A Treasure Chest

Every few years we open up our cedar chest. It holds many treasures.

The cedar chest in our living room.

We use the beautiful cedar chest my father gave to my mother (when they got married in 1947) as a TV stand. The price tag is still insideā€¦$54.95. Also, inside is a moth insurance policy!

The price tag inside the cedar chest.
The moth insurance policy!

The cedar chest works well as a TV stand, but with the TV on top it is not conducive to getting inside. We need to move the TV and other paraphernalia in order to open it up.

A look inside the cedar chest. It still smells good.

The last time we looked inside was in 2016 and I blogged about it then. Recently we opened up this treasure chest and here a some of the treasures:

This is a baby quilt made for me by my aunts and cousins, when I was pregnant for the first time. it is precious and I put it back into the cedar chest.
This is my Brownie uniform. I gave it to a thrift store.
This is my candy striper uniform, complete with a cap! I was a candy striper at the University of MN hospital. I gave it to a thrift shop.
This baptism gown was used by me and my brother. My mother and her sister’s was also in the cedar chest but in very bad condition. I had to throw it away. I’ll keep this gown until the next time.
My baby shoes. I tossed them.
This “shawl” my mother knitted. It does have arms and an angora collar. I liked it. I saved it for the grandchildren to play dress-up.
These bags I made for my boys, and then stenciled them. They used them to carry their “stuff” around.
A pillow cover I made from a Norwegian stitchery kit. I sent it on to the thrift store.

This is one of my favorite dresses I sewed in high school. I put it back in the cedar chest.
This is another dress I sewed after high school. It was hard to get the whole dress in the picture. I kept the dress.

There were other items not pictured…an old Christmas stocking, a purse, some glass cat figurines I remember buying as a souvenir on one of my family road trips. It was fun going through these treasures that took me down memory lane.

I do have a story about an afghan I pulled from the cedar chest that I will share soon.

13 thoughts on “A Treasure Chest”

  1. Such great treasures Valerie!! The chest is in such incredible shape; shows how precious it is to you!! Thank you for sharing!šŸ„°

    1. Thanks Mary Jane. It is in very good condition.
      I remember at one point thinking of “decoupaging” the top. I’m so glad I didn’t!

  2. What treasures you found inside that beautiful cedar chest, which is a lovely work of art. I’m glad you kept some items that are especially meaningful to you.

    I just mentioned to Randy last evening that I need to look inside the cedar chest (one purchased at a garage sale) for my Mickey Mouse jack-in-the-box. The grandkids are big time into Mickey and Minnie Mouse. My toy, however, is broken, so they can only look and not play. Won’t they be surprised when they see Grandma once played with a Mickey themed toy.

    1. You’re right. The cedar chest is a lovely piece of art.

      It’s great you have the Micky Mouse jack-in-the-box for the kids to see, and think of grandma playing with it!

    2. I think I have 2 rooms and a couple closets full of memorabilia that I should discard !
      Now Eldy is refinishing the top of a chip carved ( Norsk ) 4 drawer chest that contains table cloths of a variety of colors and sizes among other things. I will see if a church can use the tablecloths.

      1. Yes, I think you may have more to get rid of than me – tee hee – but you have bought in threes I believe.

  4. I don’t think I could have gotten rid of some of those things you gave to the thrift store. Precious memories! Fun to see some of yours.

  5. Our lives are so full of history, and we often forget as we live our busy lives. Dipping into one’s cedar chest is a reminder of one’s history and the abundance of living that is your personal story. Such a lovely walk down memory lane for you. I so enjoyed seeing your sewing endeavors! And a candy striper! What fun! Again, thanks for sharing!

    1. You are right…remembering our history is important…no matter what our history involves, it has made us who we are today.

  6. What wonderful treasures you went through. I had a few things like
    the high chair my sisters and I had as babies and my son and daughter used it as well. It was taking up so much room that I took a picture of
    it as well as some other treasures and sold them or donated to a charity drive. It must have been like going back in time to revisit
    your precious items.

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