| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| napafarmhouse1885 |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 1:51:06 PM
what do you do when you are given a gift..something for your home or clothing..and it is just not your style? do you keep and use it..keep and store it..give it away..what? i wrote a story about this on my blog www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com please check it out and let me know what you do..either here or in the blog comments section.
best,
napafarmhouse1885
www.napafarmhouse1885.com
please visit my blog
www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com
"Whatever you can do or dream, begin it"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| elphie0503 |
Posted - Apr 30 2008 : 2:50:46 PM
LOL Heather!
The sister plaque has a cute quote: "I smile because you are my sister, I laugh because there's nothing you can do about it." That isn't the problem...the problem is that it came out during Easter a couple of years ago, and is supposed to look like a robins egg..blue with speckles. (b/c I am a bird fanatic!). That is a great idea too, save for the blue is more like tacky grey and the speckles look like the plaque was dipped in glue then run through cat litter. It hides in the attic, and I know that I hear it every now and then moving around.....
....it is probably planning a coup.
Dirt under my nails and weeds in my hair...don't tell me I can't dress up with flair! |
| catscharm74 |
Posted - Apr 30 2008 : 12:33:18 PM
I must tell you about a family "heirloom" that had the truth come to light one day just a few years ago...
My mother is a packrat and still has a lot of my Nanna's stuff in her house. One thing is particular is some pretty dishes. Yes, they are old and nice but I never liked them though she has tried to pawn them off on my several times with the story that they are so precious and valuable heirlooms of the family, etc, etc, etc... That this was her dishes when she got married, handpicked by her, etc, etc, etc....
Come to find out, they were the NEIGHBORS dishes that my great grandmother picked out of their trash pile in their back yard. Seems the neighbors came into some $$$$ and "re-did" the house, throwing out their junky stuff into the heap in the back yard. Seems Grandmother Chapman hopped the fence and picked them off of the pile. She always admired the dishes and thought it was a sin to throw out. So the precious heirloom are garbage pile dived goodies. HMPH!!!!
Cheers,
Heather
FARMGIRL #90 |
| napafarmhouse1885 |
Posted - Apr 28 2008 : 08:59:12 AM
samatha..your sister plaque comment still has me laughing! i can only imagine what it is..the imagination makes it even funnier...
best,
napafarmhouse1885
www.napafarmhouse1885.com
please visit my blog
www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com
"Whatever you can do or dream, begin it"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| Linder |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 7:35:42 PM
I LOVE THE FLYLADY! She saved my life.
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom" |
| napafarmhouse1885 |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 2:37:42 PM
i love heather's practice of sending a note of good thoughts along with the items she is selling/donating. how cool is that?
best,
napafarmhouse1885
www.napafarmhouse1885.com
please visit my blog
www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com
"Whatever you can do or dream, begin it"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| elphie0503 |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 11:43:13 AM
It really depends on what the gift is...can it be refashioned? When I graduated high school (oh so many years ago), my mother bought me a set of dishes and silver for my new place. They were the UGLIEST sets...omg...but I took the dishes and broke them for mosaics and the silver became a wind chime. She is just too contemporary for my tastes. Go figure!!! I have also seen a girlfriend take a set of chair cushions her husband bought her and turned them into rag dolls for the local ER...it was such a hit with the kids that we've kept it going by doing more dolls and even teddies!
...but I do have a "Sister is" plaque that I have yet to figure out what to do with...oh it's bad....
Dirt under my nails and weeds in my hair...don't tell me I can't dress up with flair! |
| nubidane |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 11:32:13 AM
The Flylady (organizational website) says "If you don't love it or need it...Fling It" |
| electricdunce |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 09:42:57 AM
Maybe you could donate the doll collection to an auction for a favorite charity, or your public television station? Someone who would really love it could get it, and the money would go to a good cause. Once something is given to you, it is yours to do with as you like, though I know that can be touchy in some families. I am so overloaded with family "things", collections of books, etc. I try to spread them around to whomever I think might appreciate them. Karin
Farmgirl Sister #153
"Give me shelter from the storm" - Bob Dylan
http://moodranch.blogspot.com
http://domesticnonsense.etsy.com |
| Linder |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 06:56:22 AM
This is always a touchy subject.
I have gotten very honest with my family/friends and told them how much I love the thought BUT the item isn't something I would wear, use etc.. With very few exceptions they have given me a receipt so I can exchange the gift and when I do exchange it I make sure to tell them what I got and thank them for their generosity.
A friend pointied out to me once that gifts should be given unconditionally and after I recieve it, it is up to me to decide what I'm going to do with it.
Heirlooms are a little different. I hold onto them until I find a place for them or a person in my family that will enjoy the item. If I'm undecided I tuck it away. I'd hate to regret losing an heirloom to a hasty decision.
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom" |
| Ronna |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 10:09:05 PM
Jonni...aren't you glad you didn't pass them on! I have the last pair of pillow cases my stepdads mother embroidered and gave mother. Never used, still never used. she did the most beautiful work, was very hard to tell the front from the back until you saw the inside seam on the fabric. Those things are just so precious. That's why I feel like I'm rescuing the linens I buy at thrift shops, so often never used. Someone lovingly made them and their heirs didn't even want to keep them. |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 8:28:46 PM
When I married my first husband (who's LONG gone), my grandmother threw me a little bridal shower up in Grove City, Ohio, where all my mother's family lives. She invited all the sweet old gals who had watched me grow up....and I got a number of things that I had never thought of let alone wanted. One of these items were two hand embroidered linen guest towels, done in patterns from the 1940's (a little scotty on a fancy lead with a gal in heels, and a little blond mermaid swimming among bright fish and bubbles and shells). I put them up and promptly forgot about them until about 10 years ago, after the marriage had failed and I was going through belongings to give to Goodwill--I found them and realized that my tastes had changed--and I loved them dearly. I can't bring myself to use them, as they are still pressed the way Mrs. Guttmer starched and ironed them before she gave them to me...I'm so glad that I still have them, as they mean a great deal to me now :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
| Ronna |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 7:33:40 PM
My mother had truly tacky taste and would buy me stuff she "just knew" I would love and could hardly stand to even look at. She traveled the world and I finally asked her to bring me a fridge magnet as a memento instead of the bargain basement crappy Tshirt that was only good for a rag once it was washed. After I divorced, she asked about several things she'd bought over the years and I told her he wanted them so badly it wasn't worth fighting over. When I started buying her clothes, she said she'd never had so many nice clothes and I told her it was cause I was choosing them for her. No more huge prints paired with stripes :)
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| catscharm74 |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 6:58:50 PM
Diane- when I pass something on, whether I sell it or donate it, I like to send a little good thought with it, with hope it brings the new "owner" happiness. It makes me feel a little better about it!!!
Cheers,
Heather
FARMGIRL #90 |
| napafarmhouse1885 |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 6:52:42 PM
cynthia, thanks so much for checking out my blog..and your comments here and on the blog..mose gets all the compliments in my family  heather, i love your description of your style
"I want a simple beachhouse meets farmgirl style without clutter.", i like really simple and clean..but comfortable and beautiful too. we all seem to be in agreement that giving to someone who will enjoy it..either regifting or donating is a good thing..but i, like amie, have a really tough time with the family stuff.
other farmgirls..what do you think? what do you do?
best,
napafarmhouse1885
www.napafarmhouse1885.com
please visit my blog
www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com
"Whatever you can do or dream, begin it"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
| Amie C. |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 5:51:38 PM
I tend to re-gift or send to the thrift store. I'm leery about selling at a yard sale because I live quite close to my relatives, and I'm afraid I would forget where the item came from and get caught. But on the other hand, there are all kinds of little trinkets that have come to me from older family members and have sentimental value. I don't want to get rid of them, but I can't make them a prominent part of my life either. So I tend to store them away out of sight in drawers and boxes. They do take up a lot of space, but I'm not ready to cut those ties.
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| willowtreecreek |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 5:28:28 PM
ReGift!!!!! Its environmentally friendly and very trendy!
Farmgirl Sister #17
Blog
www.willowtreecreek.wordpress.com
Felt and Fabric Crafts
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com
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| catscharm74 |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 2:25:18 PM
I just went through this with some stuff that belonged to my now gone relatives. It is nice stuff, not my style, I offered it back to my mom (whole 'nother story). Ultimately, I sold it all at a yardsale.
Now, I like a very simple life including a house that is very simple in decor and I admit, I am very particular. I want a simple beachhouse meets farmgirl style without clutter.
I swear, once I really decorated my home in my style, I was much more relaxed.
Cheers,
Heather
FARMGIRL #90 |
| sunshine78 |
Posted - Apr 26 2008 : 2:17:42 PM
Diane,
I usually hold on to it for a bit. I might change my mind after awhile and really like it. If the object turns out to be a dud, I would regift if and only if that person would actually like it and the original gifter would never find out. I hate it when people regift something just to be giving-not taking in to account what the person receiving the gift would like. Or I more often than not sell it on a garage sale or donate it. I just live in too small a house to have stuff that I don't use, let alone don't like. Just my two cents. Nice blog by the way! Have a great Saturday.
Cynthia
www.vintageprairie.blogspot.com |
