Good Morning to you,
Tins, tins and more tins...... that is what I have in my sewing room and I love them.
I use tins to store my beads. I use tins to store my embroidery threads and ribbons. I use tins to store my collection of buttons. I use tins to keep my little pieces of material neat and tidy and I use tins to put all my "this and that's" in.
So you see......I have a lot of tins!
I have beautifully intricately designed tins, which I bought in India, which twinkle in the light and I have Christmas tins which I display at Christmas time. The thing they all have in common is, they are all beautiful to the eye. I enjoy looking at them and remembering where each tin came from, whether it is a person or a place.
Ivy also had tins. There was one tin, where she kept her tea leaves. Well we didn't call it a tin, it was called a tea caddy, but it was made of tin. The outside of the tea caddy was decorated with a beautiful Chinese design. The colours were gold and dark green and I thought it was gorgeous.
When Ivy made tea, she would open the tin and let me smell the contents....I wasn't impressed, as the smell of tea leaves just didn't sit well with me, I remember thinking they were smelly and why would such smelly tea leaves be kept in such a beautiful tea caddy.
Now when Gramps opened the Cocoa tin and let me smell the contents that was a whole different story!
Ivy also had a biscuit barrel which was made of tin and this tin had a handle, which I thought was wonderful. This wasn't like other tins, for me the handle turned it into something special. This biscuit barrel could be picked up by the handle. I remember, I used to pretend it was a handbag and would carry it as Ivy would carry her handbag. When it was time to have a biscuit, Ivy would ask me to get the biscuit barrel from the sideboard and put it on the table. When she had poured the tea from the teapot into the cups, I knew it was almost time for the biscuit barrel to be opened, to allow the sweet smell of the biscuits to permeate the air, which in turn would "tickle" my taste buds. My hand was poised, waiting for permission to open the tin, ready to dive in. Remember this was the 1950's and sweet food wasn't eaten as it is today, it was made into an occasion.... hence tea and biscuits.
As a small child, the choice of biscuits seemed endless, but we were always told you could only pick the biscuits from the top of the biscuit barrel. So if you spied a biscuit that you fancied and it was under the top layer, that biscuit was not for you. I remember once I tried to shake the biscuit barrel in the hope that the biscuit I fancied would come to the top of the barrel, but I was told this wasn't good manners as I would break the other biscuits.... oh well, I did try. You were then left with the hope that someone else didn't choose it and that it would be there the next time you were allowed to choose a biscuit to eat. It never was because someone else always seemed to "bag" the best biscuit.
The tin I am going to show you was given to me as a gift and it was full of the loveliest liquorice toffees. The toffees are long gone, they were eaten and enjoyed, but the tin remains, which for me is an ideal gift. It is really like a double gift, as you enjoy the contents but the tin remains. Each time I use this tin, I always think of the person who gave me the gift.
I use this one to transport my sewing bits and pieces to my sewing group. It's just large enough to fit small pieces of work, such as the hearts which I am cross stitching.
The top of the tin is covered with spring flowers and do you see the price of the flowers,
6d for a bunch of daisies,
6d for a bunch of daffodils
There isn't a price for the tulips, they must have been too expensive to show the price.
Again, no price for the roses, oh dear again too expensive.
8d for a bunch of sunflowers (a bit pricier)
and finally,
6d for a bunch of irises
The price of these bunches of flowers was in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, so 6d was half a shilling.....if only the prices were the same, I could enjoy a bunch of flowers in every room in my home.
Every side of the tin is decorated with flowers. Mainly spring flowers. Look at these beautiful sunflowers, now wouldn't these brighten your day, when it was dark and gloomy.
Not a bunch of flowers, oh no tulips in a big enamel bucket....see the wooden handle, you don't see many of these around nowadays.
I love this old watering can which is perfectly placed to water the beautiful blue irises. I used to own a watering can like this, but when you move as much as we have in our life, some things just have to go, but I have the image on this tin to remind me.
This tin just keeps me smiling, with the daisies and sunflowers.
.....and more tulips but this time red and pink. It is still Autumn, but this tin reminds me that when Spring returns, so will all my spring bulbs.
....and finally this huge bunch of daisies sitting in half a barrel.
And so we have it, my perfect little sewing tin, which I carry with me here, there and everywhere.
I must confess, I do have a large sewing basket which I have had for over 35 years, it does show it's age, but I love it, one day I will show you this basket and share it's contents with you.
What do you prefer, do you have a little tin with your sewing equipment placed neatly inside, or do you have a large sewing basket, or like me, do you have both.
This week I shall be joining,
Take care and I will see you later in the week.
Best Wishes
Daphne xxx
