subclasses frame: attach widgets to self
from Tkinter import * class Hello(Frame): def __init__(self, parent=None): Frame.__init__(self, parent) self.pack() self.data = 42 self.make_widgets() def make_widgets(self): widget = Button(self, text='Button', command=self.message) widget.pack(side=LEFT) def message(self): self.data = self.data + 1 print 'Hello %s!' % self.data if __name__ == '__main__': Hello().mainloop()