I have just a few things that belonged to my grandparents on my mother's side. They had 18 children and 40+ grandchildren, so their possessions were stretched a bit thin when they died. That's why I feel really blessed to have things from them that mean a lot to me.

First, I have my grandmother's sewing machine. She sewed blankets and stuffed animals for all of her grandchildren. Every year at Christmas she would send everyone a box full of handmade goodies. When I was in elementary school and obsessed with dinosaurs she sent me a 3 foot long stuffed green brontosaurus.

I've been using it to sew a few things for the wedding. I've made my reception headband on that machine as well as part of my getaway outfit, and all of these things inherit Grandma Power. I'm hoping that her power is to convey long, happy marriages and not child production, although she was a champ at the latter.

Some headbands (inspired by Jennifer Behr) from my magic Kenmore sewing machine:


The second thing I have from my grandparents is a plastic Virgin Mary statue. You see, they were really, really Catholic (as if the number of children didn't give that away), and the plastic statue stood on their staircase landing for as long I as I can remember. When my grandfather died my family had a special ceremony and bestowed it on my aunt Cathy, the oldest of the 18 offspring. Eventually, it was passed along to me and I had to whisk it away before my other relatives found out and challenged me for it. It's cheesy, but I love my Blessed Virgin Mary and she stands at the top of my steps.

She'll also be standing on the altar at the ceremony as a tribute to my grandparents.

The lady herself:

Labels: sewing, wedding

posted by Alison 7/02/2007 12:59:00 PM : (0) comments : splink