Making a cozy home with memories...and keys

Linkin' up to A Soft Place to Land's DIY day!

I've been blog hopping and ran across a good idea. Keep skeleton keys to remember homes you have lived in...I think it was on the Nester, but now I'm not sure!

Well....remember this ol' lock and key my mom gave me?

Well, I hop, hop, hippity-hopped to Lowe's and bought two more skeleton keys so I could create....this:

I took three frames (painted the two smaller ones black) and wrapped the matting in burlap. Then I used black and white plaid ribbon to frame around the paper with writing. What is written on there are the memories of previous houses/apartment we lived at. The white lines you see are where I erased the addresses. The top small one is our apartment and says:

"Our first apartment shared its space with the rental office. Because of that we did not have to pay for PG&E. We had way too much furniture in such a small space but we were happy to go home to it every day after work. We can remember the adjustment to living together that wasn’t always fun, chicken pot pie, and playing video games that brought out the competitor in us. Despite this, it wasn’t long before the desire to have a house began to take form and the search for something that was all ours took shape."

The lower small frame says:

"Our first real home. Renovations brought life back into a house that had been neglected and made it, once again, a home. Wedding memories turned to home repair and pregnancy memories. We brought all four of our babies back to this home after delivery. First time parents, first steps, first words, and first potty training all happened here. There is a fond memory, a thought, a warm reminder written invisibly on every wall. But seven years later, it was time to say good-bye, at least in part, to our cozy sanctuary."

And the BIG one with the big lock and key says:

"The house that we are hoping to make the memories in that will last us the rest of our lives. We are blessed by God with our four, beautiful children and room to put them all. Family and friends, but mostly faith is our prayer to reside here. May the happiness here be permanent fixtures in our memories and may our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, be at the center of them all. He is the head of our home, the unseen guest at the dinner table, and the silent listener to every conversation. May we bring Him glory and honor in all we do. Amen."

I spaced it so that you could read all of it even though that huge lock is sitting there. I don't think it's any big surprise to any of you that I've had a really hard time letting go of our old house. I think part of it is because there are just sooooo many good memories there. I even am holding on to the bad ones because they all ended up working out for us in the end. God is good. Don't get me wrong, I love our new house and can't wait to make memories here, but it's not the same...yet.

And yes, I realize I didn't finish putting the ribbon border on one of the smaller frames. I ran out. Time to take a shopping trip. Darn. I hate when that happens. :)