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Saturday 15 December 2012

Cute As A Button Tree!

I may not be able to remember what I came upstairs for or where I put my glasses, when they are sitting on the top of my head, but I remember buttons.  Dump my old button jar out and I'll point out the one with the little anchor that was on my toddler's sailor dress.  Or, I'll show you the pink pearl buttons from my grandma's bed jacket.  This heart shaped one was on the another daughter's dress and those brass buttons are from a 60's fake leather coat.

When a blogger I read showed us a button covered tree that she bought at a craft fair, I knew I just had to have one!  For the life of me, I cannot find the original blogger but I know you read this, so let me know and I'll send them over to you to see your totally glam one.

Mine is a much simpler version. ~



My sister was visiting and sorting out the white and red buttons for me.  I grabbed one squealing, "Oh my gosh, you know this one for sure!".  She just looked at me.  She often looks at me like I'm one possessed.  "You surely know where this button is from!"  She keeps right on looking at me.  But, I know this is the button I want for my star at the top of the tree.  I remind my sister of the story and we both laugh until the tears are running down our faces.

This is my star. ~


It may be a simple bit of plastic and gold gilt but it certainly has a story!  My daughter was scheduled for a C-section on a February day fourteen years ago.  After the difficult birth of her first son, it was a wonderful relief to have everything under control this time.  Or, so I thought!

Days before the delivery my husband decided to go out of town to work with a well known recording artist. I freaked out because that left me out in the country with no car and no way of getting to the hospital.  My sister said she would take me but her husband was out of town working and had their car.  Luckily, my brother was working as a car salesman and my sister took one of his models out for a test drive.  We'll have that car back to him in 3 hrs.  You can start singing the theme to Gilligan's Island about now.

I've chosen to wear a lovely, new suit with about 40 tiny buttons all down the front of the jacket.  Off we go to the hospital and sit daintily in the waiting room.  My son in law comes out very soon and he does not have the look of a happy new dad.  It seems my daughter has gone into labour on the operating table and we must wait through the whole labour and delivery again!  It has just begun and they recommend we go home and wait for a call that things are getting closer.

We drive back out into the country and hang around sipping tea for hours until we decide to catch a little sleep.  No sooner do we get in bed than the phone rings.  SIL says, "You better get back here fast 'cause it's coming!".  I'm yelling for my sis who is hopping down the hall with one foot caught in the hem of her slacks, trying to get the other leg in.  I'm fumbling with forty, stupid, little buttons and finally say, "To hell with it", yank that jacket off and throw on an old tee shirt.

Sis grabs the car keys and unlocks the doors.  Or, so she thinks.  It's the middle of the night, the horn is blaring and lights are flashing!  It's pouring rain and we're standing out there yelling and hitting buttons on the key holder to shut the damn thing off.  It takes 40 mins to get from here to the hospital, but we made it in half that time and got there just in time to welcome Dermott, grandson number 2!

The car would have been returned if baby Dermott hadn't started running a fever the next day.  My daughter freaked out because that's when grandson number 1 started having difficulties.  She called me crying and I called the doctor and we raced back to the hospital.  It was a false scare and we fully intended to return that car by evening.  Then, the hospital messed up her vegetarian food and brought her a big slice of beef and I had to go home and make her something she could eat.

Three days later, my brother is on the phone saying, "Where the hell is the car you took for a test drive?  They want to know if you drove it to Florida!".  Big sis told him to calm down.  She liked that peppy, little car and was buying it.  And she did!

So, this may just look like an old paper cone tree, covered in buttons, to you but to my sis and I it means a heck of a lot more.  It means generations of family and sticking together when you need to.  It means laughter and tears and joy at the birth of a new baby.

It means Christmas to me! ~


Ah, if you want a real trip down memory lane, just dump out that old button jar.  It's my version of a memory quilt!

I'm Sharing over at:  Nifty Thrifty TuesdayKnick Of Time TuesdayChristmas Decorating Party on a BudgetMake It Pretty Monday


45 comments:

  1. I love the story and I love the idea. I saved all kinds of buttons and have so many from my childhood. Back then when your clothes wore out our mothers cut the buttons off to use them on something else. I also have a lot of MyHero's grandmother's buttons but don't know the stories behind them.

    What a great use for them as I know some of them are so brittle that they could never be used again as real buttons. Hmmmmm...I may just copy this one! xo Diana

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  2. Great story! I love your tree. I have all my Mum's buttons and some I remember from my childhood.

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  3. What a great story and wonderful memories! I have an old button jar too that have some of my Mom's old ones in it and I have finally put up 4 very old hand painted porcelain buttons in a frame and a old brass one with the relief of a dog on it in another frame. These are my favorites!

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  4. Maureen, you have the gift of story telling. Very glad you shared.
    Joy

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  5. fabulous, maureen. a wonderful story well told.

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  6. didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did both. Loved this story and how that button made it to the top of the tree.

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  7. Sweet story and wonderfully written.
    Farmhouse holiday hugs,
    Cindy

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  8. What great memories. Isn't it funny how buttons can have such lovely stories attached to them. I am a real button nut too. Actually I would have probably bought that piece of clothing with all those little buttons. I am going to make a button tree Maureen....certain I am.

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  9. What a fun memory. I love 'sister' stories. They seem to always be filled with humour. Love the tree; just gorgeous the way you put it together.

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  10. Such a wonderful memory bought on by the cute button tree.
    I love looking through the button jars and remembering where they all came from.

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  11. I love your stories. Isn't it funny how much a button can trigger in our memories? I keep my sentimental buttons -- like the ones from my mother's favorite sweater and my dad's 1950's shirt from Mexico that his boss brought him back and that seemed so exotic at the time because it had actual Mexican pennies for buttons -- in a separate little box because I don't want them mingling with ordinary buttons. Elitist? Yeah, probably.

    Thanks for sharing another slice of your life. It was delicious.

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  12. Oh I love your button tree and your story! I have a box full of someone elses buttons...actually 3 generations of buttons! Some are from the 1920's and they are awesome! Someone elses memories, but I love to think about them and let my mind wonder! And....my new fuzzy trees arrived and I love them too!! I can't stop looking at them and I like to give them a touch when I walk by them!!

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  13. Why do we have SOOOO!! many stories full of things that didn't go quite the way we thought they would. "Are we having fun yet" seems to be my most often question I have for you. Love the button tree and the memories - great job.

    So glad to hear Danni is pleased with the knitted Christmas trees.

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  14. Love the tree, love your memories. One of my favorite memories as a child (and into my teen years, to tell the truth) was dumping out my granny's button jar and sorting the buttons, hearing her relate where they came from. Her button "jar" was unlike any other I have every seen. It was meant to look like a wringer washer, it set on metal legs, was clear glass with a glass top, the metal legs and the knob on the lid were red. The buttons were supposed to look like clothes in the washer. I have no idea what happened to it when she died, but oh, how I would love to have it!

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  15. I have a happy face that is slightly damp, because I loved your story, but it made me tear up !
    I love your button tree too. I have a box of my Grandmother's buttons, but I don't think I have any memories connected to them, I just love them all, because they belonged to HER !

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  16. Maureen,
    Great post! A beautiful memory tree made with your Memories.

    Happy Holidays!
    Pat

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  17. Great story, Maureen. Your memory tree is adorable.

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  18. Sweet, Maureen. I still have my mother's old tobacco tin filled with childhood buttons. Every once in a while I pull it out and take a trip down memory lane.

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  19. What a wonderful story, Maureen! Your memory tree is beautiful!

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  20. I love that story and your tree!

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  21. I love the story! I love the tree! I love buttons! Thank you for such a fun post!

    hugs, Linda

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  22. Very sweet story and as cute as a button.

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  23. What a beautiful, beautiful post! And what a beautiful person you are to pay attention and remember (and share with us!).
    Love your tree, it is gorgeous!
    Hugs dear friend
    Jutta

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  24. Such a wonderful story ....and adorable tree.

    Merry Christmas!

    Dee

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  25. Oh Maureen,..... loved this story! And it was especially apropos because we have a new grand child due Dec. 26th. Can you imagine a better gift at Christmas? And what a wonderful thing to do with old buttons....make a memory tree. It's so charming. :) Hope you are having a wonderful week. xo

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  26. What a great story! Your button tree is fabulous. And I love the photograph of the black kitty in your banner.

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  27. I love it, and I will be getting out my buttons to do this. I have a jewel tree my mom made, with old earrings and pins, and little old glass balls...it means so much to me.

    Jan

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  28. That was the sweetest funniest story ever..I kept thinking "Where is the going" I love how you tied it all together, I will never look at my button jar the same again!

    Carol

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  29. Stories that go with buttons made into a tree, what a beautiful idea. Remembering the birth of your grandson you should tell him that story, he'll get a kick out of it. What a grandmother will do to see those little ones arrive :)

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  30. Oh Maureen, what a fun story. You had my attention from beginning to end ... and besides that, your little tree is "cute as a button" ...
    Christmas Blessings.
    Warm Hugs,
    Audrey Z

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  31. I enjoyed your story so much and what a darling button tree! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
    Nancy

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  32. Cute as a button idea. Love it. Thanks for linking up:)

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  33. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  34. Oh, Maureen, I just LOVE this post!!! haha It had me sitting on the edge of my seat, I swear! What a very special tree, for sure, so full of memories, and what a wonderful way to use old buttons!

    Is that innocent looking fur baby in your banner the one that almost pulled down the chandelier??? haha Thanks so much for visitng our crazy Baby. I'm glad you enjoyed the videos. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the tree lasts till Christmas with her around!

    Merry Christmas to you and yours!

    Donna

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  35. Great story and adventure. Who would know, looking at that sweet button tree? Love it!!
    Karen

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  36. Oh girl I am just laughing at you trying to do up those 40 something buttons. What a laugh you will get each time you look at that shining star. I have alot of my mothers old buttons. My 2 1/2 year old grandson goes to my sewing room and brings out the jar of buttons to play with whenever he comes to visit. He likes that better than toys. Great Grandma is surely smiling down on him from heaven. Us gals love our buttons. Your tree is so cute and I am pinning it for a future project. Have a wonderful Christmas and keep on making memories my friend!
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  37. Oh my I love this and will have to borrow your fabulous idea!

    May the peace, joy and love of the season be yours all year long!

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  38. Wishing you a blessed and Merry Christmas. I have so enjoyed your wonderful blog! Gina

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  39. That is one beautiful story - funny but beautiful as always!
    And I love that tree Maureen...........next year for one - my buttons won't have a funny story though because I'll have to buy them all - do not
    have one button laying around in this house!
    Love,
    Suzan

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  40. I love this button story...heartwarming, funny and yet...suspenseful! Hahaha....just like you! xo wendy

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