In addition to the basics, she also
had two cookie tins full of buttons
sorted by colors - one for darks
and the other for lights. Over the
years she saved them from any of the older clothes that were doomed for the trash or rag pile.
I loved searching through those tins looking at all the fancy edges, jeweled colors and even reminiscing about the history behind them. The best button tip my mom ever taught me was: if you lose a button on the placket (buttons on the front of a shirt), take one off the cuff or lowest one on the placket to replace the missing button. Then find a similar button and use it in the less conspicuous
area.