One of my few memories of home when I was a toddler is the hallway closet.
In fact, it is one of my fondest memories of that home. Was it a spectacular closet? No, in fact, if my memory is right, it was plain, narrow, and probably disorganized. But exciting, unique things emerged from it.
In my mind are vague images of large adult hands reaching up into that closet to pull out non-everyday items, like a strange hat that my dad wore on rare rainy days.
Or my mom’s umbrella; which wasn’t just an umbrella, by the way. It was a trendy, late 60′s paisley-patterned umbrella that I associate with her sexy lace-up black go-go boots. Because this was Arizona, that umbrella rarely came out. And half the time it did was for indoor play.
I also remember gum. Gum came from that hall closet. Gum-balls in rectangular-shaped white boxes that came down from the left side of that high closet shelf, which we could only have after we’d brushed our teeth…
And that’s the funny part. I have no idea if these vague memories are even real! Gum in the hall closet? We could have it only after brushing our teeth?
Real or not, those memories of that mysterious and exciting closet-of-plenty takes me back to a warm, safe, three-year-old’s kind of place.
What is your happy spot at home?
Is there one little place you feel is yours? A spot that makes you smile when you get to use it?
My spot is my Coffee & Tea Station. Yep, that is what I call it.
When we moved into this house four years ago I gave my favorite drinks, and all that it takes to make them, a place of their own. I don’t have to move from one side of the kitchen to the other to get what I need for a cup of coffee. Everything is right there within reach, including my milk, which is in the fridge to the left of the Senseo coffee machine.
This Coffee Station is the shrine I dedicated to myself and my few moments of peace.
What might be your kids’ happy spot?
After deciding to dedicate a scrapbook page toward my Coffee & Tea Station, and reminiscing on the happy hall closet of my childhood, it occurred to me that my own kids might associate our game cabinet as their doorway to treasures of fun and family memories.
So I had to make a page for them, too. These layouts will go into my This Is Home album.
What are the places in your home to which your children may someday look back with a smile? How about making it easier for them to remember by immortalizing it in your scrapbook?
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My Tea & Coffee Station
An 8.5 x 11 layout
Journaling reads: Opening the cupboard doors to choose a coffee cup is just like opening the closet to pick the day’s outfit. I make an assessment of my mood to determine which cup or outfit “feels right.” And then I sit down for my quiet time.
Products used: Cardstock (Stampin’ Up); Patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye, Dream Street Papers); Gaffer tape-ruler (7 Gypsies); Sticker (Creative Imaginations); Letter stickers (Creative Memories, Scenic Route Paper Co.); Pen (American Craft).
Our Game Cabinet
A 12 x 12 layout
Products used: Cardstock (Creative Memories); Patterned paper (Rhonna Farrer for Autumn Leaves); Embellishment-”World Of Play” (My Mind’s Eye); Letter stickers (Creative Memories, EZ Success, All My Memories); Pen (American Crafts).
