US Flag Erasers and Cocktail Mermaid Ornaments: The Destiny of Things, Story 216

US Flag Erasers and Cocktail Mermaid Ornaments:  The Destiny of Things, Story 216

I'm not the only one who loves little trinkets from my childhood!

photo via The Destiny of Things

more US flag erasers available here and other patriotic trinkets here

I was fortunate enough to meet someone who is the opposite of a hoarder, yet loves childhood trinkets too!  

And left me this email about it:

Hi, Kennedy--

I read your mission statement regarding hoarder rehab and I thought I'd share why I purchased the items I did (flag erasers and little plastic mermaids). The short answer is I had erasers very similar to (if not identical) these as a kid (I got them at a 4th of July carnival during the Bicentennial), and the mermaids remind me of the little creatures my late grandfather would get in his afternoon cocktails, save, and bring home to me.

Now, here's the long answer. For most of my life I was sort of the opposite of a hoarder--I purged stuff. With the exception of my childhood Breyer horse collection I kept nothing. I thought nothing of giving things away, tossing them out, moving on. Cousins got old toys, broken things went in the trash, etc.

Then, in 2001, my son was born. In 2003, he was diagnosed with autism. One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mother telling me about "when (she) was a little girl". Suddenly I longed for just a few things from my past to show my son...to say, "This was one of Mommy's favorites," or "I played with this for hours". Over the years I've acquired a small collection of things--two photoboxes filled with trinkets and small toys. Basically, the boxes are like my girlhood junk drawer. I can dump one out with my son and talk to him. I can tell him the story behind each item he picks up. It's an activity we both enjoy.

Karen

 Breyer horse collection via google images

I have an overload of childhood collections but I didn't even know about Breyer horses until today!

How cool is that?  So much cool stuff going on in her email from remembering a US flag eraser during a Bicentennial carnival to making a girlhood junk drawer!  Makes me wonder what things would be inside my mom's childhood junk drawer and my father's and even my grandparents!  

I have my own little junk drawer type collections of things they've given me growing up and little things that belonged to them, but what a great idea to make one to share and connect with others, like Karen has with her son!  All the little loved comments and stories that come from just picking up on of the items that catches one's eye that day!  All the old memories mixing together to make new ones.

Who doesn't remember and love their junk drawer?  I remember our family junk drawer.  Not only was it communal, but it was activity to explore.  We could go in there any time and either add to it or take from it, no questions asked.  

Now that I think about it we even had a huge cardboard box in the garage that was like the junk drawer in the house, but it held all kinds of old clothes from my parents high school days, my dad's stuff from his army days, old farm tools and old rusted out gadgets we could never figure out.

photo via The Destiny of Things

mermaid drink charms available here

These little drink mermaids seem to evoke a lot of childhood memories for so many others besides myself.  I remember coveting having one in every color and taking it everywhere as my little pocket friend until her arms broke off. 

I'm not sure what kind of magic these mermaid posses, but I remember them being the most beautiful things in the world!  What do they bring for you?

photo via The Destiny of Things

more US flag erasers available here and other patriotic trinkets here

Saying Goodbye:  I do love my trinkets!  However, I do think it would be quite meaningful and symbolic for me to make junk drawer boxes from my grandparents things as an art project.  I wonder what kind of stories they would tell?

What things would be in your childhood junk drawer to share with your children?  I would definitely need a limit of how much my childhood junk drawer could hold because it's already a reality of overflow!  But what would be in my grandparents childhood junk drawer sounds like fun speculation and I could actually have my parents make one for me! Hmmmm.....

What I Learned:

1.  There are so many kind people out there willing to help a stranger and it's so exciting to find out how their story is going to help me with mine!

2.  I wonder when I get down to the nitty gritty of my hoard what will actually be left and will those things be the most important to me... because right now, almost everything still seems important to me!  Perhaps taking the time and making a little trinket junk drawer box that my grandparents would have had and made for me will help me in ways I can't see just yet.

The mysterious box Amelie finds in her apartment and she makes it her mission to return it to the owner,

thus begins the chain reaction of changing, not only this stranger's life, but many others, including her own. 

Watch the movie, Amelie and see what memories the stranger beholds from trinkets.

photo via madovermad

Thank you Karen for taking the time to read my Etsy profile from The Destiny of Things and writing me an email to start a different kind of chain reaction in a stranger's life!

Thank you Etsy for the many wonderful connections and thoughtful insight that has brought me change and a different kind of happiness.

Thank you US, Russia, China, Germany, Spain, France, Ukraine, India, Turkey, Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands and many other countries for showing your support towards my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

My GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and two have been met at The Destiny of Things and Hoarder Rehab, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week until all 4 shops have at least 176 items each!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 181 items ,  The Destiny of Things-194 items , VintageToGoEasy - 173 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 159 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

 

 Originally entitled Yankee Doodle, this is one of several versions of a scene painted by A. M. Willard that came to be known as The Spirit of '76.  A familiar symbol of American patriotism

 

In Memory and Thanks to all those who have made our Independence and our Freedoms possible!  Enjoy a safe Fourth of July holiday weekend!