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MichelleW
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I've been thinking about this on and off for a couple of years now. I thought I'd like to link it to Confirmation. Perhaps this is a bad idea. I have lots of time to change my mind...Anyway, some things I brought with me to my marriage that were most important to me:
a hand painted nativity that my Grandma made for me
rosary given to me by my Grandparents
hand carved cross that opens to reveal anointing kit given to me by my father
leather bound Bible given to me by dh when he asked me to marry him
my family cookbook (with recipes in Grandma's hand, Mom's hand and my own funny teenage writing)
a couple of Henri Nouwen books that were life changing
a charm bracelet given to me by my mom for FHC, added to whenever she noticed some milestone in my life
a set of espresso cups that belonged to my Grandma
Does this help at all?
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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)
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mom3aut1not
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What I have done is a varianton the hope chest. I forgo a beautiful wooden chest in favor of a Rubbermaid bin. I then fill it with the nucleus of a home kitchen -- pans, knives, a cutting board, etc. (I had not thought of putting in specifically Catholic items. Good idea.) I give it to each child as he or she graduates from high school. I don't wait for marriage for a variety of reasons. !) My kids are less likely than most to marry, but they will still need kitchen stuff. 2) Most young people now live on their own before marriage and thus will need kitchen stuff before marriage. 3) I see as an acknowledgement of each child reaching adulthood. I do vary the conttents somewhat depending on the child, but the contents are largely the same. Hhmmm. I think I should also include recipes or a good recipe book.
In Christ,
Deborah
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MarilynW
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My 10 year old daughter is really into the idea of a hope chest. We do not have a chest yet - but she is forever making lists of things to put in hers. (at his rate she will need a hope storage locker!!!) We are thinking of starting one for her in the next couple of years - maybe her brothers and dad will make her a cedar chest for her birthday. She gets a lot of ideas from books such as the Betsy and Tacy books and Anne of Green Gables series. Things we have discussed:
1)Recipe binder - she has already started a notebook of our favorite family recipes. Whenever she finds one she likes - she types it up and puts it in.
2)Household notebook - she loves my household notebook and has started one for herself - she loves Susan Branch and uses her stationery. She has sections on contacts, health information etc
3)Favorite books - she is already making a list of my books that she would like to get for her hope chest - a wide selection from rearing families, homeschooling, apologetics, dressing modestly, books on healthy living, cookbooks. As well as all the classics which are hers.
4) Liturgical items - prayer table cloths, holy statues, prayer cards, holy water fonts etc.
5) Embroidery/sewing/crochet - napkins, tablecloths, crochet
6) She has an idea of what kitchen appliances she would like (already asked me for my precious Vitamix!!!)
I will share some other ideas when I can sit up longer.
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Marilyn
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JodieLyn
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Thinking about this some (no conclusions.. just thoughts).. there's no way we'd have room to store a great many things... so what did they store away.. and then thinking about it.. it would be the things that would take time.. I mean in order to sew all the sheets and other linens.. just logistically you needed to start when a girl was young to get it all made by the time she was of age.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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ladybugs
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I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if I'm repeating or if this is not relevant...
What about one Christmas ornament a year? That way when they're grown and gone (I don't even want to think about that) they have some ornaments???
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Maria P
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stefoodie
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My hubby's aunt in Texas gives all her grandkids (and our kids) items for their hope chests, even the boys! (I had never heard of such a thing until she told me about it.) For each of our kids she made a quilt (crib-size) and she said it should go into their hope chest (we don't have one, but now seriously thinking about it because of this thread).
So perhaps I'll start it with the 15-yo.... she loves to sew and would love to learn more embroidery, etc. Maybe we can make a mother-daughter quilt that she can put into it.... loving everyone's suggestions! We probably won't do anything fancy, but I'm thinking of things she'll want when she's on her own, married or single.... like an apron... things that will remind her of home... like pillowcases, etc.
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stef
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alicegunther
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ladybugs wrote:
I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if I'm repeating or if this is not relevant...
What about one Christmas ornament a year? That way when they're grown and gone (I don't even want to think about that) they have some ornaments??? |
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Yes, Maria, that is what we do! With six daughters, it is about all I have been able to manage, although I'm really giving thought to all the beautiful ideas here.
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Mary G
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stefoodie wrote:
| So perhaps I'll start it with the 15-yo.... she loves to sew and would love to learn more embroidery, etc. Maybe we can make a mother-daughter quilt that she can put into it.... loving everyone's suggestions! We probably won't do anything fancy, but I'm thinking of things she'll want when she's on her own, married or single.... like an apron... things that will remind her of home... like pillowcases, etc. |
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... and it doesn't have to be just sewn stuff ... I designed a Christening Bonnet for my almost-7yod when she was a baby -- the bonnet can then be used as a small head veil for FHC and then a hanky/snood cover/small purse for her wedding....
Stef, you should be a fount of help on cooking books, etc. BTW, my 15yod loves the "Cookwise" you had recommended! THANKS!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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MaryMary
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Oh, I LOVE this thread!
I am the daughter of Italian immigrants. Growing up, I didn't just have a hope CHEST, I had a hope CLOSET! I guess there were no bridal showers in Calabria circa 1968 (when my parents immigrated) because my mother felt it her duty to begin collecting things for me when I was born (1972). When I was married I had EVERYTHING and more (I kid you not, there was a small room in her basement that was filled with stuff for me and my sister)Though she bought me so much, her special emphasis was on linens. I didn't have to buy bath towels, sheets (she assumed I would own a queen size bed ), tea towels(!),and (my favorite) tablecloths. I am always amused when we shop together for bridal showers. She clucks her tongue when she sees that the bride has registered for bed sheets or towels. That is outright SCANDAL to her ! The way she sees it, a chaste couple should NOT have to go picking out bedsheets before they are married, as it may lead to a near occasion of sin  ! That job should be left in the capable hands of the Mother of the Bride whose newlywed hormones have long since waned!
Oh, gosh, I hope you are all laughing with me (else I'm taking my lovely tablecloths and some espresso to Alice's candleside chat thread!)For fear of turning this lovely thread in another, ahem, less lovely direction , I will say that I would like to continue this tradition with my own daughters. I won't do it to the degree that my own mother did, but I do want to impart some special heirlooms to them. I love some of the ideas mentioned above. One thing I want to do is to purchase a BEAUTIFUL quality cake knife and lifter for them. I hope that they would use it to cut their wedding cake, and to bring it out at every birthday, sacrament, feast day, or other celebration in their new family. I am currently doing this with the cake knife that I used at my own wedding. It is so meaningful to pull out the same beautiful items and to use them at each of the children's baptisms, birthdays, etc.
A lovely tea set would be nice, too. I'm waiting until they get much older, though, (they are only six and four!)because I want them to be able to choose according to their tastes.
Anyway, I can't wait to hear what other ideas will come forward!
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Mary
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aussieannie
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MaryMary wrote:
| my mother felt it her duty to begin collecting things for me when I was born (1972). When I was married I had EVERYTHING and more (I kid you not, there was a small room in her basement that was filled with stuff for me and my sister)Though she bought me so much, her special emphasis was on linens. I didn't have to buy bath towels, sheets (she assumed I would own a queen size bed ), tea towels(!),and (my favorite) tablecloths. I am always amused when we shop together for bridal showers. She clucks her tongue when she sees that the bride has registered for bed sheets or towels. That is outright SCANDAL to her ! The way she sees it, a chaste couple should NOT have to go picking out bedsheets before they are married, as it may lead to a near occasion of sin ! That job should be left in the capable hands of the Mother of the Bride whose newlywed hormones have long since waned! |
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This has made my day! aside, what a perfectly lovely post, thank you for sharing it!
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Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
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alicegunther
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MaryMary wrote:
| Oh, gosh, I hope you are all laughing with me (else I'm taking my lovely tablecloths and some espresso to Alice's candleside chat thread!) |
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LOL, I am laughing with you--and I love your mom!
And say, not to steal you from here, but maybe when we are done selecting a china pattern for the tea set (mine is Old Country Roses by Royal Albert), we can all sit down with an espresso over there! : )
Oooh, that gives me an idea for a thread . . . .
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MaryMary
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alicegunther wrote:
And say, not to steal you from here, but maybe when we are done selecting a china pattern for the tea set (mine is Old Country Roses by Royal Albert), we can all sit down with an espresso over there! : )
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Oh, Alice, I would give up my Royal Albert Lavender Roses teapot (though I  it so) at once for a long chat over an espresso with you, or any of the other ladies here at 4Real.
We'll make it a double so we can talk into the wee hours!
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Mary
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stefoodie
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Mary G wrote:
| Stef, you should be a fount of help on cooking books, etc. BTW, my 15yod loves the "Cookwise" you had recommended! THANKS! |
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oh, for beginner's cookbooks, i used to recommend fannie farmer, the joy of cooking, and julia child's the way to cook all the time, these were the books that i started out with as a newlywed 17 years ago and i learned soooo much. to me they're the "tried and true".
but there have been so many recent cookbooks too that perhaps match the more cosmopolitan tastes of people these days? like mark bittman's how to cook everything or i hear beginner cooks love rachael ray's books (i haven't tried any of her recipes, i confess). one newlyed cookbook i was really taken with is not on love alone -- so cute, and the recipes are simple enough, with a few fancy ones thrown in.
i'm sure by the time our kids are married there will be a bunch of new "cookbooks for beginners".
i'm glad she's liking cookwise, mary!
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St. Ann
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Our dd1 is 10 yrs old and she is just growing out of childhood toys and such. On occasion she will still play with dolls with her sisters, but rarely. This last Advent season I was really struggling on what to get her for Christmas. With the help and advice of a good friend in Munich I decided to get her something really "grown up".
This is from Laura Ashley's Home Furnishings. Scroll down a bit to Mollys oval mirror.
Mollys oval mirror
I think of this present as something she can use in her "adult home" all her life.
She was so overjoyed when she unpacked it. And very very proud.
So , in this way I am beginning her Hope Chest.
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Wife and mother to Hannah '96, Maria '99, Dorothea '01, Helena '03
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Servant2theKing
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Binders are a beautiful variation on the hope chest theme and could be nicely woven into the homeschooling years! Prayer and faith binders, modesty and chastity binders, a binder on the virtues, recipe and housekeeping binders, and binders with favorite articles and resources come to mind. We worked on prayer and recipe binders before our daughter moved away...I wish the thought had come years ago when she was still homeschooling!
It helps to imagine them leaving the nest oneday and envisioning what kinds of things you hope to pass on to them for the future! Treasures of our Catholic Faith seem most fitting of all!
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mary
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my mother had a hope chest when she was a girl. she filled it with her embroidery. this was a good thing because my father is a farmer and she really never had time to embroider after they got married and had 7 children. i have a hope chest, but my dh gave it to me after we married. all my life i wanted to learn to embroider because i admired her linens.
regarding cookbooks - when each of my children was born, i got recipes from relatives and put together a book with the recipes and photos from the year. it's a scrapbook/recipe book of the year that baby was born. i gave a copy to each of my children and to all of the women in our family (both sides.) for my 4th baby, my cousin found some old recipes from my dh's grandmother to include. what treasures! anyway, this idea could be done any time in a family and would be a lovely addition to a glory box (i love this term!)
i think the idea of doing a glory box (craftbox) for a boy is wonderful. i can't wait to get started! i think i will use a rubbermaid container until my kids reach 13 and then get something a little more special.
someone linked the bride's tree ornaments and i wanted to say that they make a great wedding gift. someone did that for us and we have given them away to other couples.
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JodieLyn
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I just had a friend give me this link
Hope Chest Society
There's not a lot at the site but looks like there's a lot of links about hope chests.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Cheryl M.
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I love filling a hope chest with lovely items in preparation for setting up a life and home in marriage. I didn't have a specific chest, but had lots of wonderful items - lots of kitchen items - some I still use today (22 years later)....hmmm....this could be a nice blog post with pics! My favorite H.C. item is a ceramic goose head towel rack - it's been mounted on my cabinet wall right above my kitchen sink in every house we've lived in - also my blue porceline colander - I use that thing everyday. These were two items that I saw while shopping with my mother and she later went back and got them and gave them to me as gifts. The colander was my Easter basket one year and the goose head was a Christmas gift. I also had a set of Magnalite pots....I knew things were getting serious when I received "pots" as one of my Christmas gifts. Someone would want me to cook! I also had kitchen towel sets, potholders, and a few sets of serving/storage bowls. I am starting a chest for my daughter and it will include quilts - I've saved fabric from every dress I've ever made for her (and I've made many) - I have a tub of fabric that will get turned into a large quilt for her home. I also have a few things to give my boys when/if they marry.
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JennGM
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I bought this book at a booksale a while back, but I just read it tonight to my son. The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco is a perfect book for discussion and inspiration of hope chests and passing on of family items.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
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marihalojen
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I just received a box in the mail from my Mom. She was helping sort out Grandpa's home and sent me some linens her Mom and Grandmas made.
I think it would be wonderful to take these items that may have been prepared for their future households and give them to my daughter for her future household.
I'll try to get some pictures around and post them on my blog...
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Hope Chests for our daughters
