Casa de Helen Grace

A year and a half after we moved into our ‘new’ house, I’ve finally gotten Helen Grace’s room pretty close to how I want it to be, although I am still working on a few finishing touches. I can remember so many details that my parents put into my childhood room, and they’ve left such an impression on me of the importance of family heirlooms and other special things. For that reason, I thought it might be nice to document for Helen Grace what her childhood room looked like and the meaning behind certain pieces. And what better day to take pictures than when our cleaning lady has been here! ;) Trust me, it normally looks like a tornado has gone through it.

Welcome! Helen Grace and I share a common theme in our childhood rooms: pink! (although mine was more of a Pepto Bismol pink and hers is more blush) This furniture was mine in graduate school.  The sign on her door was made by Auntie Em for her baby shower and hung in her nursery as well. This is priceless- the wedding invitation of Helen Grace Cressey and Captain John Waldr0n, John’s maternal grandparents. Given to our Helen Grace by John’s Aunt Edie.The framed mirror hung over her changing table in her nursery.The postcard in the blue frame is a Delta Gamma artifact given to Helen Grace by Mrs. Eleanor Slaughter, the DG queen bee and an inspiration for all of us. The bunnies are a collection by a Jackson artist started by Aunt Di for HG. The Bibles are both mine from childhood and ones given to Helen Grace. The frame on top of them is a cross stitch with my christening date, which was stitched by my cousin, Helen Hancock. The comb (and a brush that HG has taken off somewhere) were mine as a child. The heart shaped dish was given to me at Whitney’s bridesmaids’ luncheon and holds all of HG’s and my baby bracelets. The white bunny pottery is HG’s first piece of McCarty. Helen Grace’s hands and feet from June 2009 when she was just weeks old- John’s first Fathers’ Day gift.The Helen Grace frame:  Grace Daniels (GG, my maternal grandmother). Helen Grace Waldron (Grandma Waldron, John’s maternal grandmother). Helen ‘Doris’ Moore (Bubba, my paternal grandmother).Auntie Em painfully cross-stitched the ten letters of Helen Grace’s name for her before she was born. She also brought home this precious giraffe from her travels in Africa. I painted the frame at one of our moms’ nights out because if you ask HG how much we love her, she’ll shout, “Much!”Her room wouldn’t be complete without her benchmark chair and hippo, and the carousel painting was in my childhood room. Granddaddy and Spiffer gave her the dollhouse bookshelf for Christmas last year. Rebel naps on top of the chair every night as HG and I read books and get snuggled in. Jack and Jill bathroom I loved my stool like this as a kid, as does HG. The bases of these glass lamps were my Goodmama’s, my paternal great-grandmother, and were in my room as a child too. Spiffer indulged my need for pink damask shades and found these perfect ones. (I have a damask problem.) We leave the pair of them on all the time, and they make a great night light for baby girl.These old fashion prints have been in Bubba’s guest bathroom for as long as I can remember, and I asked her if I could have them for Helen Grace’s bathroom.