Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend and if you are one of my readers in the States I hope that you had wonderful Independence Day celebrations. My holiday weekend was wonderful. It included a hike, barbecue, fireworks, marathon Netflix, and  Sunday afternoon coffee.

It has been a while since I posted on the projects any of my decluttering projects so I thought I should mention what I have been up to now that school is out. February through May was a little rough going since I was so busy with work I did not get as much decluttering done as I had liked. Now that summer is here I have been able to focus a little bit more on moving things out the door.

Not too long ago my sister came over to help me with a very special project. We went through my mom’s cedar chest and decided what things we wanted to keep to pass on to the girls, keep for ourselves, or donate to charity. It would have been easy to skip over the cedar chest, after all,  it is closed and nobody sees what is inside but I knew inside were heirlooms we had not seen or thought about in decades and it was time to bring everything out into the light of day.

My sister and I giggled at some of the things we found. Mom had held on to some of our early artwork. Some of which I actually remember making.  Ah, such young talent 🙂 Some things were sentimental but I wasn’t sure of the point of holding on to them. For example, my first tooth and first lock of cut hair were carefully preserved. It was so sweet but what real value was a tooth and hair clippings to me and what would my nieces do with such things after I am gone?  In the end I said goodbye to the tooth a lock of hair.

Some of the things I chose to keep and display/ use were:

• A watch belonging to my grandfather.
• An old jewelry type box containing a hairpin belonging to my great-grandmother from Sweden and jewelry that belonged to my grandmother including her Eastern Star ring. ( My mom’s side of the family were proud members of Masonic organizations.)
• My mom’s Rainbow Girls copy of the BIble. ( Also Masonic.)
• Really cool retro pencil skirts from the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. These pencil skirts are slightly longer than the pencil skirts of today which I love with my ” older legs.”
• A retro bedspread. It also was from around the late 1950’s and in great condition.

My sister took several things including her long-lost birth certificate she replaced long ago and some jewelry. Two bags went to charity.

With the exception of the Rainbow Girls bible, everything is on display in my home now and the skirts are part of my fall wardrobe. I am not quite sure what I will do with the Bible yet but I think it is an important part of our family story so I will hold on to it for now.

Not bad for an hour or so of work and a beautiful trip down memory lane. Spending some time with my sister remembering my mom and her family was priceless. Not to mention there is one less crevice in my home full of unused things and I have some new treasures to display to remind me of those who are always with me in spirit.

As always, I would love to hear from you. Especially if you have been doing some decluttering this summer or if you have been taking a walk down memory lane with heirlooms or photo albums.

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Until next time,

Laura