pinback buttons | kelsey, etc.

As always, I have approximately one billion projects in various states of progress going on over here, and at least thrice as many ideas and plans and concepts of plans ricocheting around in my head. Four things I’m working on (and excited about!) right now:

PDX Correspondence Cooperative “stamps”

The PDX Correspondence Cooperative meets once a month at one of my favorite stores in Portland. Last month, I attended for the first time. I was nervous to go, and I’m glad I did. I met so many creative, crafty people; it was a lot of fun. Once you attend two meetups, you’re eligible to receive a handmade “passport.” At the end of each month’s meetup, attendees trades “stamps” to adhere in their “passport.” The “stamps” can be anything—stickers, little drawings, pressed flowers sealed between strips of tape, actual stamps, etc. For my first “stamp,” which I’ll hand out at the April meetup tomorrow evening (!), I used a postage stamp-shaped paper punch to make “stamps” of security envelope patterns from duplicates in my collection. I love them so much.

Pinback buttons

During the great pinback button blitz of 2026, I decided I wanted to make my own pinback buttons. After some quick googling and youtubing, I learned (1) it’s a very easy process, and (2) there are two places in town that have the required equipment and materials, available to the public for use: the Beaverton Library’s Makerspace, and the IPRC. Because I am impatient and the IPRC is much closer to me than is the Beaverton Library, I used their button maker. I love how all my test buttons turned out and have been completely captured by this new crafty hyperfixation. More to follow in a future post.

Project Life 2026

For the first time in several years, I’ve begun my yearly Project Life album in January (!!) and’ve stayed current with it (!!). Two miracles. I plan to share some of my pages documenting January through March in the next week or two—whenever the sun comes out during the right part of the day and for long enough for me to take some decent photos of said pages.

A spread in my 2026 Project Life album featuring flowers, a dressing room selfie, the book "The Road to Tender Hearts," a screenshot of the map I made showing all the photo booths in Portland, a package I sent to my kids for Valentine's Day, a screenshot of an email from Etsy congratulating me on my first sale, a photo of me from behind, hanging on the rig, with my back muscles poppin', and a journaling card that details some of the photos in the spread.

Project Life 101

I’ve been working on a “what is Project Life and what do I need to get started?” post and it’s finally almost ready to share. Project Life is my favorite way to document my life. It makes me sad that so many brands and shops that made and sold Project Life supplies have closed, and that so many people have either drastically cut back on using this memorykeeping approach or altogether stopped using it. I’m excited to share my post about this hobby that I love so dearly; I hope it inspires even just one person to give it a go.

Whenever I visit a thrift store, antique shop, or other secondhand marketplace, I always (always!) search every (every!) nook and cranny for pinback buttons. I love them so much. In the early years of the pandemic, I found the best buttons at Monticello. There was a vendor who had a suitcase and glass display case full of vintage ones, and I would spend as long as it took to sift through every single button each time I visited.

Vintage suitcase filled to the brim with vintage pin-back buttons in a variety of colors and sizes, with a variety of phrases on them—not just just political ones!

I officially began my collection for about $10 in September 2021 with a few buttons, all carefully selected from the suitcase pictured above.

Three vintage pin-back buttons in the palm of my hand: a large yellow one with CHEERFULLY CHEAP printed in black text; a regular-sized orange one with I'M A BIGTOY printed in plum text; and a regular-sized white one with I HAVEN'T MADE MY QUOTA printed in green text.

My collection is mostly thrifted, slowish-growing, and still relatively small—only (“only”) 49 buttons. This is partly because, to date, I’ve bought only buttons that I find in person (I’m a tactile shopper) and the vendor who sold the best buttons—and had the largest offering—is no longer selling (sad!). It’s also partly because I venture out specifically with the intent to find new buttons only once or twice a year. As much as I enjoy long and expensive walks through any varietal of secondhand marketplace, they’re social and sensory overload for my brain (and are not in this economy compatible with my bank account), so I don’t visit often.

Yes, being both a tactile shopper and easily overwhelmed by shopping is a frustrating combination. Such is my autistic life. And anyway, visiting such marketplaces for such a specific purpose so infrequently works out fine because the selection of buttons at any one place doesn’t change often.

29 thrifted pinback buttons of various sizes.

The newest additions to my collection, all thrifted locally this past week from Antique Alley, Artifact, Magpie, Memory Den, Monticello, Telephone Vintage, and Tip Top Vintage:

An assortment of 15 thrifted pinback buttons of various sizes.

Three thrifted pinback buttons of two different sizes that read: "THE HIDING PLACE," "WIN," and "DOES IT TICKLE?"

During The Great Pinback Button Blitz of 2026 last week, which nearly doubled my collection overnight (well, over two nights), I also visited Hollywood Vintage, House of Vintage, and Really Good Stuff, all without luck this time. So it goes. The thrill of the hunt is a big part of the draw for me, even as the sensory and social experiences of shopping are absolutely not.

Also in my collection are two buttons I didn’t thrift. I acquired them before I began intentionally collecting them: a “KEEP ABORTION LEGAL” button that I received at a rally/protest I attended at the Supreme Court in 2019, and a souvenir button from the “Spirited Republic: Alcohol in America” exhibition at the National Archives Museum in 2016 (I miss DC so bad!!!).

Two pinback buttons in the palm of my hand that read: "WE WANT BEER" and "KEEP ABORTION LEGAL"

Another reason I love pinback buttons: they make fun magnets. Years before I began collecting vintage ones, I began buying new ones specifically to turn into magnets. All you need is a pair of pliers to remove the wire fastening mechanism, strong glue, and small magnets. I use this glue and these magnets. The magnets are pretty strong, each holding several (literally seven) sheets of (8.5″ x 11″) paper without slippage or slow sliding.

Top half of the front of my fridge filled with pinback buttons I turned into magnets, other novelty magnets, and multiple photo booth photo strips from over the years.

Other magnets in the above photo that I could find links for:

ASK ME ABOUT MY BAD HABITS & RED FLAGS
Anxiety Club
I DID MY TAXES – no longer available as a button, still available as a single sticker and in this sticker pack
girl, let me get up on DEM BUTTCHEEKS (also a sticker and a greeting card)
NEW BOOT GOOFIN’!
bumble bees – there are many places that sell these, google “pewter bumble bee magnets” and take your pick
mini ducks

The “i’m autistic please leave me alone” sticker was a freebie included in an order from this shop.

For now, my vintage buttons live in a thrifted bowl on one of my bookshelves. I’d like to eventually display them on a hanging pin organizer—something like this, or this—that I make myself. Until then, I leave you with these fun stamps commemorating the pinback button, the pinback button museum (so fun), and the only button I’ve come across that I really wanted to buy and, sadly, wasn’t for sale.