I don’t have any embroidery ready to show, so I bring you another crafty project. I made this wall display when Vlad and I moved into our apartment out of a letterpress drawer that I picked up at a flea market, pretty bits of paper I had saved over the years, and a bunch of doohickeys.
I’m a bit of a packrat. I think it stems from my family moving around so much as a kid, but I put a lot of sentimental value in physical objects. They are memory touchstones for different times in my life and places I’ve visited. Most of these doohickeys are stored away in boxes and drawers, and this project was a way to put them out where I can see them.
Much of the paper comes from my time studying abroad in Florence, plus wrapping or tissue paper from various gifts. Many of the items are bits of jewelry I’ve owned, some bought in a market and some plundered from my grandmother’s stores. All of them have a story, though some I have forgotten. There’s an old subway token I found in the windowsill of a new apartment, elephant figurines from Thailand and India, a tag from my great-great-grandfather’s car dealership, tiny bottles from an Austin antique store, a cracked marble I found on a dusty Chennai street, and keys that have long since lost their locks.
These items make me feel at home. I have many more boxes of doohickeys stored away that I’ve carted from tiny New York City apartment to tiny New York City apartment. Hopefully they will make it out into other projects like this one, but probably not before we have a place with a bit more wall space.