rePURPOSING Things:Grandmother's Hankies Part II

The quilts on the last post took lots of hankies to make. Here is an idea if you only have a few - baby quilts!

rePURPOSING Things: Grandmother's Hankies

Cleaning out a parent's possessions to move them to assisted living or to close up house after they have died is very painful and exhausting. There are so many of their memories, and some of yours, tied up in every little item.

Here is how I transformed a surprise discovery at the bottom of my mother's dresser to a family heirloom on my daughter's bed.

When I was packing up mom's things I found dozens of hankies with goodbye notes neatly folded and preserved under her lingerie. Apparently when my parents moved in the 40's my mother's friends gave her a hanky party.  She had carefully saved them for 60 years!

I unwrapped,  laundered, and ironed each one.  Then I sewed them into a queen size quilts for my two daughters.

The older daughter got the fun, colorful ones in her quilt.

And the younger daughter got the sweet white ones with little flowers embroidered in the corners.

This labor of love linked our generations and warmed my daughters with memories of their grandma.

Moving Out, Moving In

Moving is traumatic in a bunch of different ways. Taking stock of our possessions is just one of them. I like to meet with a client BEFORE they move to help them really evaluate what they need to take with them but that is not always possible.

Here is an example of why the pre-move meeting is desirable.

This client has loads of beautiful clothes. This is the space available in her new home for her tops:

Even though she didn't measure the linear feet of her hanging tops ahead of time she managed to fit them all in - very tightly. But after settling in she realized she had too many things for her new home - clothes included - and decided to hold a yard sale.

These are the tops she discarded:

She had a yard sale before she moved. It was unfortunate that she had to give up an additional weekend morning having another. Also unfortunate was the time, money and energy she spent moving the things that didn't fit - resources she could have used having fun, being creative or following her passions.

But the happy outcome is that now her new closet is roomier, easier to navigate and, better yet, she absolutely loves everything in it.

The next time I see her I will  teach her the "hanger trick."

rePURPOSING Things: Mints Tins Hold iStuff

If you like green tea buy these mints at Trader Joes and then keep the tin.

The label peels off easily leaving no residue and making the perfect size, see-through, stackable storage container for earbuds, usb and firewire cables. Tuck them in a drawer and easily retrieve the correct connections with no tangles and no mistakes. Antioxidants for your clutter!