Button Box Treasures

My neighbors just gifted me with a wonderful button box FULL of treasures! I've never been able to pass up an old button box, and whenever I find one at a garage sale, thrift store, or second hand shop (if the price is right) it usually comes home with me.

Most button boxes come with some special button treasures inside, like this vintage brass CPD coat button.

Or these gorgeous old glass buttons.

And my personal favorite, brightly colored vintage plastic buttons.

Inevitably, button boxes that have been collecting and holding buttons for a long time end up containing other small treasures, too. Things that are picked up and stashed in apron pockets in the course of everyday life end up tossed in the button box to save for later. Also, little things with big sentimental value sometimes end up in a button box, like a favorite bead from a broken necklace, one of a special pair of earrings when the other is lost, or a sparkly jewel popped from costume jewelry.

Like this super duper teeny tiny lapel pin with a crest including the letters "M W A" inside. Wht it is - I have no idea! But, it was obviously a treasure to the woman who stashed it in with her buttons.

And these little treasures were in the button box, too!


I've been gathering vintage button stashes for so long now that I've noticed a pattern to what other treasures I'll find inside. Here are some things I've found from the many button stashes collected along the way:

Lingerie pins and broken or mis-matched jewelry.

Marbles and steel ball bearings.

Keys.

Random game pieces.

Various small metal what-not's.

And guitar picks.

I've started keeping all of these extra treasures in a jar near my sewing machine, and added in my own little treasures as well. Among my personal favorites are a tiny Pikachu I found on the ground maybe 12 years ago (he used to live in my jewelry box with my earrings, but is much happier in the treasure stash jar), and a county pet tag from a favorite best-friend-kitty cat who lived a very long life and is now passed on.

Do you have a button box, jar, or drawer? What other treasures are in with your buttons?