So as many of you know, we spent two years living in Spain doing missions work. While we were gone, all of our possessions that we didn't take with us sat in storage that whole time. Some things lived in my mom & dad's basement (thanks!!) and the rest lived in a storage trailer behind their barn (thanks again!!). It was a great option for us because we didn't have to pay for storage, but the trailer wasn't climate controlled. As you can imagine, we've had a few casualties of storage.
Some of those unfortunate losses were because of moisture or varmints that we tried our best to prevent, but you can't stop everything. However, I recently found a tub of carnage that was completely my fault.
NEVER, and I say NEVER, pack a SNOW GLOBE to be stored in a non-climate controlled environment. Water freezes & expands. Then the glass breaks. I knew that. Now I really know it.
These were iron reindeer. Now they are rusty reindeer.
This gal looks more like a mummy than an angel.
These were olive wood bells from Israel that have been in our family for years.
My collection of vintage glass Christmas balls were all wet inside & out.
But there is hope. Some things can be salvaged...
She looks disgusted with me, as she should be. But look, lady, now you have a lovely "patina".
This is probably why she's ticked. Nothing a little glue won't fix.
The bells have their own patina now. They look like they've been in our family for centuries!
And after washing the vintage glass balls, most of the paint came off. I kind of like them now, though. They look like bubbles.
Something that seems like a disaster doesn't always have to turn out that way. I may have lost a few things, and I had to put some elbow grease into cleaning up my mess, but it's not the end of the world for the things that were damaged. The scars can give them character that may end up being appreciated more than a flawless finish.
Got disasters? Got flaws? Find the value in the scars. It's there. Trust me.
4 comments:
Oh, Erin, you sure know how to put things into words! Although I'm so sorry your pretty things were damaged, I'm proud of the way you salvaged some of them and made them even better. I had a good laugh or two as well.
It is a testament to your thriftiness, willingness to do hard work and the ability to see beauty where other can't that you salvaged the salvagable. I would have just pitched the whole box!
i totally freaked out when I saw this. because I packed your box to go with the Gornold-smiths. I hope you get it soon. and everything is ok.
kim
Oh, Kim, don't worry. I'm sure you did a good job, and it's just stuff. Life will go on with a few cracks & dents. :) Thanks for packing the rest of our stuff, by the way. That was a huge job!
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