Almost two decades have passed since Susan Davis and her 95-year old grandmother spent the afternoon sifting through the odd assortment of tins and boxes that held the elderly lady’s lifetime accumulation of buttons. The treasures they uncovered—dazzling jet glass, lustrous carved pearl, intriguing brass storybook buttons—begged to be converted into elelgant jewelry rather than be left forgotten in musty tins. Thus Grandmother’s Buttons was born in 1985.

Grandmother’s Buttons authentique button jewelry was a huge hit in the early 1990s, and the company expanded to form GB collection, which produces replica button jewelry, as well as accessories and collectibles—all inspired by these tiny fasteners of the past. The creations of both Grandmother’s Buttons and GB Collection are sold in more than a thousand boutiques and museum stores across the country, including Lord & Taylor; Fred Segal; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Nordstrom; the Biltmore Estate; Signals; Orvis; J. Jill; and Norm Thompson.

Grandmother’s Button’s Louisiana antique button museum has been featured in Victoria, Family Circle, Modern Bride, Country Home, Southern Living, and Southern Accents magazines.