Antique Rolling Pin

I do love things that have a story…

This rolling pin was my Oma’s {Dutch for Grandma} and it was passed down to my mum who then passed it on to me.

My mum is quite arty and went through a phase of painting things. It is quite amazing really, the painting thing. Mum decided that she wanted to learn how to do Folk Art painting. She was in her forties and decided that it was the right time to start doing some things that she always wanted to do. For a while there, none of us were game to stand still for too long in case mum decided to paint us!

My mum doesn’t shy away from challenges. Growing up, she was always doing something creative. She was raised by a tailor so she was always sewing us clothes and toys and things for our dolls. It was great! When I was about 7 she got her first microwave {which she STILL has} so she went off to TAFE to learn how to use it. She is a bit old fashioned though and the microwave thing wasn’t really something mum embraced fully, she is a pots and pans kind of lady, which I think is cool. Mum has also restored lots of furniture over the years, cupboards and chairs, tables and shelves and anything else that needed a bit of a spruce up. Again, she went to TAFE to learn how to do it. The cupboard above was my cupboard when I was a little girl, my eldest daughter had her baby things in it, now it is kind of like my dressing table. Mum restored it about 20 years ago. It looks kind of French Farmhouse to me… ooh lah lah… My sister and I both have big wooden antique cupboards that mum restored, it is nice to have those in the family. Mine is currently ‘living at the farm’ as we just ran out of room for it. One day, I would love to restore it again and have it in a nice big roomy house.

Recently mum has moved into more abstract painting as well as doing some portraits and using different mediums like pastels and fabrics. I have a few paintings around my house that she has done. She certainly has her own style and likes to use things she has collected over the years. Above is her interpretation of ‘The Girl With A Pearl Earring’, I amazed that my mum painted this – I love it and look at it every morning. For mum’s 60th birthday, we put together a bit of an art gallery of her work and dad took photos of her paintings for a PowerPoint presentation, it was quite amazing how much art my mum has produced!

I find this quite inspiring. How cool to be interested in something and pursue it by doing courses and perfecting it, regardless of age or time or whatever.

So, back to my rolling pin. It sits on the bookcase at the end of our hall way. I see it every day. I love that it is something that my Oma used to use. Oma loved cooking and made the best Boeterkoek {Dutch Butter Cake} and biscuits, she could also cook potatoes so long that they didn’t need mashing – hmmm – I guess that is actually not so good! I love that this rolling pin has my Oma’s story, but it is now covered in a new story: my mum’s story. The story of following a dream and making things more beautiful.

When I pass this on to one of my children, I wonder what stories we could tell? What will I add to the heritage of this once ordinary household item?

I wrote a post about Heirloom jewellery passed on to me… And I got to write the definition of Heirloom for the Urban Dictionary! Cool!

I love the story of everyday things… Especially ones that pass from family to family….