Memories on display

If you're anything like me, you love to come home from any trip with a little token.  Some are premeditated and time consuming - like the stamp, coin or postcard collections Will and I have started - while others are random objects that happen to take our fancy; such as these: a native animal wood carving and ostrich egg, hollowed out for a tea candle - each picked up by Will on separate visits to South Africa.

Other perks of being 'world travelers' is that we have friends and family all over the place who sometimes give us awesome and traditional gifts from their countries. I always prefer to decorate with unique items like these rather than store bought ones since any time a memory can be jogged or a smile brought to our lips, I feel like I’ve accomplished a small victory. 

The problem at our house these days, is that we've been to so many places and have accumulated so many 'tokens' - many of them are forgotten about or outright neglected.  While our larger items stand proudly displayed throughout the house, small items - that are no less important - are put away; being too cluttery or too tiny to be noticed standing alone on a shelf.  As I was dusting the bookcase earlier today and lamenting this very fact, it hit me in a stoke of sheer genius: why not stick 'em in a jar!

Mason Jars are a total decorating fad right now and I’m definitely on the band wagon!  I seriously use them in every room of my house, for practical and ornate purposes.  In the kitchen they hold spices/ flours/ doggy's treats; in the bathroom, bath salts/ bombs and now in the living room they are my favourite display cases for the various small trinkets Will and I have accumulated from around the world.  As with my date jar, I added a string of twine, an office label and now these plain old, cheap as mason jars have a unique, antiquated… almost museum-like appearance.

Now our beautiful seashell collection from the shores of Australia stands beside the tiny Peter’s pine cones that fascinated me so much when I first arrived in Atlanta.  Both clearly visible to the naked eye of our guests, as well as our own mind’s eyes, as Will and I vividly remember the fun we had with these collections every time we look at them!