Decorating with Heirlooms - Displaying Collections

Displaying CollectionsI love how Inspiration For Home Blog didn't just hang one art piece, but grouped many together and even overlapped them.

I love the collection of old frames from Vintage Revivals Blog.

This is a cute way to display grandma's buttons from Write. Click. Scrapbook.


The following three photos come from Bountifulheirlooms.blogspot. Cute ways to display heirloom quilts.


Poppytalk has several creative ways to display vintage cameras.

I love this collection of old potholders from Inspirationforhome.blogspot.


Display collections of china in a display shelf. I love that these are all cup and saucers. Photo from Mamanova.

Display favorite fabrics, stitchery, towels, in different sizes of embroidery hoops. Idea from The Purl Bee

Decorating With Heirlooms - in My House

My House
An old window on the front porch holds seasonal decor.

Stacks of old books can be used to lift items or in this case a small lamp.

Old trunks can act as tables, coffee tables, or other furniture and they are useful storage. I have quilts stored in these old army trunks.


This is silver tablewear from my great grandparents. We don't use it, but displayed this way, I can see it everyday and reflect. I saw this idea on Write, Click, Scrapbook.

Quilts can be functional or decorative. I have my grandmother's crazy quilt hanging in the entryway. I love looking at it everyday. It is my favorite heirloom and so it gets the most prominate location. I have hung it with curtain clips on a curtain rod. I switch directions every now and then so it doesn't get pulled in one direction.

This red and white quilt is also my great-grandmother's work. I love it hung over the banister. It helps block out all the upstairs mess!

This is a chair my great grandmother stitched. It still functions as a chair. I have made similar ones into pillows. The pillow sitting on top of the chair is a quilt piece from another of great-grandma's quilts. If you end up with quilt fragments - they make darling pillows!

I love old frames - I could fill my house up with them! I found this one at a garage sale, but it could be an heirloom! I change what I put in it. This season it has Valentine's Day garlands hanging in it.

I have a few empty old frames on the piano and some other old paintings in interesting frames leaning against the wall. Somehow I love the art pieces on the floor - like I have so much art I don't know what to do with it all! (not really!)

This piece used to be an old radio/turntable. We gave it an overhaul and now it holds table linnens and acts as a buffet server. Click here to read about the transformation.

I can showcase some of my old china and crystal pieces in my hutch. They are decorative but they are the first to grab when I am having a dinner or a party.


This old radio sits in this odd-shaped space next to my stairs. I have no idea what I would otherwise place there. This just seems perfect. This belongs to my husband's side of the family. It would be fun to paint it a funky color - but for now it is the origional wood color.

I turned this old window into a mirror with hooks for the entryway.

Gallery wall in the living room


Star Wars Gallery Wall in the hallway.

Homemade Pretzels

These homemade pretzels are more like crafting than cooking....right? It is a fun project for an after school snack. I mixed up the dough then let it rise while I was picking up the kids.

Step One: Mix the Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups flour

Mix the warm water, sugar, yeast, and butter in a bowl and let stand for a few minutes (I just use the bowl from my Kitchen Aid)

In your Kitchen Aid or other mixer combine the wet mixture and add the flour and salt. Mix with the dough hook attachment for about 5 minutes until a nice dough forms. If dough is sticky, add a little flour at a time. The dough should be smooth. (Sometimes I have to hand kneed the dough if the mixer is not doing a good job.)

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.

Step 2 Roll out the dough.
Take little pieces and make the equivalent of play dough snakes! The longer and thinner the better. We made all sorts of shapes, pretzels, knots, twists, and blobs that were supposed to look like Rapunzel!



Step 3 - Boiling
(prepare the water during the rolling out process)
Fill a stock pot with hot water and add add 3/4 cup baking soda. Bring this to a boil.
After you have made your shapes, put them in the boiling soda water for 30 seconds. They will drop to the bottom then float up to the top.


Step 4 - the Egg Wash
I put a rack on top of a baking sheet and put the boiled pretzels on this. Brush them with a beaten egg. (The rack helps the egg to run off so you don't get baked egg pretzels)

Step 5 - Salt
Transfer the pretzels to a parchment lined baking sheet. (If you don't use parchment you will ruin your baking sheets....trust me I know) Sprinkle course sea salt over the tops.

Step 6 - Bake
Bake the pretzels at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done to your liking. Now get ready for the carb rush of your life! My kids alone can eat an entire batch!

How to Make a Birthday Hat for your Pet

Marbles the crazy Bengal Cat turned 1 and he needed his own party hat!

To make a Birthday hat for your pet you will need:

• Patterned paper (at least medium weight)
• Decorative trim (ric rac, pom poms, ribbon, etc)
• A pom pom for the top
• 1/4 inch elastic
• Hot glue

Print the template for the hat. You may need to adjust it to fit the size of your pet's head.
Trace it onto your patterned paper and cut it out.
Cut the slit as shown on the template. I fastened mine then secured with a touch of hot glue.
Then hot glue your decorative elements on and hot glue the elastic to fit the pets chin. Now you are now ready to sing happy birthday!

Off to eat cupcakes! (He really did eat the cupcakes!)

Christmas Stockings

Every year someone in the family needs a new stocking. This year my new niece baby Hallie and my Nana who is 92! Of course I left it to December to start making them - I have got to be better about getting things done in the summer! I didn't even get very good pictures of them because it was midnight when I finished them, wrapped them, and checked them off my list!

They are pieced, appliqued, quilted, stitched with soft fur - they are quite the process!

Nana was so thrilled at her stocking. She said it was her very first stocking. Imagine getting your first stocking at 92 years old. I love Nana!

Jedi Costumes

This was the most intense Halloween yet! The children are so into Star Wars and they were very demanding on how the costumes should be. I searched the Internet and read how everyone constructed Jedi robes. It came down to laying the person on the fabric and cutting around their body! No tutorial here - you just have to go for it!!!
Marbles also got his own Jedi Robe. I love sewing things like that minutes before we have to go trick or treating!

I also made them matching treat bags with their names. I cut the image and letters out of vinyl then used it as a stencil and painted the bag.

Taylor Swift Concert T-Shirts

We love Taylor Swift! And you can't show up to a concert with just any old shirt on! We needed matching shirts that said "Speak Now". And you can't just slap some puffy paint on them when you can applique with cute fabric! And so we did. I cut up some old T-shirts and made little flowers in the pink and orange for the shoulders.
The back of the shirt I cut a stencil on the Cricut out of vinyl. I found an image for Taylor's signature and the date of the concert! I painted it in craft paint.Why make 1 shirt when you can make 5! It was fun to be all matching.

We had such good seats and these were pictures I took on my camera - my niece even touched Taylor! It was the best concert ever! People kept asking us where we got our shirts! Good job Jedi Craft Girl!!