Showing posts with label heirlooms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heirlooms. Show all posts

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tobacco Basket

I'm aware that not all of my readers are Southern, bless your yankee hearts.  ;)  Kidding.  You know I love y'all.  So first, a quick Vocabulary Lesson.

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Tobacco Basket-   once the tobacco leaves were dried out, they were bunched and bound together then loaded onto a tobacco basket so that they could be displayed and sold at the market

Pack House-  a barn where the tobacco leaves were hung to dry

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About two months ago, I came into possession of an antique tobacco basket.  This particular tobacco basket came out of my great grandmother's pack house.  They had a lot of tobacco baskets, but there is a really good chance that my grandma, my great aunts, and even my dad have used my tobacco basket.  It even has the name of our town spray painted onto the side.   


How beautiful is she?!  

You might think that tobacco baskets are boys...but they're actually girls.  :)  Or at least this one is.  Because she is gorgeous.  

My great aunt and uncle found this in December and gave it to me, knowing my love for all things vintage and historical.  I have a particularly strong love affair with anything considered a family heirloom or sentimental.  I jumped up and down with excitement when I first saw this tobacco basket.  It is old.  It is quirky.  It is not a typical home decoration.  It is big and chunky.  It is heavy.  It's magnificent.  It represents how far my family has come - from shuckin' tobacco to owning a factory.  After almost two months exactly, I finally found a place for the basket.  I've moved it all around.  It's hung on one wall, leaned against two, and finally...


I hung her up yesterday!  She's hanging in the kitchen, which I love because I get to look at her all the time.


When we moved into this house, the house I grew up in, it was still full of stuff.  All of the walls have nails and hooks and hangers already...the tricky part is finding the right hanger for your project.  I finally found TWO heavy duty hooks that were already in the walls!  They were hiding behind a picture of us that my parents put on the wall while we were on our honeymoon, so we didn't know that what the picture was hung on.  The two heavy duty hooks are perfect for a tobacco basket, which is quite heavy.

Another thing...when I lived here with my parents, they never used their front door.  We always came inside through the mudroom because the garage is connected to it.  They always had their friends come up that way, too.  When Mr. Robinson and I moved in, we decided to put the pretty front door & foyer space to good use.  People rarely come over at all, but when they do we condition them to use the front door.  Sometimes, people still come up to the side door and enter through the mudroom - which I always hated.  BUT... now I won't be hating it as much because when they walk through the door, this is what they'll see: 
  


So, that's how I added a little bit of flair to our home this weekend.  What's your idea of a good, unique way to decorate your home or let your sense of style shine through?  

Thanks for reading! 
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Monday, December 12, 2011

Dandelions and a Tobacco Basket

Mr. R and I are living in the house where I grew up.  It's been a very long process of moving our stuff in and moving my parents' stuff out.  Last week, my mom came over and cleaning out the curio cabinet.  She left behind some glasses that they received as a wedding gift from some friends of theirs.  For now, they are still in the curio cabinet.  They have what looks to be dandelions etched into the sides.  Aren't the amazing? 

Source: google.com via Sara on Pinterest

(A dandelion, for reference)









Today, my grandma brought me over a basket of goodies!  I can't wait to go through it after work, wash everything up, and check out the treasures!


You might not be able to see it, but behind the basket is a black umbrella.  Guess what.  It was my great, great grandmother's!  How amazing?!

Also, I have come into ownership of my very own tobacco basket!  I didn't get a picture of it yet...but here are some pictures I found on Pinterest.


Source: asoftplace.net via Amy on Pinterest








The one that I now have?  Well...it's on it's way to my house.  :)  My grandpa is taking it by and dropping it off while I'm at work.  It won't fit in my car... But it came out of my great grandparents' pack house.  My grandma and my dad both worked out of that pack house when they were younger.  The basket even has our town's name stamped on the side!  It's is great shape, and I am so excited about having a piece of our family history to display as decor.  It amazes me that this is apparently a trend?  I had no idea.

I'm thinking of making a coffee table out of it?  I can't find anyone else who has done this and posted pictures online.  You guys know I've been looking for a cool coffee table.  :)  Or I could just hang it on the wall.

They look pretty awesome.

I'm so excited!

What kind of family heirlooms do you have in your home?

What would you do or what have you done with a tobacco basket?

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Friday, December 2, 2011

"Our First Home" Christmas Tree Ornament

Last night I made a craft that was Pinterest-inspired.  Who would have guessed?  :) 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

New, Old Trunks!

I had the greatest thing ever happen today. I won't even describe it first.  I will let the pictures tell the story before I let my fingers go wild!  :)






Today, my grandma comes to me at work and tells me that she has something for me from her sister (my Great-Aunt Linda).  Apparantly they had recently spoke about my new obsession & search for vintage suitcases.  I am particularly fond of family heirlooms.  I much prefer to have things handed down to me...family members' possessions that have a story to tell...possessions that have another life to live (through me/us)!  

The suitcase on the bottom belonged to my father's mother's father's mother.  My great-great grandmother.  Wow.  

The bluish suitcase on the top is my Great Aunt Linda's.  Her parents gave it to her as a high school graduation gift.  

+ an engagement picture of us, a strand of broken fake pearls, a mirror project I've been working on for about a month, a set of skeleton keys from our wedding decor, a skeleton key burlap sack I bought from Etsy, a lamp from my old apt., and a cross-stitch of a roses that my father's father's mother made.  :D  

What a story, huh?  Tell me about your family heirlooms!