Awhile back, I learned through Ancestry DNA testing that I'm a little bit Irish. Given my red hair, I don't know why this was such a surprise to me. But when I first received my results indicating 21% Irish/Scottish/Welsh, I was pretty excited!
Then on the next Ancestry DNA update, my results were revised -- resulting in a decrease in my Irish roots. Now I'm only 8% Irish/Scottish. RATS! 😉 And I still haven't figured out which ancestor(s) to thank for my sprinkling of Irish heritage.
But even though I'm not very Irish, 8% still seems like enough to justify putting out a few St. Patrick's Day decorations!
So back in March, I went through my stash of way-too-much stuff and pulled out my green items. To my surprise, I had enough to make a little vignette on the shelf in our entryway. This little shelf/bookcase belonged to my parents, and I'm really glad I brought it home from their house as it has been a nice addition to our entryway.
The great thing is that almost everything I arranged on the shelf for St. Patrick's Day has significance to me! I love decorating with meaningful items. Let's have a quick tour!
The little girl at the left is a Lefton music box given to me by my grandma when I was a child. I'm always afraid to display it out of fear she'll get broken, but this year I decided to take a chance...and I'm glad I did as it was fun to see her again. Now that I think about it, it's quite possible that my Irish roots come via that particular Grandma, as her maiden name was McClelland which has origins in both Scotland and Ireland. I just haven't traced her line back that far yet!
The tea cup and saucer also belonged to Grandma and are part of a set of dishes she often used for Sunday lunch. I have since learned that this pattern is called "Sandwich Glass". The dishes have an embossed leaf/flower design and are among my favorites. The pattern is a little more visible here:
Then on the next Ancestry DNA update, my results were revised -- resulting in a decrease in my Irish roots. Now I'm only 8% Irish/Scottish. RATS! 😉 And I still haven't figured out which ancestor(s) to thank for my sprinkling of Irish heritage.
But even though I'm not very Irish, 8% still seems like enough to justify putting out a few St. Patrick's Day decorations!
So back in March, I went through my stash of way-too-much stuff and pulled out my green items. To my surprise, I had enough to make a little vignette on the shelf in our entryway. This little shelf/bookcase belonged to my parents, and I'm really glad I brought it home from their house as it has been a nice addition to our entryway.
The great thing is that almost everything I arranged on the shelf for St. Patrick's Day has significance to me! I love decorating with meaningful items. Let's have a quick tour!
The tea cup and saucer also belonged to Grandma and are part of a set of dishes she often used for Sunday lunch. I have since learned that this pattern is called "Sandwich Glass". The dishes have an embossed leaf/flower design and are among my favorites. The pattern is a little more visible here:
The green vase belonged to my mom who had several pieces of emerald-colored glass. I suspect that she started collecting it in part because it matched Grandma's Sandwich Glass. I kept quite a lot of Mom's green glass and enjoy using it.
The Irish blessing hung in my bedroom throughout my adolescence and was a gift from my cousin.This sentiment has always been one of my favorites:
The only object which doesn't have family significance is the little domed pedestal which I found at a thrift shop. I suspect that the dome was added later to the base, making it a "marriage" (two pieces that didn't originally go together). Still, I just love this piece and use it often. For this holiday, I added a few gold Mercury glass balls from my Christmas stash just for color.
On the middle shelf, the nest of tiny eggs is something my mom picked up for Bailey when she was a little girl. It used to be tucked into a ficus tree along with a mama and baby bird. I remember that Bailey enjoyed taking the bird and the tiny plastic eggs down from the tree to inspect them from time to time. Such a sweet and happy memory.
On the bottom shelf is an awesome mid-century Haeger planter I picked up for next to nothing at an antique store because it has a hairline crack (barely visible, if you ask me). I love the shape and matte finish and keep it out almost year round. Next to it is a little bronze fairy which was a gift from my mom.
The Irish blessing hung in my bedroom throughout my adolescence and was a gift from my cousin.This sentiment has always been one of my favorites:
The only object which doesn't have family significance is the little domed pedestal which I found at a thrift shop. I suspect that the dome was added later to the base, making it a "marriage" (two pieces that didn't originally go together). Still, I just love this piece and use it often. For this holiday, I added a few gold Mercury glass balls from my Christmas stash just for color.
On the middle shelf, the nest of tiny eggs is something my mom picked up for Bailey when she was a little girl. It used to be tucked into a ficus tree along with a mama and baby bird. I remember that Bailey enjoyed taking the bird and the tiny plastic eggs down from the tree to inspect them from time to time. Such a sweet and happy memory.
Just for fun, I decided to make a little tag featuring a sweet vintage image of an Irish girl. I put the tag on a small easel next to the bird nest. Now I have something handmade for St. Patrick's Day to go with all of my sentimental pieces.
So even though I'm only a WEE bit Irish, it was kind of fun to have a little Irish display during the month of March. I think I'll do it again next year...regardless of what Ancestry DNA says!
jp
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