Something old, Something New

July 1st, Craig and I will be married TEN years! Like many I know, I’ve never watched our wedding video. We sat down once but quickly jumped ship. I finished our wedding scrapbook before we had Jonas and there are wedding photos in frames. They might be the only photos of us in frames, but they’re not of stranger models, winning!

I’ve been collecting old things lately. Special and ordinary things of those I love. I made my sister, Meggie, stop the sale of this frame so I could have it. It was from my Great Aunt and Uncle Betty and Verle’s house. It has sat above our bed for several months.

Side note: I remember when I was this free. Life inside of Finlea is uninhibited. When do we become so stuffy that we don’t dance with abandon like this?

I rotated ideas for the frame; photos in black and white, a simple phrase in cursive, handkerchiefs, and then I looked at the pins from Mamaw’s collection on my dresser. I’ve wanted to put a few doilies in frames. I knew I wanted to use the pins in frames, and I’ve always wanted to do something with my wedding belt. It all came together in my mind. I made a Tik Tok video, a friend suggested I advertise on it, but I don’t love the platform. It’s too busy for me. I’m just too old for that shit.

I laid out all of the elements and CUT my wedding belt.

Let’s be real, I’m never going to be small enough to wear it again but it still made me hold my breath. Now it’s a permanent part of our home, it’s beautiful and I can enjoy it every day. I used white push pins from Mamaw’s sewing room to tack the doilies and belt in place. The vintage pins are from Mamaw and Craig’s Grandma Izzy’s collections. It took less than half an hour and I’m so glad it’s finished. Aside from it finishing out this shelf, the piles of doilies and pins are no longer taking up space. What projects have you been putting off? I find most of the projects I put off aren’t difficult or time-consuming. Why the delay? One part of the project was in my bedroom, one part was in Finlea’s closet, and one part was in the studio. Half the battle for me is just getting the pieces of the projects all in the same place. I call that lazy, some might be kind and mention that I have two young children, but really I’m lazy sometimes.

There will always be these photos of my best friend putting my belt on, and photos of me in the dress. Now the belt, pins, and doilies serve their second purpose. In the coming months, I’ll share more ideas for items you might have stored in an attic that should really be creatively displayed!