AMANDA'S BASKETS: A TRIP TO TENDER BUTTONS

Monday, April 25, 2016

A TRIP TO TENDER BUTTONS

I had an appointment on the upper east side this afternoon so I decided to leave early enough to check out this little gem of a store...Tender Buttons.

To get there I took the R local train to Union Square and the 6 train up to 59th street. An easy commute which took a bit longer because the N express train was so full each time I could transfer that I just stayed on the local.

Same thing happened on the way home. The one good thing was that I had a seat both ways. When I go somewhere on the subway, I catch the R train at 95th street which is the end of the line in Brooklyn so I am always assured of a seat.

Enough commuting...on to the store. It really is a cute little thing, emphasize both cute and little. Here's the building...

Stop and think. That building can't be much more than 18-20 feet wide! About the width of my living room!!!

Here's the store front a bit closer...

And the window...

Cute as a bug's ear...as they used to say. Well, inside is overwhelming...with buttons that is!

So, this is a picture from the front door. The wall on the left was full...and I do mean full...of everyday and better buttons. The wall on the right has glass covered picture frames full of the expensive buttons. You know $150 to $500. Unfortunately none of those pictures turned out.

This is a picture from the back toward the front...

You can see the picture frames on the wall (left hand side in the picture.) And here's a close-up of the little front sitting area...

And the antique chest...

When I first arrived at the store, the place was full but as folks left I was able to get some pictures of individual buttons that I liked. The problem was that there were so many that it was hard to choose!

Well, there are thousands of buttons to choose from but even if you're not interested in purchasing any buttons, this store is still worth a visit.

The address is 143 East 62nd Street, New York. They have a great website with wonderful pictures which you can check out here.

Tomorrow, I'll share some of the beautiful flowers that I was able to capture in photographs. Along with a few other things...

There's a new weekly journal post. Try it out, you may be surprised...and have some fun while you're at it.

Thanks for stopping by...
Talk to you tomorrow

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?