Jill Prouty

Are you hanging on to meaningful objects such as old letters or photos, costume jewelry, fabric pieces, and the like? Things that have no real purpose anymore, but you can’t bear to throw them away because of the memories attached to them? It’s time to pull those treasured objects out and think about ways of repurposing them for use in the present. A great resource for ideas is a wonderful book by Allison Gilbert, Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive. On the right is what Gilbert calls a memory magnet. I made it using a copy of an old photo (never use an original) of my grandparents and a 3 x 3 clear epoxy sticker square. So simple! The hardest part was cutting the photo to size. I keep the magnet on a file cabinet in my office at work and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

I have a friend who hired a local jewelry maker to create a necklace for her incorporating old pins and mismatched earrings from various family members who had passed. The result was a one-of-a-kind conversation piece that she wears often.

What objects have you been hanging onto that have meaning?