The Legacy of Handmade

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Good morning, beautiful people! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We celebrated my Memaw’s 97th birthday on Saturday and then just did normal weekend stuff…with a Hobby Lobby trip slipped in. It was glorious!

Y’all know that I love creating handmade-diy home decor, crafts and gifts for others, right? Well, there’s a point…a goal…behind the love that I have for doing things myself. It’s the legacy of handmade. I am passionate about this legacy that was instilled in me and I want to instill it in my children.

Whether my mom knows it or not, she gave me such a gift in figuring out how to channel my creative energy. Honestly, she was probably at her wit’s end trying to keep me entertained. I was a very active handful as a child…and my husband probably would say that I’m an active handful as an adult. Ha! But my mom found endless ways to allow me to take out my creative “genius” {or not} on the world.

One of those ways was cross-stitch. I had to sit still to do it which was probably a huge bonus for Mom. 🙂 I cross-stitched a lot. Mom helped me create designs by drawing them on the cross-stitch fabric. My favorite part was choosing the thread colors for my designs.

This cross-stitched bookmark was a gift for my sweet Granny {my Mom’s mom} back in 1987. I was just five years old and I was SO proud of this gift. Granny kept it in her Bible for literally twenty years. It always made me so happy to see my handmade gift there.

When Granny went to heaven, I got the bookmark back. Now it stays in my Bible. This treasured bookmark reminds me not only of my dear Granny who I miss so very much, but it inspires me to pass on the legacy of handmade to my children.

I hope that you are inspired to join me in instilling a love of handmade gifts and treasures laced with pieces of “us” that can be passed down for generations to come.

I would love to know, do you have a handmade item from the past that you treasure?

XO

*****

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14 Comments

  1. I am so glad my Mum taught me the basics of sewing with a machine. I was a sensitive teen and I think they bought me a sewing machine after I requested it for Christmas . It was a life line. I poured myself into it. Granted most of my ‘creations’ were questionable, but I certainly learned what not to do! As an adult I went back to the machine to make curtains for my first home, and bedding etc, for my first child. Many gifts to family and friends along the way 🙂

  2. You were only 5 when you made that? It’s amazing!! I crochet & plan on making both my sons hope chests full of crocheted items for their homes & future children, wash cloths, blankets, clothes for the babies, etc. My husband loves working with wood. He’s going to make the chests. Our boys are only 14 & 5 right now, we have some time to work on this, but it excites me to think of their faces & their future wives faces when we give the chests to them on the eve of their weddings.

  3. Aw! What a precious memory and legacy! What a well-written post, Myra! God is faithful…brought tears…and I’m thankful! 🙂

  4. That is so sweet Myra. I do love homemade items too. I find myself as I get older (closer to 30) that I cherish things so much more. This post reminds of the handmade christmas ornaments I made with my mom when I was little. We made them out of old christmas cards and then attached them to cookies we baked. Thanks for sharing your sweet memory!
    Tabitha´s last blog post ..Dinner Menu Plan and Grocery List

  5. I have a quilt that my grandmother made just for me. Also a crocheted bib that was mine, as an infant. So many things, really!
    Oh, and we have a tea towel that my husband’s mother (who died when he was just 5 years old) had embroidered the outline of my husband’s little hand…and his little 3 year old sister’s hand. It’s so precious to us!

  6. How sweet that she kept your handmade gift in her Bible all that time! That definitely speaks volumes to how much handmade items are treasured more vs the latest electronic item or trendiest shirt as gifts! So sweet!
    Shelley´s last blog post ..Olympic Art Project

  7. My Dad was a great handmaker,too! He was able to create almost anything, from the beautiful wooden desk I’m working on to my jewels casket to some adorable lace curtains and he also made my daughter’s craddle and her wonderful rocking horse, I’m serious!!!
    Now Dad is in Heaven, too and we all miss him so badly… but I’m surrounded by things he did with his own callous coalminer’s hands and a great part of his Love for us all…
    I’m not sure it is a good thing in fact, it is so sad to constantly wish he could still be here…
    May God bless him and your dear Granny, too…

  8. Love, love this post, Myra! I’ve got wonderful memories of spending hours creating things as a kid (I specifically remember hand painting 20 or 30 printed wooden Christmas ornaments…). And getting handmade gifts means so much to me as well.

    I can’t believe that you made that at age 5! You are pretty talented – I don’t think I was making anything like that in kindergarten. 🙂
    Jami @ An Oregon Cottage´s last blog post ..Canned Black Current Juice Concentrate {For Italian Sodas}

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