I have got to tell you… I am a super duper sentimental person! I just love heirlooms that have been passed down through my family again and again. It is just so special to have, say a tea towel that my great-great aunt hand embroidered many, many years ago! Or a recipe card that my Grandma hand wrote her famous meatloaf recipe on!
I just think of how neat it was in the days where big family meals were the norm and mastering your first dinner party for your husband’s boss was a right of passage! LOL! I think entertaining is a lost art, and after a year of social distancing, the need for connection and face-to-face contact with others is now more important than ever!
Many of the heirloom pieces that I have are items that were used way before I was born and some I have fond memories of growing up. I can not wait to pass them down to my children and hope that they have the same sense of pride in our family’s possessions as I do! Now I know that possessions are just possessions – but to have something in your home that is not only a conversation piece, but a part of your family’s story is really kind of cool! I have many heirloom items that have been passed down in my house now…
This kitchen stool was in my Grandma’s house when I was growing up. My mom remembers climbing on it to help her Grandma make cinnamon rolls when she was little.
This cart was part of the family way before I, or my mom for that fact, was born.
It belonged to her dad’s parents. In fact here is a picture of him as a baby on top of it!
This piano was a gift from my father to my mother on their 1st wedding anniversary 48 years ago! It has been quite a conversation piece ( and I mean heavy conversation) between my husband and I for the last 20 years as to the reason why we have a piano in our house when no one in our house plays the piano! Hahah! It’s because I am SENTIMENTAL! {And yes, of course I painted it!}
I also have dinnerware sets, flatware, crystal and various glass and ceramic figurines, just to name a few of the other items!
So recently I was going through all of my Grandmother’s flatware that had been tucked away, just to take inventory and see what all I had! There were a lot of unmatched and single pieces…many were very tarnished and really needed some polishing. (I may do a post about that some day, when I get the energy to do it! Polishing silver is very labor intensive!). And as I looked at all of the many, many pieces strewn across my kitchen counter, I thought about how cool it would be to display them somehow.
So off to Pinterest I went…
searching for inspiration on ‘what to do with old flatware’! LOL!
I found more ways to display it that I ever would have thought! From making them hooks for a coat rack, to using them as door/cabinet handles, but I decided to go the simple route – display them in a shadowbox!!
So off to Hobby Lobby I went…
And I found the perfect shadow box!
There are a few ways that I could have gone about this…I could have used wire to adhere them through the backing of the shadow box, or found some mounting metals – but I went the easy route and used good ‘ole hot glue!
I first chose a variety of different spoons and then decided to also do one with an entire place setting.
I simply positioned them on the burlap backdrop and then put a glue drop on the top and one on the bottom of each utensil. I then reconstructed the shadowbox and Voila!, two vintage decor pieces for my kitchen and something that really means a lot to me!
Until next time,
