I wish you a joyous and happy holiday filled with wonderful moments, enough to make loads of happy memories. Thank you for making my days bright by stopping here and sharing your time with me!
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.... And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
May you feel His peace today and always!
I had to share this lovely post from Sandy, Reluctant Entertainer. What a beautiful way to preserve family memories.
Sandy writes......
When my mother passed away, I inherited a large box of some of her Christmas decorations. After a few years of lugging this box in out and out of the attic and re-taping it each time, the box literally started falling apart.
So last year as I was getting ready to recycle the box, I cut out my Mother’s precious writing of “Christmas” from it and tucked the piece away in my hutch for an entire year.
I couldn’t wait to pull it out this year, because I knew I had plans for this cardboard piece. It also reminded me of this song, and the power that heirlooms can hold in a family. When Amy Grant sang this popular song years ago, my good friends Debbie Meador, Jane Houston and I also sang it at our Christmas service. Little did I know, a few years later, the impact of these words after I lost my mom to cancer.
Up in the attic
Down on my knees
Lifetimes of boxes
Timeless to me
Letters and photographs
Yellowed with years
Some bringing laughter
Some bringing tearsTime never changes
The memories, the faces Of loved ones, who bring to me
All that I come from
And all that I live for
And all that I’m going to be
My precious family
Is more than an heirloom to meWisemen and shepherds
Down on their knees
Bringing their treasures
To lay at His feet
Who was this wonder, baby yet king
Living and dying
He gave life to meTime never changes
The memory, the moment His love first pierced through me
Telling all that I come from
And all that I live for
And all that I’m going to be
My precious savior
Is more than an heirloom to meMy precious Jesus is more than an heirloom to me
(Sung by Amy Grant, here.)
My Mom, Millie, is very dear to my sisters’ and my heart, as we miss her very much. It’s very special how the memory of a loved one can live on through heirlooms, pictures, videos, letters, and even writing.
So this year, this is what I gave my sisters for Christmas.
I stenciled Mom’s writing of “Christmas” with a black Sharpie marker onto stencil paper.
Then I cut it and glued it onto a white glass plate.
I poured a high gloss finish onto the plate.
And used a hairdryer to get the bubbles out.
They are not perfect, but I think they turned out nice.
One for my sis Di, my sis Linda and me, with black plate stands to display and to keep Christmas alive, through our mom, in years to come, which hopefully we’ll pass down to our kids!
More than anything else, I’m thankful for my family at Christmastime. I feel blessed. Yes. Very blessed.
What have you done to preserve your special family heirlooms or memories?
(Thank you Kelli Novak, for the inspiration! You may also enjoy An Elegant Toga: Grandma’s Tablecloth, or a bit about sisterly love, or Can I please hold your hand? A Mother’s Day Gift. Above photo is my beautiful Mother and her mother, Grandma Dubs.)
Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!
Merry Christmas, Cindy! Thanks for making my holidays and just-plain-normal days a little brighter with your great ideas and sharing spirit. Have a great time with your family.
That is so beautiful! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.
Zizette
Merry Christmas……………what a beautiful keepsake
Merry Christmas wish it wasn’t too late for me to do something like that.
Thanks for showing how easy it is to make a wonderful memory out of something so simple.
Wow! What a beautiful and heartfelt keepsake you’ve created! Thank U for sharing!
What a lovely idea! How lucky your sisters are to have you!
@Ellen: IMHO and in true Christmas definition, it’s not to late to make and give such a beautiful keepsake. Christmas only begins today, but it lasts until January 6th.
Merry Christmas— for all twelve days of it!
That is a lovely idea! Thanks for sharing. I am thinking this would be a fun way to preserve some of my little ones handwriting. Merry Chirstmas!
I love that song by Amy Grant too! What a wonderful idea. I have some items with my g’ma’s handwriting on it and I am going to use your ideas to make gifts for my cousins and siblings. We were all very close to g’ma and are missing her greatly.
I FOUND MY GRANDMOTHER’S RECIPE BOOK AND KNEW RIGHT AWAY IT WAS HER HANDWRITING ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I GAVE IT TO MY DAUGHTER WHO DOES THE MOST COOKING AND I THINK SHE WOULD GIVE HER LIFE FOR IT. THE MEMORIES ARE SO PRECIOUS!
What a fabulous idea!!! I am forever hanging on to scraps that someone who has passed away has written on- now I have something to do with them and a way to remember their writing!
That idea is amazing and fresh and wonderful all rolled into one!
this would have made me cry if I got this as a gift…so precious….I bet they just loved it too…Merry Christmas….
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Thanks so much for sharing this idea and I want to take this time to say thank you for your website. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
What a lovely idea. Thank you for sharing!! I’m so glad I stopped by.
Thank you for a wonderful idea. I treasure the little handwritten things that loved ones have written, especially the ones that have since passed away. Thanks for all of your wonderful ideas. I hope you had a merry Christmas.
so lovely – thanks for sharing such a precious heirloom.
Wow, what a really neat idea!! Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas!!
Thanks for sharing your sweet idea. I admit, I shed a tear, your thoughtfulness touched my heart:-). How very sweet and wonderful for your family. Merry Christmas!
oh how neat!!! Merry Christmas!!!
What a wonderful and personal way to preserve family memories. Thanks for sharing this story with us. Earlier this week I tried the fried ravioli and the kids thought it was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe. Blessings to you and yours, Tammy
This idea brought tears to my eyes! After my great grandmother died I didn’t want to throw away anything with her handwriting on it. Now I know how to preserve it! Thanks!
This is the best gift I have ever seen. Genius!
Oh I do know the keeping of a box that someone dear has written on.
Your plates couldn’t be more perfect, and I bet the 3 of you won’t be able to wait to take them out every year! What a beautiful keepsake.
Thank you for sharing.
gorgeous and soooo very special
merry christmas 
Thanks Cindy, for allowing me to share with you on Christmas Day!
Blessings to you and all of your readers!
Love, Sandy
I LOVE this idea. It totally brought tears to my eyes. What a great way to perserve. Love it. This would make a great gift for anyone that had someone pass away. Thank you for sharing.
I lost both my mom and dad this year and will be going through 92 years of memories this spring. I hope I will be able to find something I can transfer to a keepsake like you did. Thank you for sharing and all good wishes for 2010!
That is soooo precious! I think I will try to do the same for my sisters next Christmas.
This is just beautiful. What a great keepsake. Perfect or not, it is truly priceless!
Thanks for sharing!
http://polkadotprintsstudio.blogspot.com/
You’re a creative genius! The Christmas trays are wonderful! It’s a true keepsake with so much meaning for you and your sisters. Good on ya and many more creations in the New Year!
A friend made a recipe book for me with photos of my mom and her handwritten recipies. I display it in my kitchen proudly. I love this idea too. Would be great to give to my sisters!
I don’t comment often, even though I should cause I always use your stuff on here. But this story just touched me so much!! we lost our Christmas decorations in hurricane Katrina and it just breaks my heart every christmas. I will never see my mom’s writing on the ornament box ever again. I know exactly how that touched your heart and why you kept it. I’m glad you had it!! I think your gift is beautiful. not just in physical beauty, but the spirit.
This is such a lovely lovely post. What a perfect and heartwarming idea!
Merry Christmas Cindy!
What a sweet idea!! I lost my beloved mom a few years ago and I recently found her last hand-written christmas list..this would be perfect for my sister and I!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
This year I could not think of what to give my two daughters (both in their 30′s) for Christmas. I decided to make each a scrapbook of their lives, but not to fill the albums. The albums are titled “My friends and family”, and they wll now have to complete the albums temselves. Both were thrilled with their gifts. I am now thinking of making each a family recipe book with their favourite “mom’s” recipes and space for their own recipes.
What a wonderful way to preserve that memory! Beautiful.
what a great idea!!! thanks
You certainly know what is important. Thank you for sharing this beautiful lesson. Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to you and your family.
This just completely floored me. How beautiful. I bring my mother’s ornaments down from her attic every year and she still exclaims the meaning of each ornament as she opens the box, as if I’ve never heard them before. Cherished memories. Plain and simple.
Just a lovely idea. Your blog is terrific!
Thank you for posting that song. Yesterday when I talked to my very ill father, he told me that it will probably only be a few more months. As I’ve been trying to deal with that. This song really touched me. Once I was actually able to fight back the tears to read the words. Very touching… Thank you.
Hello again. Question for you. I purchased the products to make this for a friend but I don’t know what the high gloss finish is. Can you advise me? What it is and where to get it? Is it easy to use? Would decopage (sp?) do the same thing? Thanks for your help. I really, really LOVE this.
Tears in my eyes reading your post! What a beautiful idea. Handwriting is such a personal, intimate expression of an individual. How special to have your mom’s precious lettering with you all through the Christmas season!
Love the idea of the plate with your mom’s writing. What a treasure for each of you. My dad was a minister and brought back a china cup & saucer for my mom from every country he preached in through the years. After they both went to heaven, I took about 15 of the cups and saucers and filled them with sugared pecans that first Christmas, wrapped them all up in bows and clear shiny paer, along with a note telling each friend or family member how I value their friendship, and how my mother would have loved sharing this with them. It was a huge blessing for me.
What a great way to keep your Mom’s memeory close. It brought tears to my eyes. I too am dealing with what to do with all of those inherited pieces of the past, and I find that even getting rid of a cardboard box seems like a betrayal. And how great it is that you have sister’s that appreciate a gift like this! Hope you had a great holiday.
I absolutely LOVE this keepsake and thank you for giving me a fabulous idea for next years Christmas gifts.
That is such a wonderful way to keep her memory alive in your home and hearts. I think I might do something like this now with some simply artwork my aunt did. So beautiful your ideas.
I just found your blog and was scrolling through all the older entries. This one really touched me! I was crying by the time I got to the bottom. Then when I saw that your Mom’s name was Millie just like my Mom, I had a good bawl!! My Mom has been gone 5 years now and I miss her immensely every day. What a wonderful way to share something of your Mom with your sisters!