Alpay and I love to collect things we find in nature: small shells and stones, interesting twigs, sea glass. Most often, the collection lasts a season and then I "retire" it back from whence it came, although occasionally I've kept some things for scrapbooking purposes. There is, however, a small cache of favorites that have outlasted the season in which they were found. What to do with such small bits and pieces of things that don't have a ready home?
Recently I thought of the jewelry box my sister had growing up. My sister had covered it in wallpaper, I think--although it may have been contact or wrapping paper--and it was a glory to behold: gold-and-cream on the outside, it had a multi-layered interior holding all kinds of pretty, shining, special things. When I was 8, I fell off my bike and had to get stitches. This was still in the day of house calls, and while we waited for the pediatrician to arrive, my sister went to her room and came back with the wonderful box, which she let me hold. While it took about ten years for the scar to fade, I'll always remember that box, and the anticipation of opening it up--with permission!--to gaze at the treasures inside.
I decided to make my own "treasure box" of things that make me smile. It keeps my small collection tidy, and is just something fun to open when I need a little lift.
Interior lid of my "treasure box"
