Pure Project #14: Ride Down Memory Lane


When I was little and I used to visit my grandparents lakehouse during the summer (where my dad lives now) one of my favorite things to do was pick flowers.  They were everywhere in Antioch.  We used to make these little pressed flower arrangements in the dirt called "madonnas."  Have you ever heard of these?  I tried googling them and nothing came up so I don't know if maybe it's just something my Grandma Maestranzi made up??  Anyway, I remember doing it with my cousin Tracy.  It's so one of those things we probably shouldn't have been doing on our own, but it's one of my best memories.  Tracy & I went into the garage and filled up a paper bag with glass jars.  She hammered the jars and broke the glass.  (I was probably 5 and she was maybe 12? seriously.)  Then we took the "good" shards of glass and saved them for our maddonnas.    


{Tracy & I---- hammering glass for madonnas this summer... 20+ years later}

Then we picked a bunch of flowers and made little arrangements in the dirt and covered them with the broken glass pieces. 



We used to make little "tours" around the yard and take people from spot to spot to check out our madonnas.  This year we thought it would be fun to do madonnas with our kids. 


{Francesca, Christian & Maddie}

They girls had so much fun picking flowers and Christian just loved being with them.  This time, I handled the glass shards, but we let the girls make arrangements.  (Francesa is my cousin Michelle's daughter and Maddie is Tracy's daughter..  and Christian's mine :)


The photos really don't show how pretty they are...

{lily petals & weeds}

...  But I can share Maddie's reaction to them with you.  We wanted to surprise the girls so I had everything ready to go and did a couple of madonnas myself to show the girls for when they came outside to help.  When Maddie saw them she was wide eyed.  She has this soft little voice and she's a pretty chill kid who doesn't get excited about just anything.  She just stared at them in awe and said really slowly, "Oh...what are these beautiful things called?!!" It was too funny.

  They're literally just flowers & leaves pressed into dirt and covered in glass, but to a kid there's just something so beautiful & special about them. 










So this week's project is to take a minitrip down memory lane and recreate an old pastime.  Do something you loved to do as a kid and do it with your kids if you have them.  If you don't, do it on your own or with a friend and I think you'll be surprised at how much you still enjoy it.  -maybe it's a craft, a game, a meal, drawing, coloring, etc---   IF you're up for madonnas, it's also a fun tradition to start with your family and kids love it.  (just make sure that you're in charge of the glass unlike when we were kids.)  Let us know how the projects go and be sure to link up if you join in!!



xoxo, Lauren

26 comments:

Kathysue said...

Aaaah Lauren I love this and even if your Grandma made it up it was a wonderful thing to do and so original and creative. How fun for you to relive it with your little ones. Happy,happy memories,Kathysue.

KellyMellyBoBellyBananaFanna said...

What a sweet, happy memory. I love it.

Kelly

Karena said...

Lauren, this is so adorable for girls to do together, building memories, what it is all about!!

Karena
Art by Karena

Jemsmom said...

That is beautiful and not only do you have these wonderful memories, but you have created these traditions for another generation! My granny and I would make cakes from scratch. I should give it a try with my Jemma!

Leanne said...

I've never heard of these before, but I'm with Maddie, they're beautiful. THanks for sharing.

Star Talks said...

I've never heard of these before, but they are gorgeous! I think recreating memories and traditions with your kids is the sweetest thing ever... I can't wait until my son is a bit older and we can start doing fun stuff like this. Thanks for sharing...

Kelle Dame said...

Never heard of these and this is a great idea! I kind of want to make our own playdough!

Carmel's Closet said...

I've never heard of this, but am going to do it with my children this summer when we visit the grandparents place. Thanks for sharing.
What a lovely memory to have and to pass onto your children.
Carmel

Anonymous said...

I am totally making 'madonnas' today!!! what a beautiful display of art!!

EDYTA & CO. INTERIOR DESIGN said...

Wow ,, you know Lauren, my sister and I used to do these when we were little and lived in Poland.. Many kids did,, They were so much fun!
Beautiful photos!
Have a wonderful week.

xo
Edyta

Anonymous said...

Lauren,

I love these. Is the glass clear or did you use colored glass? I am trying to figure out if those colors were created from the sun reflecting on the clear glass?

bluehydrangea said...

What? I can't believe that is just glass, leaves and flowers!! Beautiful. I have never heard of them but now I want to try. It reminds me of digging sharks teeth out of the pavement with sharp knives when I was little.

Acquired Objects said...

I have never heard of these but how fun and what a wonderful idea. Takes me back to when I was a kid.....

Tamra said...

What a beautiful little project! I look forward to sharing these with my niece.

Thank you

Liz Thompson said...

My gosh, those are so pretty. My kids would love doing that. Do you remember Spatter Painting? We did it with leaves and an old screen and old tooth brushes in our basement. I can't believe my Mom let us do that in THE HOUSE! funny.

Marivic said...

Love this idea--will do it with my two girls in our garden! Thanks for sharing!

A Perfect Gray said...

Lauren, these are absolutely beautiful and totally new to me. Thank you so much for detailing how to do them. What fun...

(Doesn't Francesca look JUST LIKE YOU?)

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

What gorgeous little jewels of nature! Interesting that a reader from Poland had also done them.

Dumb Question....do you leave them...or pick them up and throw out the glass?

paula said...

what fun. i always love when I can get a happy reaction from Ellie. Makes it all the more special.

Suzanne Anas Jurich said...

I have never heard of this! They are gorgeous!!

Windlost said...

Never heard of them but totally lovely!!!! What a gorgeous family and aren't you cute in your camoflage pants?!?!? Sweet post! Great Grandma also to inspire this creativity - perhaps something she grew up with.

xo T.

Alicia B. Designs said...

This is SO cool! I love this idea!

ANITA said...

I think these are one of the most beautiful things I have seen in awhile. I just keep looking at them.

Fifi Flowers said...

Those are truly LOVELY glass shards!!!

Katya said...

Oh I know exactly what you are talking about! I am originally from Russian and these are the things we used to do in playgrounds with the girls when we were kids. We used to call them "little secrets". This year I have taken my kids to Russia and I was so delighted to show my 6yo son how to do these treasures. You see in my country you can find pieces of glass laying everywhere (think playgrounds!!!) So when I saw them this time I instantly remembered about them. While here in States we sure will make them from glass that I will purposely brake for them he-he
http://bkatya.blogspot.com/

shoppingaholic said...

It's so fun and creative!! i wan tto know more about it like steps and how to do it!! I ma from India and I never saw this thing. I'd love to introduce it to the people here!! Thanks.

P.S> Please mail me at sweetnsimplejiya@yahoo.com

<3