Vintage button tins

 I saw a picture of a vintage button tin and it reminded me of the times I spent with my Grandma as a child. Some weekends I spent an evening with my Grandma and she gave me her big tin of buttons to keep me busy. There were buttons for the collars on shirts, military uniforms, from dresses that had been handed down to her daughters, from cardigans long since unpicked and re knitted, and from coats that my Dad would have worn. The tin also had buckles for braces and the clips from suspenders, hooks and eyes and even some prestuds. 

I would sit for hours sorting them by colour, size and shape. I would thread some on long pieces of cotton, use them to count with and lay them out on a tin tray to make patterns. 

I never tired of opening the old tin with its familiar smell and rust spots. It was a part of my childhood that cost nothing at all and would entertain me for hours! 

How many of you played with a tin of buttons? I still keep my own buttons in an old chocloate tin, I don't have as many as Grandma did but they each tell a story.