What does the word "hopechest" put you in mind of? For me it conjures up images of pretty young women making and gathering things to put aside for their future home, weaving dreams into the pillowcases they are embroidering, whispering prayers with each stitch in the lovely quilt that they hope to someday keep their family warm with. It really is a chest filled with hopes. I find it interesting that it is called a "hope-chest". I do not know for certain if it will be God's will for me to get married, but I still hope to, and am working towards that goal. So, for awhile I have wanted to do a post about mine. Ever since seeing Meredith's post on hers. Now, since I am only 17 I don't have such a nice store put away, but I have a few things worth taking pictures of :)
Okay. My style is a bit interesting, because I can't exactly pinpoint it. I'd say it's a mixture of New England cottage style, Victorian Country, and English cottage. For example, I want to have old wood floors, quilts, antique-looking furniture, a cast iron stove, etc., but I'd love to have a dolled up Victorian parlor. Outside I'd like a big, wide, porch, a bloomy orchard, an herb garden, and a cottage garden. Whatever. I'm sure it will be lovely. :) So here we go with the pictures from my hopechest that our camera was very obedient in taking!
So this is a picture of an assortment of pans I have. A few mini bundt pans, a big bundt pan, and a couple little bear pans.
This is a really neat shortbread pan I got for my 13 birthday. You press the dough into the pan and then bake it. When it is finished you turn it out and the design is raised on the top! :)
This is an assortment of things for my kitchen: a set of iced tea glasses I bought this summer, two potholders that I made out of material someone gave me, a couple of china plates I got for my 13th birthday, some candymaking supplies, and a couple of stainless steel bowls.
These are some books I've collected and enjoyed. My favorite illustrators are Tasha Tudor and Beatrix Potter, and I also love Ernest H. Shepherd. (He did the Winnie the Pooh books)I have collected these in hopes to share them with my children some day!
Another passion of mine is antique books! Here are several I have collected. Sarah actually has made me envious by posessing a really old copy of Jo's Boys, and Eight Cousins by L.M. Alcott! I love old things!
Here are my aprons. I hope to collect more! An apron is a uniform for a mother! The pink and white one I was given for my 13th birthday, the blue plaid one I made by hand so I don't expect it to live through a single washing! :) My Grandmama gave me the white one for Christmas last year, and I made the green one out of material left over from an apron I made Katie for her birthday!
So this is my leaning tower of Pisa stack of dishcloths. Some I have crocheted, some others knit or crocheted for me. I have 21 I believe. Now, some girls try to get everything in their kitchen coordinated, but I just think that no one is going to be prowling around my sink trying to see if my dishcloths match my curtains! Then there are two hot pads that Maryanna made for me, two baby bibs I made, (they are only lacking velcro to make them finished!) a baby doll quilt I made, and a pillowcase I made. (Also out of hand-me-down material. I crocheted the lace for the edging).
The first of these is a really old hand-embroidered handkerchief. The woman who gave it to me said it was her great-grandmother's, and she is in her 50's so figure that out! Then the second was my Christmas gift from The King's Daughter. She tatted the lace to go around the edge! The third is a handtowel that I painstakingly embroidered all across the bottom. It was a thorn in my flesh for over a year, and I finally plucked up enough courage to finish it this spring. Needless to say it will see more service in being decorous than in being used!
And here are just a few of the many issues of "The Girls' Gazette" that we have published ;) since around 2004! I treasure these things and cannot wait to show them to my daughters!
There is a funny story about my initials that Dad carved on the top of my hopechest. Ask me sometime and I'll tell you about it! So that is the majority of what I have in there! There are some dolls, sketchbooks, old letters, journals, and a china cabinet full of china, along with various and sundry things like a poem I wrote for my husband to read on our wedding day, a dialog I made up for Sarah and I, my first jewelry box to give to my daughter, etc. Well, as you can see, there is still much to collect for my future home, but I love what I have so far!
