I’m working my way through the items I inherited from my grandmother and I have been asking myself, What Would Martha Do, to help me find creative display methods.

I’m puzzled by a few items. Maybe you can tell me what you think Martha would do with them.

First up is this tea towel. It’s made of a very nicely textured linen and it is hand stitched. It’s likely my grandmother stitched it (or maybe her mother). It is slightly yellowed, but is generally in very good condition. I would never use it for dishes. It’s rather large to frame. Any ideas?  The only thing I can come up with is to make it into a throw pillow, but I’m not sure where I would put it. What do you think Martha would do? I think it is beautiful and would like to find a way to use it.

Next up is the picnic basket.  It is a regrettably bright yellow color, but it’s very old, with a hinged top. My mom remembers my grandmother using it when she was a kid for family picnics. It seems to me that stripping this would be a Herculean task because of the woven wood. I don’t think you could ever get in between the strips of wood to clean it all off. So what would Martha do? Paint it another color (white? blue?)? And what would she do with it? I can see Martha placing this in a guest bathroom and filling it with towels and toiletries. That sounds great, but it won’t work in my house since we have one bath, the kids have a bath and there is a small half bath downstairs.  Tell me what you think Martha would do!

I’m working my way through the items I inherited from my grandmother and I have been asking myself, What Would Martha Do, to help me find creative display methods. I’m puzzled by a few items. Maybe you can tell me what you think Martha would do with them. First up is this tea towel. It’s … Read more →