Isn’t it funny how while we’re busy trying to create a beautiful home that we put some of life’s most beautiful moments away in boxes? I love the idea of actually unpacking our happy memories and putting them on display to enjoy every day.
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What sweet moments have you displayed in your home? I’d love to see some examples. I need to do more of this around our house.
Hi Emily, I love these ideas. I’ve framed two baby winter hats that I just couldn’t part with. It might make more sense here in Maine, but it makes for some appropriate entryway art! xo
Great post! I kept our wedding album in its protective cloth inside the box it came in mostly because I was worried something would happen to it if we kept it out. How silly! So now I have it on our hutch, propped open to my favorite page on a shelf meant to display plates. I see it every single day now.
One of my favorites is a note that we framed. My son wrote it himself and carried it in his pocket while away with my husband at a men’s retreat. It said “I belong to Ray Griffin, QSBC, OKC.” Mind you, he was about 9, old enough to do all of that on his own and actually just tell someone that info. if he got lost. I guess he thought if he was alone and apparently unconscious, someone would find the note in his pocket and decipher who he was. :) Pic here… http://dimplesandtangles.blogspot.com/2014/04/boys-gallery-wall-and-souvenir-patch.html
What wonderful ideas! I am currently working on a shadow box display of medals and letters belonging to my dad from WWII. My sister and I had never seen any of this until we cleaned out our parents’s house this spring.
These are all beautiful, Emily.I don’t really have anything out of the ordinary. I just have all of the kids handprints from when they were six months old in one shadow box. :)
My 7-year old daughter ‘cleaned’ the kitchen one day and wrote me a note that says “Hi! Are you happy I cleaned the kitchen? Doesn’t it look like a kitchen in a magazine?” It was so sweet… I framed it and have it up on the wall in our kitchen.
I had two girls & always thought I would have a 3rd baby, so I hung onto their clothes. Once they became pre-teens, I knew it wouldn’t happen but didn’t know what to do with some of their favorite little clothes. To preserve them & make a memory, I had two quilts made of squares of all of their old clothes. They didn’t remember many of them of course, so I put together photo albums for each with their pictures in those clothes. The seamstress included buttons & smocking & it is just so cool. I’m sure the girls will appreciate it even more as they are older. It was worth all the work.
My husband proposed by spelling out “Marry Me?” in pictures of us and for our rehearsal dinner, my mother-in-law printed the pictures a smaller size and had it framed and I FINALLY hung it in our bedroom this week. I love it and think it’s such a sweet reminder of that exciting time in our life.
Our daughter’s baptism gown is displayed in a silver shadow box, and of course we have wedding photos on display. I think doing this makes a house more of a home. Love these ideas!
Great posts and I’ve enjoyed reading the comments, too. I love displaying my son’s artwork. I think the end goal for me is to have all my possessions be so beautiful or meaningful everything and anything can be displayed!
Thanks so much for sharing the framed house key from The Picket Fence Projects! I also framed the flower from my wedding dress and the fabric used on the table runners (can be seen here: http://thepicketfenceprojects.blogspot.com/p/our-wedding_23.html). It’s a nice way to remember our wedding day!
I saved all five of our children’s hospital shirts from when they were born and framed them. They hang in our loft/playroom. I love them!!
I have my own artwork all over our house, and my toddlers’ art hanging here and there. In my girls’ room is a large photo of my mother holding me as a baby. Family photo books are as accessible as my children’s story books, and I often prop them open to display a favorite page. My teenage hatpin collection makes for a unique vignette in our bedroom.
I often catch myself stashing mementos away, and then realize I should be incorporating them into our home decor. :)