Passing on a Keepsake

In previous posts I’ve talked about how I actually use some of my heirlooms or in other cases I wasn’t sure what to do with my heirloom.

Today I want to talk about another way to use an heirloom or a keepsake. I recently found a favorite childhood necklace of mine. You can tell it’s been well loved from the stains and fraying of the ribbon.

Again this is not something that has monetary value, it just has sentimental value to me. I loved ballet as I child. I read every ballet book in my elementary school library. I watched ballet as often as it was on the local PBS station, mostly The Nutcracker at Christmas.

I dreamed of being a prima ballerina, but sadly lessons were never available in my small community. But somehow this necklace always made me feel special. I don’t remember where the necklace came from - the store, who gave it to me, or if it was given to me on a special occasion. But I remember the feeling it gave me every time I wore it - like my dreams were still possible.

My twin daughters are starting to develop an interest in dance and ballerinas in particular. So with this keepsake I’m going to take it apart and make three separate necklaces. One for each of my daughters and one for me. I'm going to be given it to them on their birthday. I'm sure they won't grasp the true specialness of these necklaces this birthday (they'll be four), but hopefully years down the road they will understand.

And I hope the necklaces makes them feel just as special as it made me feel all those years ago.

Things that Endanger Your Treasures

When people find out my degree is in Museum Studies and I work at a museum, I’m constantly being asked questions like: “What things do I need to look out for in order to protect my keepsakes?” “What’s the worst thing that could happen to my great-grandmother’s wedding dress?” “So my photos are just thrown into a cardboard box, that’s probably not the best thing, right” “I could never afford to properly store my grandfather’s Bible, could I?” The majority of my answers revolve around four things that can endanger your treasures so, I’ve created a little guide on those things and solutions you can start implementing today to help mitigate them. I’ve made it in a worksheet form to really help you think through changes you might need to make. But I also wanted to share a fifth thing for you to be aware of just in this blog post and that’s how materials can interact with each other. The more complex an object is as far as the materials that it is made up of the more complex it c...

It’s Ok to Use It

I’m often asked, “But what should I DO with my family heirloom?” My response is always, “What do you want to do with it?” At this point people are often taken aback. I think they assume I’m going to tell them to lock it away in storage and never use it again for fear of breaking or damaging it. In some cases, that may be what might be best for the object. You have to consider the condition its in and what your goals are for it. If it is a book in poor condition, but you are hoping your great-grandchildren will get to see it. Then, yes, probably the best thing to do is stabilize it and store it, taking it out occasionally to check on the condition, but to try to manipulate it as little as possible. Other objects don’t necessarily need to be treated so delicately. For instance, something I chose that belonged to my maternal grandmother was soup bowls. There were only two of them and they aren’t valuable. They're Anchor Hocking from the 1970s. They were her everyday dish...

Go to an Educational Technology Conference

I recently got to go to the Educators' Technology Conference . It was actually organized by teachers for teachers so some people wonder why I went. Well in my opinion it is important for museum professionals who are planning on using technology in their museum to know what technology is being used in schools so you know if what you are creating is compatible. It was very enlightening. It was fabulous, but not surprising, to learn that teachers are looking for educational content online for use in the classroom. Their looking for audio, video, worksheets, presentations, in short anything to aid them in teaching their students. The disappointing revaluation is that they often don't know where to look or they are blocked from going to the sites they know about. There was much discussion about the websites teachertube.com and schooltube.com , two fabulous sites dedicated to offering a place to find safe content for educational purposes. I was shocked to find out that many ...

Heather Marie Wells

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