My Dad passed away in 2010 and my Mom in 2015. They left behind a house full of stuff. My Mom kept everything! Luckily, I have six siblings which made the clean out a bit easier. We went through boxes and boxes of "treasures". Boxes of McDonalds Happy Meal toys, dishes, paintings, pictures, videos, tools, craft supplies, books, family history items, papers and papers and papers!! One thing my parents had plenty of was junk drawers. Not just in the kitchen either.
On a visit to Florida to my sister Lynn's house, my sister Jean and I were there to do some family craft projects. We had already started on the wood project we were doing with planks from my Grandma's old house. on this day Lynn brought out boxes of our parent's junk drawer's contents. Included in the boxes were a hodgepodge of costume jewelry. There were hair curlers with picks, thimbles, stamps, pictures, pearls, keys, old credit cards from a store that had long been closed, broaches, buttons, earrings, pictures of old relatives and school pictures of cousins, coins, bowling award pins, plastic watches, board game pieces, cufflinks ...............
 |
| A few of the pieces in my inheritance jar. |
We bought large mason jars, one for each sibling. We lined them up and picked one of each item for each jar. There were some items that were one, or two of a kind, that went to the sibling that it would have meant the most to. My oldest siblings got the roller skate keys, or a thimble may have gone to a sibling that sewed. All the junk that may have brought back such fond memories of their youth, or just memories of our parents.
 |
| My decorated jar |
My sisters Lynn and Jean (not their first names) and I had the best time making those jars. We laughed at the items our parents kept. We told stories about the items we remembered and tried to guess who the small pictures were of. We found old broaches or pins that my Mom left and we all wore one that afternoon when we had a day of shopping. It was so fun to see these cheap gold pins on each other as we walked through the stores. I am sure people thought we were dorks, but to us it was a fun family bonding experience.
 |
This was the pin I wore shopping. Not even sure what letter it is, an L or an S. |
When I got home with my treasures I decided to decorate my jar and write a poem to attach to it. I picked a fun piece of cloth and cut it into a circle with pinking shears. I put the cloth on the lid and attached a copy of the poem with ribbon. The jar is displayed in my craft room and it brings a huge smile to my face every time I look at it.
This was such a great project for our family. Who would have though that the junk my Mom and Dad saved all those years would turn into such a special inheritance?
No comments:
Post a Comment