As a child, I entertained myself with the contents of my mother's button jar. On a rainy day, or during a sewing project, she would take out the buttons for me to play with. Many of the buttons were from her mother, Hattie. In Grandmother Hattie's day, when people discarded clothes, they often removed the buttons, to be saved and used again. These buttons would end up in a jar, tin or someone's sewing basket. I have a button jar for stray buttons and I've learned that many other people also keep a container of odd buttons. My interest in jewelry and beads prompted me to find a way to incorporate these vintage buttons into more contemporary designs and functions. I choose a color palette and experiment with texture and design, mixing varieties of buttons. The resulting pieces are one of a kind, wearable history in the form of a pin or pendant.