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[KathyM23]

I don't have a button box or jar or any old sentimental buttons, but I do have 2 Glad Gallon zip bags full of buttons, most from extra buttons, maybe a few I saw in a store that I thought I might use but never did.   Don't know how I accumulated as many as I have.

But I am in a decluttering stage (see our Declutter 2023: what have you purged today) thread and I am going to delutter both of those bags.  The first one I filled is in a cabinet over the fridge and the latest one in the bottom section somewhere in my hutch.  After the Holidays I'm going to get them out and 90% (or maybe all) of those buttons are going to go.  I'll keep the extra buttons that came with something I purchased recently.  The rest are probably from clothes I no longer even own.

[Zoe]

I inherited my grandmother's button jar. She worked as a seamstress for over 50 years. There are buttons in there from her work, others from crafts she made. Some of them I can picture vividly from outfits she or my grandfather wore. Others I have no reference for and/or they didn't catch my interest. Over the years, I have had to cull down that collection to the most precious and most interesting.

When I ventured out on my own, I made a habit of saving buttons from the most monumental outfits -- often from those extra buttons that come with the outfit. In that jar went a button from my first interview suit after I graduated college, a button from the shirt I wore when I moved into my first apartment on my own, buttons from the suits I wore anytime I got a promotion or anytime I left a significant project or job. Then, I began to add in sentimental buttons like ones from the dresses I wore to the religious ceremonies of my godchildren, one from the sweater I wore on a silly weekday rendez-vous from my BFF, another from the night I met my better half...and on and on it goes.

The button jar has been one of the sentimental areas I have struggled to purge. Sometimes I hope my practical side will win out. Other times, I imagine moving with it into retirement, clutching it in my arm.

Great memory. Thank you for this discussion, @Neetgal2 

ETA: our commingled button jar is a gallon glass jar with a screw-on top. Love being able to shake it and see which bubble to the sides or top.

[Pook]

I have my mother's tin of buttons that included my grandmother's buttons.  Both were great seamstresses.  I played with them as a kid.  I even look through them and the different buttons often.

[meallen616]

Such nice memories with the button box from my Mom...

[jlkz]

I used to have metal can with a lid where all buttons went.  Then when I had to replace a button on DH's clothes, I would have to go through the whole can.....

Finally found a use for those tiny / small  plastic bags that had a locking seal !  Created separate color piles and sealed them in their own see through bag.  The hard part was differentiating all the shades of the same color, e.g., buttons from white shirts ran the gamut from pure white to almost khaki !  

Since DH is almost totally color blind, I had to mark the name of the color on each bag.  ( The worst argument we ever had was early on when I was printing the color name on his office shirts:  Maize or Yellow ? )

[wagirl]

I have a button coffee can of old buttons from my MIL--mostly they are white but are made from mother of pearl--all sizes and thicknesses. She was not a seamstress but could sew on butons as well as snip them off  I would love to use them to make some fancy arts and crafts holiday decor I see on Pinterest tho.

[Marsha2003]

I don't have a sentimental button box, but I do have a small leather box where I keep any extra buttons that come with clothes.  I remember that Marie Kondo said to throw away extra buttons.  I disagree.

[cheriere]

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@Marsha2003 wrote:

I don't have a sentimental button box, but I do have a small leather box where I keep any extra buttons that come with clothes.  I remember that Marie Kondo said to throw away extra buttons.  I disagree.

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@Marsha2003   I agree, never throw away buttons.  My mother still has her buttons stored in an old cookie tin, so there's quite a lot.  I have a wooden jewelry box I received for Christmas as a child that I only use for storing extra buttons. 

[RedTop]

I hope to find some good memories in my mothers button tin, which was gifted to us with a fruitcake inside in the early 60's.  

At one time, the tin held large off white buttons off my maternal great grandmothers winter coat, buttons from mom's camel colored coat, red strawberry shaped buttons off my pajamas when I was about 4, and a pretty blue button from an Easter coat of mine when I was 5, along with a wide variety of other buttons of various size and colors.  

[Mom2Dogs]

I have lots of old buttons, some were moms, some I have collected over the years...new (old ones) still on the card with the price, others were collected when retailers gave extra buttons on new garments.

I have them separated by color and store them in old mason jars.

I use them for craft projects.