Volunteer Spotlight: Allie Nelson
ACR would seriously not be possible without our amazing team of Core Volunteers! They bring their dedication and expertise to our organization every day and help make ACR the fun and welcoming place it is.
In honor of National Button Day on November 16, we’re spotlighting ACR’s resident button specialist, Allie Nelson! By day she’s a wedding photographer and videographer, but she also spends her time sewing colorful, maximalist purses and makeup bags with fun trims and buttons. She’s a serious button collector too and even enters her collections in the Texas State Button Society show each spring. Originally from Southern California, Allie moved to Austin in 2016 for UT. At home, she hangs out with her two rescue pets, Ezra the orange cat and Violet the Aussie.
Read on to learn more about Allie and her myriad artistic pursuits!
What motivates you to volunteer?
I like to stay busy, and during my slow season I find myself really craving something meaningful to do, which I how I got involved at ACR.
What do you do for work?
I do wedding photography & videography.
What other hobbies or interests do you like to spend time on?
I love sewing. I’ve been making purses and makeup bags in a maximalist style. I keep an eye out for beaded trim and fun buttons to add embellishment to my bags.
I also collect buttons. One thing I enjoy doing is mounting them on matte board and displaying them in picture frames. I also have put together entries for the Texas State Button Society spring show in April of 2026. The goal with the entries depends on the award category, but usually involves trying to find as many representations of the classification as possible. For example, for the horse award the goal is to find as many different materials as you can that have a horse as the subject. Other things also count as points and the whole thing is just a lot of fun!
Are you from Austin? If not, where are you from?
I’m actually from southern California and moved here in 2016 to go to UT Austin.
Do you have any pets?
I have an orange cat named Ezra who lives up to the orange cat stereotype. I also rescued an Australian Shepard from APA! from the floods. Her name is Violet.
