Monday, January 11, 2010

Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got the Buttons????


I do! In fact I've got so many buttons in so many shapes, sizes and colors that a couple of months ago I became very overwhelmed. Since I have a Sizzix die cut storage rack I had used the plastic cases my die cuts came in to store buttons. Then there was always the opening, closing, spilling issues. I wanted something easier, more manageable. less complex.

One day it hit me that I needed some kind of a sorting tray to keep them in. I found this one at a local craft outlet and I believe it is a tray made by Creative Imaginations. It was on clearance for a couple of dollars so I picked it up, brought it home and began my sorting/organizing.

I decided to sort by color since that is how I usually go about looking for buttons. I am creating and I need a yellow button so want to be able to easily look at all the styles, sizes, and shapes of yellow buttons that I have. You could also sort by size or by shape. I think you just have to know how you craft and sort based on the easiest system that you have.

I actually have two trays like this since I had so many color variations and I wanted to sort more specifically.

So keep your eyes open for that perfect sorting tray. You may find it at the hardware store, the kitchen section of your local department store. a craft store, or perhaps you want to get out some wood and nails and create your own!

I would love to see some links to photos of how others store their buttons so please leave a comment and share with everyone!

6 comments:

LollyChops said...

I store mine in kerr canning jars. I have about 8 of them now and they seem to work ok for me... but I do really love your tray! That seems a little better in the space saving department. 8 jars takes up a lot of room!

Anonymous said...

Hi...I have more buttons than God...I am so in luv with them. While I have tried many systems for storing them so far what is currently working best for me are jars...I have a spice rack that has 16 glass jars with the mouth of the jars about the size of a quarter...so I have these smaller buttons sorted by color...so cream is in a jar, next to beige, next to white..etc. Then I have wonderful jars/glass containers I have collected over the years filled as well...if you r familiar with the WW brand of diffusers...these are pretty tall jars with similar sized mouths. I also have antique Mason Jars in Blue, Green and Clear filled with my larger buttons or specific collections of buttons eg ceramic, glass, hand painted, etc. I have these scattered about my craft room and they look great! The spice rack (16 jars) sits at my most used work station as I like to keep my cricut and cuddlebug stations clear. cher

Laura C said...

I have quite a few antique canning jars and zinc lids that I use for embellishments. I am going to take an idea from a blog though and create some storage jars from Gold Peak Ice Tea bottles by using cricut and glass etching solution for holiday gifts next year

doverdi said...

I store all my buttons in one of those metal organizers that I picked up at a yard sale for $2. I have them sorted by color in it as well as having a couple of containers full of other colors too! Diane aka doverdi #1329

Here's the link to my button storage www.fiskateers.com/community/photo/42926/

Laura1943 said...

I LOVE BUTTONS.....I have mine in MM jars on my MM shelf !! Not organized by any color...that way, if I grab a jar, I pretty much can find a color I need !

~katie~ said...

What a lovely display and organizational system! Just found your blog and am lovin' your creativity and organization ~ thanks!