Preserving Family Heirlooms

Louella — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 00:08:43 +0000

Most families have little treasures that have been passed down throughout the years. Perhaps it’s a family bible or a hand-sewn wedding dress. Whatever the item, they each have a special memory that needs to be preserved. If you were fortunate enough to become the recipient of a family heirloom here are a few tips for preserving the item. You might also be in the position where you are collecting items that will be passed down directly from you to your children or other family members. An heirloom is typically something like jewelry, like necklaces or rings with precious gems or diamonds, or they otherwise look interesting, like the allure of Kay Jewelers’ pieces. Antiques, deeds, letters, and even handwritten recipes can be handed down. Taking the utmost care is a must, so here is how you can take care of the items you want to be passed down.

Memory

KEEPING MEMORIES ALIVE: HOW TO PRESERVE FAMILY HEIRLOOMS

To make sure family heirlooms are loved, respected and treasured for years to come, take the time to write out an explanation for the item. If the article is your great, great grandfather’s pocket watch that he received from his employer on his wedding day in Ireland, write that down. If you don’t and the story isn’t remembered, that watch just becomes an antique with no meaning.

Just take a note card and answer these 6 simple questions:

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

If there is some emotional connection to the heirloom like a story, include that as well. If the family sewing machine traveled across the United States in the back of a wagon during the California Gold Rush, write it down. Any item that has been passed down from one generation to the next has stories to tell and it is up to you to preserve those as well.

Temperature

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Fluctuating temperature is a large factor for destroying family heirlooms. Old articles can’t handle incredibly hot or cold temperatures. For this reason, you should try and store your antiques in places that stay around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid storing your old items in the attic, basement, barn, shed or even near windows or heating vents.

Humidity

Basic Tips for Storing Family Heirlooms

Humidity can murder antiques, especially if it is furniture. If you bring an old piano or rocking chair from the dry desert of New Mexico over to the incredibly humid climate of Louisiana, you’re likely to have the wood split as it tries to pull in all of the moisture. Try to keep your antiques in relatively dry areas so they don’t begin to accumulate mold, but remember that too dry can also lead to things drying out and splitting. Keep heirlooms in an environment that they are used to being in and avoid intense humidity or dryness.

Light

Preserve and Protect Family Heirlooms & Treasures

Ultraviolet light can be dangerous for your antiques because it breaks down the chemicals in the pigmentation of photographs, papers, plastics, and other valuables. If you have old pictures that have begun to fade they might have fallen victim to this decay. Just keep in mind that less light is typically better for preserving your family heirlooms.

Dust

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Not only is dust bothersome, but it can also be detrimental to your family heirlooms. Dust can be wiped away relatively easily, but if it is left to sit for too long it can trap in moisture, causing mold to grow. It can also invite bugs to make homes in old books or wood, and it can weaken materials. Just make sure to be diligent in your dust removal.

If you are especially worried about keeping a family heirloom in good condition you can visit a specialist to help you in the care of your article. Most jewelers should be able to help you with watches and jewelry. Visit your local library or college for help in preserving books and documents. Good luck with keeping your families’ memories alive and preserved.

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5 Ways to Be Less Wasteful

Louella — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 21:44:09 +0000

We are living in a material world, but sometimes we have to watch how much materials we actually use.

Sometimes it can seem that everywhere you turn someone wants you to buy something.

And it can be very tempting not to give in and buy it because most of us feel like we might actually need it.

But the truth is we probably don’t, outside of the basic necessities of food, shelter, and water.

So, what is there to do when you’re got caught up in the cycle of “stuff”?

Luckily, there are many ways to be less wasteful, but here are five to help us all start out and keep our homes and our planet from being overrun.

Buy second hand

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Speaking of garage sales, instead of going out and buying something new when you need something for around the house or maybe the kids to need new clothes, shop second hand.

You can go to garage sales, thrift stores, and now, thanks to technology, there are online forums and Facebook pages that also sell nice items second-hand.

Just like the garage sale, you are re-purposing things instead of just throwing them away and filling the world with more trash, which is really good and helps you to live more sustainably.

Care about who you buy from

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There are certain companies that care about waste too, and it’s a good idea to buy from them versus others who don’t necessarily do that.

Do a little research to see who you are really buying from and how they treat this planet.

There are companies like BioLogiQ who use recycled materials to build and create other sustainable materials.

You may see which companies help you to recycle or even incentivize when you do so.

Have a garage sale

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If you are looking around your house, storage shed, or garage and thinking, “I don’t even know where half of this stuff came from let alone the last time I used it?” It’s probably time for a garage sale.

A garage sale is a great opportunity to give a second life to items you don’t use anymore and receive a little profit from them.

And when it is all over the items you didn’t sell you can donate and wa-lah! So much less clutter and waste.

Buy less and less plastic

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Plastic can be so easy, especially when you have kids who like to touch everything and who aren’t very gentle with things either.

But the hard part about plastic is after you ‘re done with it and throw it away, when it gets to the dump it ends up sitting there and just adding to all the other trash that is there.

If there is a way for you to use less plastic or to make sure you recycle the plastic you are done with, you can help lessen the waste and help keep things like the ocean cleaner.

Donate your time

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One great way to keep yourself from being tempted to buy more and more is to use the free time on your hands to volunteer somewhere and help.

Helping others can make you more grateful for the things you already have as well as give your time to others or causes that may sorely need it.

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