Tag: buttons

Tiny Tuesday!

Today’s post is about a different kind of button from Sunday’s posts. Here to demonstrate is one of my character dolls. Hi, Elle!

This is how the average human-sized shirt button fits in Elle’s palm.


This is how the average craft button I can buy locally fits in Elle’s palm. I’ve used these buttons for doll clothes, and they work great as coat buttons or buttons on purses and other accessories, but the scale is a bit large for shirts and dresses.


Last week, I found a US Etsy account (important because of how I pay and how they ship) that sells 4mm buttons in large quantities at a great price. While this isn’t exactly 1/6 scale (i.e., human to doll size), it’s much closer. I fear actual doll size is best left to the manufacturers of dolls and doll clothes and those companies’ machinery. I have old eyes and arthritic hands, therefore need larger needles to be able to do the job.

But all the colors!

I tried to find poems or songs that somehow use “button(s)” in titles or text, but I wasn’t impressed with my search results. I decided to go with common phrases using the word “button.”

  • Button up! (It’s cold out there.)
  • As easy as the push of a button! (Very easy.)
  • Bright as a button! (Either smart/clever or cheerful/happy.)
  • That’s a hot-button topic. (Don’t talk about religion, politics, money, or within family, anything that will ruin holidays, including flaws related to parenting, marrying/divorcing, keeping and feeding pets, cooking, or drinking.)
  • Button it! (Keep your mouth shut/opinions to yourself.)
  • You’re pushing all my buttons. (By doing or saying all the things I like or dislike. Tone matters.)
  • Cute as a button! (Very cute.)
  • On the button. (That statement or action is accurate.)
  • Press the panic button! (It’s time to take drastic action in response to a situation.)
  • S/he’s got a button nose. (An adorable little nose–like Elle’s!)
  • My boss is very buttoned down. (Stiff, serious, all business.)
  • My company’s culture is very buttoned down. (Conservative, no risks taken.)
  • Hit the button. (Send or start something; end or stop something.)

Can you think of others?

Button Sunday

My mother worked crossword puzzles for as long as she could, and I’d buy increasingly larger sizes and simpler books of them, until Alzheimer’s finally took away her ability, and therefore her interest, in doing them. When she died, I still had a few of those books, and I’d work puzzles in them occasionally, but I never really shared her enthusiasm. I more often like finding words in big blocks of letters (also why I enjoy playing the game of Boggle), and I really like Scrabble (as did she), which is why I still play the online version of that with several friends.

I think all kinds of games and puzzles, whether with words or numbers (numbers will never be my go-to), help keep us sharp as we age. (Not to mention the way cut-throat card games can keep us social and hopefully having shit-talking fun.)

I think I’ve mentioned before on here that I do a game that’s emailed to me each morning in the newsfeed I subscribe to. It’s a word game that I use to test my mental acuity, and I don’t actually play by the rules of the game (which would make it similar to Boggle, with more rules), I just try to find the solution that suits my own criteria. I started doing this in 2020, and I’m still going strong. It’s a rare day when I don’t find the one word I’m looking for, though it has happened.

In August, my newsfeed started including a new daily game called Connections, which I think can probably be found on other online sites. I LOVE it, and again, it’s a good way to make me think and reassure me that I still can. You’re given a list of 16 words, and you have to divide them in related groups of four. Since words could often be included in more than one group, it can take some thinking. Here are three examples below if you want to grab a pencil and piece of paper and see how you categorize the words, and I’ll put the solutions behind a cut.

Continue reading “Button Sunday”

Button Sunday


I’ve been thinking a lot about bridges lately because of something I wrote. Many titles containing bridges drifted through my musings…

Songs instantly familiar to me included “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “59th Street Bridge Song,” both by Simon and Garfunkel, “Love Can Build A Bridge,” The Judds, “Under The Bridge,” Red Hot Chili Peppers, “The Bridge,” Elton John, and “Seven Bridges Road,” The Eagles. I did a Google search, and found so many more! (And lots of songs that feature bridges, too, like “Ode to Billie Joe”.)

A few movie/book titles that I’ve seen or read also came to mind: The Bridge On the River Kwai, The Bridges of Madison County, Bridge to Terebithia, Waterloo Bridge, A Bridge Too Far.

Bridges can be treacherous, beautiful, meaningful, sad, hopeful. I guess it’s all in one’s perspective, so I found a few buttons online with varying takes on bridges. I eliminated any buttons about the game of Bridge, about which I have no concept because I’ve never played or watched anyone else play.

Now that I’ve brought up the subject, it’s a safe bet you’ll start seeing bridges or hearing about them, too. The bridges were always in front of you or inside your brain, of course. This post is just helping you remember or notice. Maybe bridges are like cows, and we see one every day…

Button Sunday

Balance.

Once again, I had to clear some saved stuff off my phone. You can see it all behind the cut if you’re so inclined. Just things that caught my eye or made me pause and think for a moment. A lot of times, these things I save make me think more about my characters or other people than about myself. I’m always looking for more wisdom, regardless, so I always hope something resonates with people who read here. =)

Continue reading “Button Sunday”

Button Sunday

Today is National Friendship Day! Holla!

It’s also National Sisters Day. I have one by birth, some sisters-in-law and -in-love, and some friends with whom I argue and party like sisters, so a shout out to them, too!

And hey, if you don’t feel like thinking about your friends or you don’t have sisters, it’s also Psychic Day, American Family Day, Wiggle Your Toes Day, Cycle To Work Day, National Fresh Breath Day, Farmworker Appreciation Day, International Sailor Moon Day, and National Rootbeer Float Day. FIND A REASON TO BE HAPPY. I shout that because you may have forgotten it’s always Listen to An Aries Day.

Button Sunday

Guess who came to brunch and afternoon social time today? Pepper, Rhonda, and Lindsey!

Rhonda has a new passion: baking her own sourdough bread. This is quite a process, and I can assure you, her devotion is delicious.

Some more of their tasty contributions to our charcuterie brunch.

Lox, avocado dip, jalapeno dip, toasted and salted okra chips, sprouts, tomatoes, salami, and four cheeses.


They also brought watermelon, and we provided carrots, celery, and berries. (Look at the yummy bread on the left, ready for its dipping sauce.)


I cut up cucumbers, bell pepper, and radishes to go with the Ranch dip.

And made some chicken nuggets, also tasty with the Ranch dip.

It was a feast and hours of great conversation, storytelling, and laughing so much. We needed this catch-up day!