A little more about my love of vintage hankies

I got such great feedback about hanging the framed vintage handkerchiefs yesterday (Thanks so much for the comments! They make my day!) I thought I'd expound a bit.

I've love handkerchiefs. We played with them as kids, using them in everything from Barbies to lincoln logs. My grandma had a collection of them that my family inherited after she passed. Each one is unique and beautiful. The vibrant colors and graphic illustrations draw me in. The vintage charm hooks me.

When I was planning my wedding, we got out grandma's collection and picked out a handful of pieces that fit with my gray and pink wedding colors. We also found some delicate white lace ones. In fact, my mom blogged about my intentions to use them in this post here.

The florist used them on the bouquets--white for mine, colored for my bridesmaids. It was a functional yet beautiful way to incorporate them. And I loved using my late grandma's pieces. She was a part of our day.

My mom also sewed a new handkerchief (that I bought as a souvenir from the Portland Rose Garden on my first trip to Mike's Oregon hometown) to the ring pillow.

Fast forward a few months and I was looking for inexpensive art for our first house. After finding big square frames at IKEA (they're Ribba, I think) I knew what I wanted.  I picked out a few colorful hankies from the collection, starched and ironed them, then stuck 'em in the frames.

The smaller hankies are layered with another behind it,



...while the larger stand on their own. I didn't even cut the mattes to fit the new items, which I always say I'll do at some point (I have a matte cutter and did it for years as a college art student.) Someday.

My mom teases me good-naturedly because she still thinks of handkerchiefs as the snot rags they were when she was a kid. But to me, these vintage (and laundered clean!) beauties remind me of family and a simpler time.

And I love their new spot in our kitchen!

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