Welcome to the world of buttons!
Every home seems to have a button jar – a container where miscellaneous buttons have been tossed over the years “just in case”. These jars of buttons contain treasures!
Buttons are made from plastic, glass, metal, vegetables, shells – you name it! They are decorative and utilitarian – they convey a story and are a snap shot of a period of history.
Are you interested in antiques, history, sewing, unconventional art or quilting?Are you curious about history and fashion?
Or do you just like the tiny objects that are “the world’s smallest antiques?”
Making Friends with Buttons!
Buttons – the tiny marvels that fasten our garments and decorate our attire – can also help us make friends and keep our minds active. For National Button Day on November 17, the Stonebridge Button Club (SBC) will present “Making Friends with Buttons,” in the gallery at Stonebridge at Montgomery, the Life Plan Community at 100 Hollingshead Spring Road in Skillman. The gallery is open to visitors by appointment and also on Fridays (November 7, 14, and 21) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A reception will be on November 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. For information or an appointment, email ButtonsInNewJersey@gmail.com, or call 609-468-2195.
With the motto “Create! Collect! Connect!” members of the Stonebridge Button Club (SBC) create button art, marvel at the many materials from which buttons are made, and study the histories of antique buttons. Most important are the friend-making opportunities that the hobby can provide.
SBC members include Lucille Dawson, Nancy Fleisher, Barbara Figge Fox, Elisabeth Fraser, Hope Pepe, Margot Zimmerman, and Barbara Wolfgang. Their entries in button art competitions bear titles like “Tulle and Tuxedos,” “Hall of Fame Coach,” “All that Glitters,” “Twilight Garden,” “Lady Liberty,” and “Fall Colors of the Season.”
Also on view, vintage and antique buttons showcasing the history of button making in Birmingham (England), Muscatine (Iowa), and New Brunswick (New Jersey). Buttons will tell stories about Kuser Farm Mansion (in Hamilton), the story of the trumpeter at Krakow, and the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.
Founded in 1941, the New Jersey State Button Society (NJSBS) (NewJerseyStateButtonSociety.com), stages shows in May and September. Its members offer button collecting classes at the Princeton Adult School.
Other NJSBS clubs meet in libraries in Bridgewater, Lawrence Township, Ocean Township, and Bergen.
For other celebrations of National Button Day, go to the websites of the World Button Association and the National Button Association (NBA). Anyone can attend online from November 14 to 16 when the NBA screens “Fall Fest: Picture Perfect” by emailing ButtonU@nationalbuttonsociety.org.
“Our button club offers more than a shared hobby,” says Wolfgang. “It is a circle of connection, creativity, and joy.”
Barbara Wolfgang, member of the Stonebridge Button Club and the New Jersey State Button Society, adds buttons to her charmstring, reminiscent of the 19th-century button collecting fad. An exhibit, “Making Friends with Buttons,” will be open by appointment and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 21, with a reception on November 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. Email ButtonsInNewJersey@gmail.com, or call 609-468-2195
“Making Friends with Buttons,” gallery exhibit by the Stonebridge Button Club and the New Jersey State Button Society at Stonebridge at Montgomery, 100 Hollingshead Spring Road in Skillman, open by appointment and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 21, with a reception on November 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. Email ButtonsInNewJersey@gmail.com, or call 609-468-2195.
Crafting with acrylic paint and leather buttons are members of the New Jersey State Button Society and the Stonebridge Button Club, from left: Barbara Fox, Anne Buckley, Barbara Wolfgang, Margot Zimmerman, and
Nancy Fleisher. An exhibit, “Making Friends with Buttons,” will be open by appointment and on Fridays from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 21, with a reception on November 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. Email
ButtonsInNewJersey@gmail.com, or call 609-468-2195
Hope Pepe, member of the Stonebridge Button Club and the New Jersey State Button Society, with her mixed media work “Twilight Garden,” embellished with antique pewter buttons. An exhibit, “Making Friends with Buttons,” will be open by appointment and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 21, with a reception on November 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. Email ButtonsInNewJersey@gmail.com, or call 609-468-2195