Designer Kristine McKay shares ways to preserve priceless family memories.
Label Keepsakes
I was doing going through my linens and I realized that I keep all of the “special” stuff on the top shelf and my kids know that they aren’t allowed to use it. However, suddenly it dawned on me that because I never let them use it, we never really have the opportunity to talk about them. As I pulled each piece out, the memories started to flow. I realized that my kids would never know the memories attached to each piece unless I told them. So, I decided to start by putting felt pockets on each piece with a hand-written description. Below is my old baby blanket and the story that I attached to it.
“This blanket is attached to one of my very earliest memories. I believe I was around two years and I was sick. I remember my mother wrapping this blanket around me and rocking me back and forth as I sucked my thumb and rubbed the torn lace from the edge of the blanket on my cheek. My mother had a beautiful singing voice and as she rocked me she sang a song that she made up about the little characters on the blanket. I remember her singing about a giraffe and an elephant that were friends. I vaguely remember the words having something to do with the giraffe trying to convince the elephant to stop sucking her thumb.”
I put the written stories inside cute felt pockets I made, and attached them to keepsakes.
I had a similar experience as I was organizing our library. I created a special shelf with all of the books that had special meaning to me. However, I realized that unless I marked the books in some way, my kids would just think that this shelf was just like the others. So, I decided to create a bookplate that told the meaning each book had for me.
Check out more of Kristine’s projects at www.kmckaydesigns.com
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