I love old things. I love old family things. I want to preserve them, but I want to be able to display them, too. I do a lot of scrapbooking, but some things just don’t go in a scrapbook either because they are too bulky or because I end up with several pictures of the same thing and it would be a bit redundant.

When I saw a simple, cheap, black recipe box at Goodwill I snatched it up. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but it called out to me. So I brought it home. I repainted it right off the bat, but then set it aside, waiting. Finally inspiration struck. I Modgepodged some old pictures and paper scraps on the inside. Then I hot glued some of my great grandmother’s faux pearls, added some mementos and a bundle of old photographs. I added an old earring of great-grandma’s to the outside and here ya go:

Memento Box

Inside of the box

Lester and Nancy Haas

Bottom of Memento Box - Great Grandparents and My Mom

More about the pictures: Lester and Nancy are my maternal grandparents. This picture was taken during their first year of marriage. Grandpa was in the Army and he and Grandma lived in one of those Silver Bullet-type trailers. Grandma said there was very little space, but they had “dinner” parties anyway and had the best times in that little trailer! Think of that the next time you want to say, “Oh my house is too small to host anything”.

My great-grandparents, John and Stella, where Grandma Nancy’s parents. They were a lovely couple. Great-Grandma was every inch a lady and was everything I want to be.

The last picture is my mom’s baby picture. I think she was a beautiful baby.

Along with the packet of pictures, I have a butterfly pin that was my great-grandmother’s, an Indian-Head nickle (my grandfather had a collection of those), a wax stamp that had belonged to my mother, and two wooden hearts that say ‘Ben’ and ‘Jenn’ on them (from when we were first married). I’m sure I’ll find more to add!