Memories...

Like many mothers who had a hospital birth, after my baby was born I kept hold of all those little bits you get.  The wrist tags they put around my wrist and my daughter's so that I went home with the right baby.  The tape measure they used to measure her length and where they'd also written her weight and birth date.  The very first clothes Myf wore.  These along with a few other pieces have been kept in a little box hidden in a bigger box along with all my photographs, Myf's school work and other mementoes from my life.

Our house has been on the market for a few years now.  When we'd finished doing all the renovations, my parents advised that a house full of mementoes and photos looks cluttered and it's more likely to sell if the people viewing it can imagine their items on the shelves and walls.  So I packed all my books away and my photos and for the last few years, aside from a couple of Myf's school photos, I haven't allowed myself to have all the photos around the house that I enjoyed before.  It's been really hard!  I'm a sentimental person who loves to see photos of my family everywhere.

Hidden away in the wardrobe in my bedroom was a large multi-photo frame that I'd used for early photos of Myf.  I only had photos from a disposable camera at the time and many of them were badly cut out and poorly mounted.  Given that I'd just finished tidying up the living room (and I'm apparently allergic to not living in clutter), I laid out some of these mementoes and photos and set about filling the frame anew.

I used a piece of colourful wrapping paper for the center-it gave a lovely background for the wrist tags and tape measure!  I then spent a while sorting through photo frames to find a few lovely photos and included Myf's most recent school photo...

I added a lock of Myf's hair from the very first time I cut it, put the frame together and hammered a nail into the wall to hang it from!

Myf is due home in an hour-I think she will love it as much as I do!  It's not too 'in your face' for people viewing the house and I think it will help me overcome my craving for some kind of visual sentiment around my home :-)

Now I have to tidy the living room again......