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Victorian twinkle buttons, that have a reflective inner layer that is meant to provide additional shine & brilliance; unused on their original cards.
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Button Cards. 04/17/2010
 
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Getting a full card of buttons is always a thrill. Even a partial card of buttons is a great find. However, the cards they come on are not always such a treat. In fact, 100+ year-old cardboard that's been exposed to too many elements can be down right disgusting. Like in the top picture, some are rusty, moldy, or crumble at the slightest touch. Others will surprise & delight as much as the buttons with their charming artwork.
 
 

For some reason I've happened upon lots of extremely nice cards of Parisian buttons lately. I purchased many and lusted after others. After what I've spent on buttons just in January, I fully expected these to be way out of my price range. They have many of the qualities that many collectors look for. Full card of Paris buttons? Check. Cardboard card still intact? Check. Near mint? Check. Pink? (always a popular & highly sought after color) Check. Bird design? (also very popular) Check!

I fully expected to shell out into triple digits for these, & yet, I didn't. Not even close. It's the thrill of the hunt, and when that hunt ends in a screaming deal, it's a high like none other.

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Paperweight buttons refer to glass buttons that resemble glass desk paperweights, only smaller. These were first made in Europe in the mid 1800's. Most have a base with a preformed design & a cap of clear glass that covers from the top to the base. Some glass blowers would make these by building on the wire shank, adding the design & then the clear glass all while working over a flame to fuse them into a single piece of glass.  Other glass blowers would insert the shank at the end of the process while the glass was still malleable & hot.

The buttons shown here all have wire loop shanks. While they look large, the biggest is 3/8", about the size of a pinkie fingernail, & the smalls are flirting with 1/4". They are darling but none are big enough to hold down a piece of paper as a desk paperweight might.
To view a bracelet with paperweight buttons, click here.

 
The mother lode. 01/01/2009
 

A question that I am often asked, especially at craft shows, is "Where do you find these?" And to be honest , it's not the easiest question to answer. I hunt for the buttons, and get them from all over the world. Antique shops, button collectors, estate sales, and quilt shows; there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not looking for buttons somewhere.

I called this group of buttons, "The Mother Lode."  Sometimes I purchase a single button, other times, I'll buy them in large lots. Consisting of over 300 buttons, this was one of the largest groups of buttons I'd purchased together from an antiques dealer. This group had almost everything; perfume, picture, twinkle, mother-of-pearl, cut steel,  and pierced buttons.

This is the "after" photo. After dozens of hours and lots of elbow grease had been put into cleaning them up. I have used many of these, and sold most of the larger buttons after keeping one of each style. Selling the extras covered what I paid initially for this huge lot.  I list extra buttons frequently at http://www.OldeTymeNotions.Etsy.com

Not nearly as shiny or colorful, this is one of the "before" photos of this group of buttons.