I’ve been doing some rearranging of my “junk” today and as I was fiddling with things in this corner of the dining room I realized most of this “junk” had a story to tell. The wooden recipe box was my mom’s that she recently gifted to me. I remember it sitting on the counter all the time. She used it frequently and when she mentioned she was looking for a new one I asked to please not throw this one out. It brings back so many memories. The pink recipe box was her mom’s. My Grandma Esther Houseal. She died when I was young and I have few memories of her but I love having this reminder. The teapot was Grandma Ward’s. I have so many of her things all around the house. Many that she gifted to me knowing how much I loved the old things. The doily under the plant was made by her too. She was so talented and crafty. After all these years I still miss her on a daily basis. The child’s apron came from my mother-in-law and the walnut swag reminds me of my father-in-law. We miss having the walnuts he gave us every year to cook with. The glass jar in back of the first shelf was found by my dad back in the timber and gifted to me. He knew I would love it! The praying ladies salt and pepper shakers remind me of Grandma Ward. I have another piece in my hutch of this praying lady that belonged to Grandma. The Miss Priss kitties salt and peppers shakers on the top shelf remind me of my Aunt Konnie Hartnell. She had the matching cookie jar in her kitchen for years. We lost her year and it’s still hard to know she’s gone. She was such a sweet, kind, caring woman. The glass jar in the back of the top shelf was one I found while junking with my dear friend Pam many years ago. Oh the fun we had! The blue bowls and pitcher came from Barb Hollingsworth’s antique store where I loved to visit and always felt so welcome! I would wander through that big old house full of antiques. I used that store as a getaway so many times. The blue toolbox on top came from another dear friend. She is a daycare provider and is so wonderful at her job. She has watched a couple of my kiddos throughout the years. She truly cares about the little ones that she is entrusted with. The books in the toolbox are the Bellingwood series written by our very own hometown author Diane Greenwood Muir. I don’t know what I’ll do when my toolbox is filled but I’m sure I can find another spot for more! Diane is a wonderfual writer and a wonderful person too. And that beautiful Hoosier cabinet that is holding all my “junk” – that came from our dear Tina who brought so much joy to my kids and to our family. I’ve never been one to decorate with what is in style. Whenever I would buy something that was “in”, some mass produced piece of junk I would soon tire of it and out it would go. But these old things, these gifted things, these things that have meaning in some way, I don’t look at these things as junk – I see treasures and I love that my treasures have stories to tell. I find joy in these things that remind me of those people in my life that have meant so much to me. I love my “junk”!
I love buttons – all kinds of buttons – but old buttons most of all. So when Uncle Jerry asked me to go through some of Aunt Konnie’s craft items and take what I wanted – I chose her beautiful blue button tin full of buttons. I hated to leave her knitting needles behind and all her crochet thread but I don’t knit and I barely know how to crochet and I just don’t have room to store things like that. It was hard, very hard to leave them behind. But those buttons – they just had to come home with me. After getting them home and going through them I wonder if some of them weren’t Grandma’s buttons as many are really old. Dad said he’s pretty sure they are. That makes them even more special!
I have buttons all over the house in old canning jars and tins. I love to look at them, sort through them, just run them through my fingers. I save buttons off of clothes. I have even been known to buy a jar or two of buttons here and there at garage sales. I use them for magnets, in crafts, on my cross stitch projects. But this one blue tin full of buttons I won’t use. Aunt Konnie’s button tin – those I’ll keep just for me!
The older I get the less I decorate for the holidays. I might be just a tad bit lazy. It’s fun to decorate but not so fun putting everything away again. I do have a few things scattered around the house for Easter this year. My bunnies, my dad’s childhood decorations, and some of my cross stitch pin keeps. After taking the pictures I see that I have more scattered around then I thought I did!
I love this quote – and the fact that it comes from an old sampler makes it mean even more! (Not a good picture but I didn’t want a picture of me in the photo!) One way that I keep saved the memories of my ancestors. My great-grandma’s dressing table. Dresser scarves stitched by my grandma. The glass powder container was my mother-in-law’s and a cigarette case that belonged to my grandfather. And a couple of pictures of my mom when she was little. I love keeping saved the memories of my ancestors by decorating my house with their possessions. These possessions mean so much more to me than anything new I could buy in a store!