Remembering Grandma

When my mother was active in her little country church, she NEVER left home without a pretty, soft ladies' handkerchief in her pocket or in her Sunday purse! So, ... when she passed away, my sister and I could not throw those memories away. I took a bag of them home, washed them carefully and ironed them flat.

I bought picture frames from garage sales and decided which hankies I wanted to frame together. This one was my favorite, and I got to choose FIRST!

The first step was washing them (although they had never been put away dirty even if Mama had moistened one with spit and wiped chocolate off one of our faces.)

Next, I ironed them flat and began folding them into designs where the flowers would generally be displayed in the "growing"/upright direction! This was the most time-consuming step.

In a few cases, I had to cut out some of the bulk in order to get the frames to close. Cutting, though not ideal, was ok because I never expect them to come out of the frames. If the folding dimmed the white, I stuck a piece of thin, white cardboard under the top layer in order to keep it white.

I made one for each of her children and grandchildren, a tiny bit of art and a gentle tribute to what a lady she was.

When people saw what I had made, I was able to make some for gifts for others in our neighborhood with their own mementoes.

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/14153513/remembering-grandma site