One day while out visiting my aunt, she surprised me by pulling out an old jewelry box.
“This belonged to your grandma many years ago” and then she opened it up to show me the many treasures hidden inside. It was like a mini time capsule.
My grandma kept everything.
She was a bit of pack rat or as I like to say…clutter bug. It sounds so much better.
My grandma had jewelry from her mom and jewelry from her kids.
There were a lot of pieces from the 50’s and 60’s. Costume jewelry was very popular back then.
I also came across a lot of pieces from the 70’s when my grandma was into Native American jewelry and turquoise.
There were even a couple pieces from the 80’s which reminded me of the Madonna craze back then with her chunky fake gems stones and bangles she used to wear. Wonder what grandma did with these pieces.
A birth stone tree with two sets of the same stones for the two sets of twins my grandma had. One of those sets was my dad.
Looking through all this jewelry I wondered when grandma ever wore them. Grandma to me was always a little bit of a tomboy. She loved camping with her boys and girls or hunting. I just figured she wasn’t into jewelry. In fact a lot of the girls on my dad’s side were a bit of tomboys. We loved fishing and spending time outdoors. Grandma probably did what I did; just put her jewelry away for those special occasions like family events and holidays. Nothing too fancy or over the top in prices, her pieces like my pieces were for enjoyment only.
Grandma had so many interesting and pretty pieces.
Butterflies.
Birds and bees and flowers and trees. I’m Getting a little poetic now.
Then my Aunt surprised me one mother’s day with a special gift from Grandma’s treasure box, a little floral brooch with little dots. “It reminds me of you and all the whimsical flowers you paint on everything,” She said.
It belonged to my great grandma.
When I got home I pulled out some of my own little treasures of costume jewelry from the years. I don’t really wear them anymore because I am usually painting something and it would just get ruined so they are tucked away for my daughter to go through some day. I can imagine her saying “ My mom is a bit of a pack rack…or clutter bug as we like to say.”
There is a guitar from Venice Italy, one of my souvenirs I remembered to buy for myself.
I picked up these Russian dolls at a world fest here in Phoenix many years ago. Notice the theme here…color, lots of color.
Then there is my obsession with flowers.
Hearts always cheer me up.
This selection came from a thrift store grab bag. I thought they would look nice as ornaments. I need to make little Christmas pillows to pin them to, then hang them from my tree.
A friend bought me a fetish necklace one year. In Arizona we have so many great Native American artists that carve out these beautiful little desert animals from stones. I didn’t know this when my friend gave it to me one birthday but each little hand carved animal represents something (www.zunifetichstore.com/?view=about-zuni-fetish-)
Like this rabbit which represents a safe birth for mothers and a long life for children.
Turtles represent mother earth and longevity in Native American cultures.
A roadrunner from my mother-in-law, this is another item from the 70’s.
Every year the Catholic Church has a giant sale and this brooch was too pretty to leave behind. Those are tiny little dried flowers under the glass.
Then there was this spider for .25 cents. I am afraid of spiders but this little guy was crazy colorful and added bonus points, it’s isn’t alive. Not sure what I am going to do with him. Maybe frame him, and then design a beautiful beaded web. That would be so pretty under a shadow box frame.
These are just a few of my favorite pieces. Sometimes when I am out in the world at junk shops and yard sales and I see a box of little trinkets, I can’t help myself and have so much fun looking at all those unique pieces out there.
As for that tiny little flower brooch my aunt gave me, well it was just too special and pretty to tuck away in a box, so I framed it. Now I have a little flower to greet me everyday. I wonder what my great granny would have thought of that when she got this little pin. Someday it will be up on a wall in her great granddaughters home. I never met her but it looks like we both liked the same things.
Hope you all enjoyed a little trip back in time with my families treasure chest full of memories. All my grandmas collected some pretty pieces and it looks like we all had similar taste.
Have fun hunting for your own little trinkets to add to your treasure chest at home. There are tons of gems out there to collect and make into art. As always, the hunt is the funniest part to me.
For more information on pins, check out Madeleine Albright’s pin collection on Youtube. I had a chance to see her exhibit at our art museum here in Phoenix. It was a date my husband and I took…we still try to do date days, even with grown kids. This was a great exhibit. There was a lot of history that went with all her jewelry. Her favorite piece is a little heart her daughter made her when she was five years old. Youtube has a clip of her exhibits in the simonsian museum, which was the same exhibit I saw here in Phooenix. It’s a great little video that is only about 5 minutes but gives you just a touch of the beautiful pins that were on display. She even has a book available. Hope you get a chance to watch it. If this exhibit ever comes to your part of the world, don’t miss it, it is quite the collection.
What an interesting post! I love trinkets as well and your piece are just beautiful. I have a crush for your bee brooch, so cute. Than again you are probably not surprise as you know I love flowers and critters. And what a nice idea to framed your brooch… I might steal that idea from you. Your grandma was a gorgeous lady by the way.
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Thank you. You could do a really nice display of your jewelry pieces in shadow boxes on your walls. I can’t believe how many pieces are out there in the world and they are little pieces of art so why not put them on display when we aren’t wearing them. Bet you have some great brooches too. The idea of displaying my pin came to me after seeing the Margaret Albright exhibit at the museum.
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It is a fabulous idea! I don’t have much jewelry actually. Almost all of my mom’s pieces were stollen a long time ago. But I still have a few…
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What a nice whimsical piece! Love it
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Thank you.
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What an honour to journey through your Grandmother’s treasures. Love the way you framed your Great Grandmother’s pin. Thinking of how special the pieces of our loved ones lives are and the memories attached brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing. ❤
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Awww, thank you. It was fun looking through all those pieces and when I got home I realized I had a lot of similar pieces myself in my collection. Sometimes I pull out some family history to post about so my kids can read a little story from our past. I am using blogging a little like a scrapbook site with some post.
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Oh my goodness, your grandma is beautiful!! I’m a bit of a tomboy too but I love jewelry. That wasn’t always the case because I cleaned Jewelry in a jewelry store my dad managed. It was some nasty stuff hahaha but in my 40s I started collecting stuff. I fell in love with pearls :);) My sister calls me granny because I have strands that are so long they can touch the floor if I don’t triple them up around my neck hahaha. I’ve started, like you keeping them put up. I use to get up throw on my best tomeboy work clothes, pull out all my trinkets to wear that day :):);) then go clean the house,or whatever chore was in store for the day. Hahaha Your flower pin is beautiful. It looks like peridot, and london blue topaz. It might even be blue saphire but it’s hard to tell without seeing how the light reflects through it. Either way beautiful!! Thank you for sharing all your treasures :):)
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Thank you, my grandma was so pretty and she kept her hair long throughout her life, she just pulled it up in a bun. I love pearls also and those are kept in another trinket box. My birthstone is Ruby and I always wanted pearls and ocean colors as my birthstone. My husband and daughter have those stones. My sons stone is a sapphire or diamond. I am probably the only girl I know that doesn’t really like diamonds. Almost afraid to admit that, but I love those pearls and blue stones.
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My birthstone is the same as your son. i use to think diamonds were pretty but compared to rubies, emeralds, garnets, citrine, amethyst, peridot, etc the diamonds look pretty plain :):)
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My son was born in April and it is one of my favorite months. My second favorite month is December and that is when my daughter was born. You have a very special birth month.
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April seems to be full of birthdays. Your son, my hubby, my mom, my grandmother, and grandmothers sister, my best friend hahaha
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Wow, you do have a lot of people in your life born in April. It is a great month.
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Hahaha yes, I always say I am changing my birthday to August because mine comes last, and everyone is birthdayed out hahaha
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That’s a great plan. It is still in a month that starts with the letter A so it’s not too far off. Sometimes I feel for my daughter since her birthday is a couple weeks before Christmas. I had to make sure her birthday gifts weren’t wrapped in Christmas paper so I bought extra rolls in case that would happen. We tried to make sure it was still a birthday celebration.
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Awwww what a sweet idea :):) I know she appreciates it.
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How wonderful! I’m a bit of a tomboy myself and rarely wear anything except my wedding ring. I’m sure my granddaughter will enjoy looking through my treasures one day and will probably ask her mom why I even owned jewelry since I rarely wear it, lol.
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So funny that us tomboys all love pretty things but we feel the most comfortable playing in the dirt and nature.
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Hee hee. I believe you’re right about that.
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What a wonderful, vivid and colorful post ! And the photos of your family…..just great !
Loved every word and every pic!
Have a great weekend 🙂 !!
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Thank you. I have quite the collection of old family photos. Hope you are also all enjoying your weekend as well.
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You have put this together so well – especially with the photographs in between. I too wear little other than my wedding ring and what little jewellery I have remains in pretty box for the next generation to poke through 🙂
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Thank you, isn’t that fun?, going through old jewelry from the past. I love all the different designs out there. I also love going through old photographs too.
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Your grandma is so beautiful and so does her collection of jewelry. Nowadays, you can not find those vintage design anymore.
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Thank you, and you are right about it getting harder to find these old pieces. It really is like finding a treasure when you come across one at a yard sale or second shop.
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Agree! it is a treasure
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Wow! Love the collection of jewelry. Thank you for sharing such an amazing post 😊
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Thank you. My favorite is the bubble bee and the little green flower.
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Yay! Glad to know that.
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Love the beautiful jewellery collection❤️
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Thank you.
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