Thursday, February 18, 2010

Family Treasures


 My mother loved jewelry, I can remember whenever she went out of the house she had on two things, lipstick and some sort of jewelry.  She would always take her rings and other jewelry off the minute she got home, but she never left the house to go anywhere without some on.




She came from a long line of jewelry lovers actually.  Even the men on my maternal grandmother's side were fond of the sparkly baubles.  One of my great uncles even had a man's ring with a 3 & 3/4 carat diamond solitaire surrounded by 72 smaller diamonds!  My grandmother bought that ring after her brother died and had it made into several other pieces of jewelry.






After my mother died, my sisters and I went through the various boxes of jewelry she had stashed away in what seemed like ever drawer of her dresser.  We laughed so hard that day - it was all we could do to not wet our pants.  My mother had so many pins that it became like a game of Go Fish, where one of us would say "who has a butterfly already, or a bunny?!" and we finally got to the point where we were saying, "no I don't want another daggum flower pin, you take it!"





There were also a lot of very sentimental pieces that we remembered our maternal grandmother wearing when she was all dressed up for church on Sunday, complete with white gloves and a beautiful hat.  As an only child, my mother inherited all of her mother's jewelry and then let us play dress up with it as children.  So many of the pieces were missing rhinestones or pearls, but we still wanted them just the same.




My poor sister "M" ended up picking things she loved, only to turn around and find yet another stone missing.  She declared that she had picked all of the "bad" pieces since hers were so delicate that even moving them a little made things shift and fall off.  We giggled and told her that she had picked them so she had to keep them!





This ring was my mother's high school graduation ring from 1953.


 

 


So I wanted to share with you a few of the pieces I brought home that day.  They aren't valuable in a monetary sense, but the memories they evoke makes them priceless to me!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my family's treasures.  What treasures do you have that have been passed down through the generations?




It's time for Show and Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home.


 and

I'm linking up for Vintage Thingie Thursday over at the Colorado lady.











27 comments:

  1. Such treasured pieces you have. When my grandmother died on my Dad's side she left me her diamond wedding ring and left the engagement ring to my sister. When my other grandmother died she left me her china. The whole set that she had for many years. Some pieces are missing, but it is a beautiful set that I will always cherish.

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  2. Vintage jewelry is so much fun. I love your story of dividing the treasures with your sisters. Yes the memories you have of your mum and grandma make those vintage pieces priceless!

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  3. You have some nice treasures pictured there. Brings back memories of the things Grandma had. She liked rhinestones the very best!

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  4. All lovely treasures...my grandma had a drawer full of costume-type jewelry that we loved playing with...I wonder where that all ended up?

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  5. WOw those piecdes are so lovely. And whats even more lovely are the stories that go along with them :)

    Aimee

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  6. I like the way you showed your jewelry.

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  7. Wow, so beautiful! You photographed them so artfully as well. I'm not big on wearing jewelry myself, but I certainly admire it on everyone else.

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  8. What a beautiful story and the photos are amazing! Your Mother's collection of jewelry is so wonderful and I am glad that you selected a few pieces for yourself.

    hugs
    Sissie

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  9. What a great collection of vintage jewelry. I posted about vintage jewelry today also. Some nice pieces I found at a yard sale. I have many of my moms vintage jewelry also. She used to have Sarah Coventry parties when I was a young girl, and I just loved all the pretty stuff. I have some of those pieces as well. Thanks for sharing!

    Debbie

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  10. What a beautiful post...both the words and the pictures. Thank you.

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  11. Love vintage jewelry and yours IS Priceless! Great job photographing that shiny stuff. Nicely presented.

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  12. Beautiful family treasures! I loved all of it, but I have a fondness for Vintage jewelry, so pretty. Have a great VTT!

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  13. Your photos are gorgeous. What kind of camera do you use?

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  14. What special pieces you have! I have some special pieces from my mother-in-law, including an opal necklace that was her mother's. We had a session much like you did with your sisters- we set aside special pieces for each grandchild, too. It was a bittersweet time of sharing with tears and laughter!

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  15. The jewelry is so pretty and really precious since it is from your mother and grandmother. You have a great way of photographing them, too. So stylistic!
    Blessings - Beth

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  16. Amazing and beautiful! hope you are enjoying them... my special piece is a cocktail ring from my grandmother!

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  17. OH my goodness that is a whack of jewelry - I guess you aren't supposed to say stuff like that - but holy smokes your Mom had a lot of pins and necklaces. Mind you I'm glad for you that you have it, as they are lovely and they have such good memories for you.

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  18. Beautiful collection! I have a few pins and other jewelry from my grandmothers that I really love.

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  19. Lovely pictures of your treasures. I can imagine you sitting there, remembering and sharing memories.

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  20. How lovely to have all these gorgeous treaures that belonged to your mother and grandmother - how nice that after all these years they're still giving pleasure! Leigh

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  21. Oh they're so precious... what wonderful memories you have of that day with your sisters. Sounds like you all had a very special relationship with her... yes priceless too! A-m xx

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  22. I'm loving all your creativeness and photography in this post, not to mention how treasured these pieces must be for you. I noticed quite a few shore inspired pieces. What a lovely, lovely post Kat. Did I mention your pictures are gorgeous? ~Lili

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  23. Such lovely pieces,and such beautiful memories. And I have to tell you, the way you did the pictures..is just wonderful. A professional could not have done better..it's a lovely post.

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  24. You displayed the jewelry so beautifully and such a nice story. One of my favorite family treasures is my grandmother's treadle sewing machine. I even have the originally instruction book.

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  25. Gorgeous! What a treasure trove of jewelry, and memories! You're a fantastic photographer!

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  26. What fabulous treasures!!! And I loved the stories that you shared with us. I can tell they mean a lot to you.

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  27. Your vintage treasures are so lovely! I have some pieces from my grandmother. Those family memories are priceless. A beautiful post!

    Love,
    Susan and Bentley
    xxoo

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