Over the last 40+ years, our sweet family and friends have unknowingly collaborated to curate the most amazing collection. They're not things I would have set out to gather, but every single piece is such a special gift.
They never communicated with each other about what they were doing, and quite honestly, I didn't even notice it until fairly recently.
We're in the process of cleaning out in preparation to downsize and move. It's not something that's happening immediately, but we want to be ready when it does.
So as I went through the sideboard in the dining room pulling out wedding gifts to "re-home", I noticed I had an impressive collection of silver spoons and serving pieces.
They come from far and wide, including places like Ethiopia and Whales. Some of the things I can only guess at their purpose, and one in particular actually looks like a mid evil medical device! But I'm fairly certain it's for serving pickles or olives and has a plunger to push them off of the tines. Genius!
Many of these things are much older than we are, some are family heirlooms and others are from friends and loved ones who thoughtfully chose them because they thought I would love them. And I do.
My folks carried these home from Belgium in 1953. I spent several hours of my childhood cleaning them.
Several years ago when cleaning out our dresser, I gathered an impressive pile of pins and rank related to my husbands flying career. I had never done a shadow box, but was fairly certain I could pull it off, and along with my youngest daughter, created a beautiful display of his accomplishments. It made for a very special Christmas gift, and thankfully his parents were even with us that year to witness him receiving his gift. Needless to say, they had a HUGE part in his career and I was so glad they could see such a wonderful overview of his achievements from the last 40 years.
It was time to once again break out my shadow box game.
The old spoon racks are no longer in vogue, and they're difficult to deal with; making things fit, keeping things clean... Shadow boxes would be perfect!
I started the process by gathering all that I had and spent some time at the sink cleaning all of that silver. There wasn't much cleaning OUT to do because quite honestly, every single piece had a story to it. They all deserved to stay!
Once they were clean, I sorted them into "categories" and decided what I would need in the way of frames.
After doing some research online, and knowing that I didn't want to spend a bundle on custom frames, I visited my local Lobby of Hobbies and gathered these. They aren't exactly what I had envisioned, but I would have had to wait 10 days to get exactly what I thought I wanted. So since instant gratification is the name of my game...
Then I got to work with my hot glue gun.
I found that an inexpensive chip brush was invaluable in cleaning out the "glue strings" that happen with glue guns. After I finished attaching them to the frames, I let them sit overnight, and then stood them vertical for another 24 hours to make sure they would hold before putting them in the frames.
I'm so pleased with the finished product, and every time I look at them, I think of all the special people in our lives who have had a part in such a beautiful meaningful collection.
I know Marie Kondo is all the rage now, and "everyone" is cleaning out and throwing things away. But I think we have some responsibility to preserve the past. Keep some of those things that have value and hold meaning. And what better place to do so than in a place where others can enjoy them as well? Much better than piled in a drawer!
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:4
Family Stuff
They never communicated with each other about what they were doing, and quite honestly, I didn't even notice it until fairly recently.
We're in the process of cleaning out in preparation to downsize and move. It's not something that's happening immediately, but we want to be ready when it does.
So as I went through the sideboard in the dining room pulling out wedding gifts to "re-home", I noticed I had an impressive collection of silver spoons and serving pieces.
They come from far and wide, including places like Ethiopia and Whales. Some of the things I can only guess at their purpose, and one in particular actually looks like a mid evil medical device! But I'm fairly certain it's for serving pickles or olives and has a plunger to push them off of the tines. Genius!
Many of these things are much older than we are, some are family heirlooms and others are from friends and loved ones who thoughtfully chose them because they thought I would love them. And I do.
Several years ago when cleaning out our dresser, I gathered an impressive pile of pins and rank related to my husbands flying career. I had never done a shadow box, but was fairly certain I could pull it off, and along with my youngest daughter, created a beautiful display of his accomplishments. It made for a very special Christmas gift, and thankfully his parents were even with us that year to witness him receiving his gift. Needless to say, they had a HUGE part in his career and I was so glad they could see such a wonderful overview of his achievements from the last 40 years.
It was time to once again break out my shadow box game.
The old spoon racks are no longer in vogue, and they're difficult to deal with; making things fit, keeping things clean... Shadow boxes would be perfect!
I started the process by gathering all that I had and spent some time at the sink cleaning all of that silver. There wasn't much cleaning OUT to do because quite honestly, every single piece had a story to it. They all deserved to stay!
Once they were clean, I sorted them into "categories" and decided what I would need in the way of frames.
After doing some research online, and knowing that I didn't want to spend a bundle on custom frames, I visited my local Lobby of Hobbies and gathered these. They aren't exactly what I had envisioned, but I would have had to wait 10 days to get exactly what I thought I wanted. So since instant gratification is the name of my game...
Then I got to work with my hot glue gun.
I found that an inexpensive chip brush was invaluable in cleaning out the "glue strings" that happen with glue guns. After I finished attaching them to the frames, I let them sit overnight, and then stood them vertical for another 24 hours to make sure they would hold before putting them in the frames.
I'm so pleased with the finished product, and every time I look at them, I think of all the special people in our lives who have had a part in such a beautiful meaningful collection.
I know Marie Kondo is all the rage now, and "everyone" is cleaning out and throwing things away. But I think we have some responsibility to preserve the past. Keep some of those things that have value and hold meaning. And what better place to do so than in a place where others can enjoy them as well? Much better than piled in a drawer!
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:4
Family Stuff
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