The cleaning out of Garagapalooza has begun. What an arduous task and we are not nearly done. We have unboxed, unwrapped, discovered in awe, delight, disgust and bewilderment the items uncovered thus far. There were moments of "what were we thinking?" to moments that brought me to tears. There before us sits our lives past and present piled, stacked, stuffed......musty and memorable. It's been so easy all these years to just say "just put it in the garage".........after years of that and "we might use this for something" you can imagine what you can amass in one space. It's never been used for cars as it's a detached garage that sits in the backyard so it has always been part laundry area and part warehouse. The plan now is to make it part laundry room and the rest an art studio for me. Ideally having ANOTHER garage built next to it for cars and PROPER storage would be amazing but we can't afford what it would cost to have one built. So we must be mindful of how this will all work as we still need to store some things. Regardless once we've sorted everything to keep, sell, donate or toss the keep stuff will ALL have to be removed to have the interior made into a room with insulation, sheet rock and the like. This is definitely NOT an overnight project and I foresee a LONG while until it's ready for me to move my studio in to it. When you have a wee house with limited closet space or any real storage space....no basement and no real attic..........it's a chore to not get overrun.
Anyway, I thought I would share some of things we uncovered....some things I thought were long gone and some I had completely forgotten about. Prepare for lots of photos:(click to enlarge)
In a trunk were some of my old dolls from childhood....this one looks as though she was rode hard and put away wet. She didn't make the cut poor dear...her hand looks like she's reaching out "save me!" She represents those things I let go of.......
BUT I do have many things I kept...........
This was my First Communion veil. I was raised Catholic...... but that was then, enough said.
This was my Mom's wedding headpiece (1941) her veil was attached to. It's all completely beaded and not light in weight. I have her wedding dress (though VERY fragile lace, I've shown it on this blog).
I started taking dance lessons as a wee girl. This was an underdress from one of my recital costumes from about age 3 or 4.
This was another underdress for a recital costume...this one with trim at the neckline.
Though a bit smashed this was one of a few I have that was a recital costume piece. You can't tell but the large center piece is a glittered heart. My Mom made all my dance costumes...the majority of the dancing was tap. I can still remember some of the steps all these years later. Shuffle ball change. Shuffle hop step.
this was a chalk drawing done of me at, I believe, Disneyland. I am not sure how old I was. I found ones done of three of my brothers too.....
When I was very wee my Mom made some clowns.... I am not sure why. I uncovered 3 but 2 were beyond saving and so now I just have this one. NOTE the striped legs and RED shoes....so that's where I got it?? The facial features were appliqued felt and the stuffing, although probably was shredded foam, now feels like compacted saw dust. I have 2 of the outfits she made for it as well. I treasure this.
I did this drawing with rapidograph pen and watercolors for my Mom about 36 years ago. She hung it in the main bathroom on the big wall and one day it fell and the glass broke so she took out the glass and hung it up again. some of the ink got smeared but when they moved I thought it was gone......evidently I took it. It's sadly probably the only art I have from years ago.
This is an antique velvet opera coat given to me by my sister-in-law's mother for my birthday in 1974. I lived with her in Minnesota for a few months when I first went there and when she showed it to me I nearly fainted. That December she made me a lovely dinner of favorites and then brought out a huge box with a big satin ribbon...inside was the coat. To say I was shocked, excited and sobbing would be an understatement.
I actually wore it as a winter coat with my Frye boots the entire 3 years I lived in Minnesota. All these years later I thought I had lost it so was jumping for joy when we found it this past weekend.
It fits in at the waist with 5 covered buttons (only one remains but I can remedy that). It is in need of cleaning from being stored and some mending and then I need to lose a bunch of weight so I can wear it again.
The coat is lined in satin that is still in perfect condition- I just need to steam out the wrinkles
This is the back. The white you see are seams that need to be resewn. It has a hood as well. I used to wear my rustic Frye boots with it and my vintage blouses with long skirts. I have not changed in that I still like all that.
This is called a cordial set that was my parents and I THINK it's from Greece but can't say for sure. It's all hand painted and gorgeous in person. Right now I have vinegar/water inside the cups and the decanter to hopefull demust it - then will hand wash it carefully so it can be displayed properly.
(that's the problem with things being stored for years....the smell)
This is something my parents had and I don't know if my Mom bought it at an antique store or if someone gave it to her. It's very old and I have to think it was used as perhaps something that was used in some sort of ceremony that could be taken place to place. Anyone out there know?
this is the inside and it's obvious at one time it had some sort of lining. There are all sorts of various items contained within.....for starters the candle holder , a silver plate and more things below....
This is looking down....the item to the right of the cross is a bottle wrapped in a filigree.
Could it have been for a home baptism? Last Rites? I just don't know. I'd love to hear from anyone who may have an idea.
Although BohoHandyman and I are not religious folks I still like the icons and treasure a statue of Mary I have that was my Moms.
Bag 'O Bears. Years ago I used to collect them and as with many things the novelty wore off. I took out a couple that were unique and now these in the bag will be divided up to give to 2 of my great nieces...one is 2 and the other almost 2.
If you know me well you know having them enclosed in a plastic bag freaks me out and I am surprised I did it. Ok, go ahead and have a good laugh about this but it always made me feel they were being suffocated. End of laugh start calling for my mental treatment. HA!
Tea items (only a few of many) and fairies. the figurine of the 3 fairies with the pink wings is going to my 2 yr old great niece. The violet flowered set on the right is bone china with a handle and a sugar and creamer. (the wee set inside don't go with it). This violet set was something my Mom had that I coveted along with a matching china coffee/tea pot. She had it FOREVER. One year for Christmas (after I was married) she gave me the whole set for Christmas).
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OK..........if you have come this far you are probably thinking "will this post ever end?"...I can't help it, I like to share. The rest are a few photos I found and then I promise I'm done for this post.....
My Prom Night - 1972
Not your typical prom dress, eh? It was an antique I bought at a store in Berkeley that was called Napoleon and Josephines. My shoes were blue suede wedges. Oh and could my eyebrows be any thicker- yikes- Groucho Marx! I blocked out my dates face just for posting purposes.. He was a year behind me in school so the next year we went to his prom....
This time we went a whole other direction. He in tails and I made my dress from fabric that looked like a photo of leaves on a forest floor. My shoes were black platforms. As you can tell I've always been a bit different.
This guy was my first real love(thought we'd marry) and he ended up profoundly breaking my heart. It took me moving to Minnesota (to get away) and 3 years to get over him. BUT I met BohoHandyman in the process and the rest, as they say, is history. Sometimes there is a reason things happen that we aren't aware of while they're happening.
I came across this photo taken by my friend Jake in Minnesota. (I have no clue why my eyes look like that). Anyway, in another box of things what did I discover but the necklace I was wearing in this photo. (I hung it over the pic so you could see it). It wasn't really a necklace but a sea shell and a leather thong I tied around my neck...but I wore it ALL the time. Go figure!
This was also uncovered.....a photo taken of me during high school (circa '71 or '72). I'm not quite sure who took it or who I am looking up at. What you can't see is the necklace I was wearing.....yet again not a true necklace....it was the ring from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk carousel I strung on a piece of leather.
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OH MY.....this has turned in to an episode of "this is my life" I'm afraid. Sorry can't help it and probably won't be the last of these as I uncover more things. Aren't you thrilled?
just a couple things I forgot to show:
we bought this at a flea market, it's been wired to work now but the bells are LOUD. we used to have it in the kitchen but I think I may put it in my eventual new studio space.
I can't imagine where I got all this but it's stuffed with lace and other types of trim. Some I may actually use and some may be part of a giveaway here on this blog in the future.
The trunk on the left is big and was BohoHandyman's great aunts. It didn't come from overseas but it's been around a long time. The trunk on the right is standing on one end, it's low and quite old. (we bought it somewhere but can't recall where). Both are great for storing things.
I MUST STOP!!!
If you stayed with this post to this point I am amazed and grateful....YOU are precisely the reason I blog in the first place. Thank you! I heart you all!
Have a wonderful week....see you soon!
Love,
Lisa
P.S. I couldn't leave out something of BohoHandyman's, he doesn't have much but year books and some photos. His sister found this at his parent's old house and sent it to him.....
His beloved Roy Rogers outfit... now how sweet is that?
Bye for now!
P.S.S.
items ready for a yard sale....so far...wanna come?
