With a fresh year of holidays upon us, I've been thinking a lot about an idea that my friend Kendra had. After countless hours of making thread wrapped eggs together, she threw out the idea of creating an array of holiday crafts over the years, made with the anticipation of giving them to a newly married child or grandchild. A holiday spin on the hope chest concept. Now, this doesn't mean that you wouldn't use them in your own home, only that you would consciously make holiday crafts that were meant to last and meant to be given away to someone special.
I've grown to love this idea more and more, perhaps because I've already completed a few projects that I think are worthy of heirloom status. My rule of thumb is pretty simple - make them in a style that's fairly timeless and make them out of good materials. With my personal crafting time at a minimum, I've begun to narrow my focus to the projects that will teach me something new and feel worthy of the time required.
I have nothing for Valentine's Day, so I'm mulling over classic concepts and designs and perusing other blogs for inspiration. The embroidered linen love note from Katie Cupcake wasn't meant as a Valentine's Day project, but I think it's delightful - and how could it not be relevant decades from now? So I'm putting this idea out there and if you find projects for any holiday that you think are worthy of heirloom status, I hope you'll email the link to me. Throughout the year I'll post various ideas to inspire those of you who might want to join me on this creative mission.
The only thing that's better than the pleasure of creating something beautiful is the pleasure of giving it away...someday!
What a great idea, I love the thought of passing on some treasured items. I am collecting a beautiful Christmas decoration every year to give to my son when he leaves home - one of the only times I felt homesick after moving out was at Christmas when I realised I had nothing to decorate my tree with!
Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo
Posted by: Charlotte | 12 January 2011 at 02:00 PM
just home from check up. barely enough energy to read e-mail. But when I saw you'd updated I had to take 5 and pop in. This is lovely. Such a sweet gift for any occassion. Love it!
Posted by: Betty aka ZacksNana | 12 January 2011 at 11:47 AM
I love that embroidered linen love note! How adorable would that be with a child's name and maybe some big achievement and the date on it framed! Maybe even a wedding gift with the bride and grooms names and the date. Love it!
Posted by: Wendy | 12 January 2011 at 09:04 AM