YESTERDAY – Do you have a button tin, box or jar in your family?

Maybe carried over from your mother or grandmother?

I’ve had a few tins from my mother and have held on to them for years. Why? Memories.

It reminds me how they grew up in a time when life was simple and saving was important. If a blouse, dress or shirt lost buttons, they were repaired. If the garment was threadbare and beyond hope, the buttons were cleanly snipped off and stored to be used for something else. To repair another piece of clothing or perhaps, used in a craft project.

Things weren’t tossed away as easily in those days. People were taught to save whether it be clothing, money, home furnishings or relationships. There was an understanding of how to treasure and restore what they had.

Today if an article of clothing loses buttons or rips, we’re just as likely to toss it in a giveaway pile and go buy something new. If a relationship turns rocky, we walk away to find someone else. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost focus of how to value what we have. While de-cluttering my home, I’m reminded of old time values and inspired to hold on to what truly matters.

Faith, family, friends. Kindness.

But not all the button tins!

I am letting go of a couple of the tins as I know I won’t use them. Someone “craftier” than me will enjoy them. But I’m still holding on to one as a reminder of a simple way of life.