Button Thursday: Multi-color Ornate Plastic

Vintage Plastic Buttons on Cardboard, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

Once upon a time, thrifty people kept even the most humble buttons. As blouses, jackets and dresses wore out, women trimmed off the fasteners and saved them in jars, drawers, and cookie tins.

Here's a mishmash of pretty plastic buttons that I bought at an antique mall recently. Someone stitched each button onto a piece of cardboard with waxed twine, saving the little treasures for rainy days.

How I wish I could know what garments the buttons adorned, who wore the clothes, and where the outfits traveled.