

   With that little bee on it, it looks so simple, but it's REALLY old! I probably should try to find out how much it's worth now, before I put it on one of my $10.00 necklaces!!...It shows how much I love an insect on my button too. Here are some of my Czech Glass rhinestone fly buttons. I have a couple of items in my shop with these buttons on them. They are VERY RARE...and I love them!

   This is what they look like on the other side...

   And last, but not least, is my BIG BOLD button!

   A lot, huh?!...You have NO idea!!! LOL........Oh yeah, I left out my addiction to crocheting!!! Ha! Ha!

Blankets Of Love

I make blankets, in my own time;

putting love in every stitch;

I let no one rush the process;

I'm not concerned with getting rich.

Crocheting brings about a calm

that nothing else quite seems to do;

I get such joy from choosing patterns,

and from choosing colors, too.

The more intricate-the better;

that gives me much more time to think,

'cause I slow down, so I can read it

keeping brain cells in the pink.

Just the steady, jutting motion

of my needle's in and out

makes me remember who its for,

and what the pattern's all about.

I made a blanket for my sister,

with kittens crocheted all around;

and another one, for a friend,

with her name written up and down.

I made a special one one year.

(made lovingly-to give away)

It marked the 20 years of love

that we remembered on that day.

We threw a party for our friends;

We had good food, and dancing too;

and on the blanket, there was written:

'Roses are red, violets are blue'.

That was a special blanket;

but special is always what I say

'cause I put the time into them

so that they won't easily fray.

They are blankets made with love

that I'm proud of-from 'chain one';

To watch the faces of receivers

is, without doubt, half the fun.

So-if I ever make a blanket

for your anniversary,

or your wedding, or engagement,

here's the thought you'll have from me:

That 'I love you very much,

and making it was fun to do;'

and that 'with every single stitch

my every thought had been of you!'