"I Remember Laura" Blog-a-thon, Heirlooms and Treasures.....

Welcome to the last installment of the "I Remember Laura" Blog-a-thon. Thanks so much to all who have visited and participated in the blog-a-thon and the art swap and for making this such a success. I hope you all enjoyed meeting Laura Ingalls Gunn and learning of her family as well as remembering her famous cousin, Laura Ingalls Wilder. This will wind up the blog-a-thon with one last link up featuring your cherished family heirlooms. Ma Ingalls most prized possession was her little china shepherdess which rested upon a hand carved bracket made by Pa Ingalls as a gift. Show us something or more than one thing that has been handed down to you that you cherish and plan to hand down to the next generation. Tell us the story of how it came to be in your family, why it is special, and who you plan to gift it to. Anyone is welcome to join in, linking instructions are as listed below.

Each member of the Ingalls family had something that they cherished. Most of their family possessions are on display in the various home site museums. As mentioned above, here is a picture of what is believed to be Ma's china shepherdess.This little figurine was a prized possession of the family. In her reply to a class who read her books, Laura mentioned that "Sister Carrie has the china shepherdess." Evidence indicates that the one shown above , which was found among Carrie's keepsakes in Keystone, South Dakota, is indeed the prototype for the cherished china figurine.

One of Laura Ingalls Wilder's girlhood treasures from Walnut Grove was the china jewel box she received at the Congregational Church Christmas party.In On the Banks of Plum Creek, she wrote, "It was made of snow-white, gleaming china. On its top stood a wee, gold-coloured teapot and a gold coloured saucer." The china jewel box in on display at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri.

Mementos of the Ingalls family such as photographs, the family Bible,Laura's lap desk that traveled with her on her last pioneer journey when she settled in Mansfield,the bread plate which survived the fire in Laura and Almanzo's home (The plate was found among Rose Wilder Lane's possessions after her death. It is now in the Mansfield, MO museum.),and perhaps the most famous of all, Pa's fiddle
are treasures and heirlooms that give us a glimpse into the life of an American pioneer family.

As announced on Friday, the GIVE AWAY WINNERS of what promises to be future family heirlooms are listed below. As promised all those participating in the art swap and any of the first four blog-a-thon-posts were automatically entered. Also, those who participated in the blog-a-thon posts and used the button to help promote the event were entered twice (which was all the participants!). With those two number combinations and the added comments from Friday's post, we had a grand total of exactly 100 names to draw from. And the winners are:

Grand Prize Winner: # 54 ~ The Creating Keepsakes Memory Album KitMelissa @ The Inspired Room

Second Prize Winner: #85 ~ The Our Family Treasury bookCarol @ charli and me

Third Prize Winner: # 47 ~ The Collaged blank journalPenny @ Lavender Hill Studio

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners. Please email me your mailing address and I will pop your prize in the mail. For privacy purposes, please do not leave your address in the comments section. My email link is near the top of my sidebar. Thanks!ART SWAPPERS: Projects need to be wrapped up today and I need to receive them by July 7th! I will put up a Flickr group when I get them all. I can't wait to see them all! Thanks! Oh, I promised you swappers a little book making tutorial, you can find that posted tomorrow.

LINKING INSTRUCTIONS:
To link up you will sign in with Mr. Linky below. You will need to link to a specific post. This will make it easier to go directly to the post and not have to scroll to find it. Here is how to link up:

*You will need to open two windows on your computer, one opened to my blog and one opened to your blog.

*On my blog go to the entry box for Mr. Linky, enter your name or your blog name

*Using the second window open to your blog, click on your post title, this will change the address at the top of your blog page. Highlight this address by right clicking on it. Then select "copy"

*Go back to the window with my blog and in the box that says to enter your URL, paste your blog page address. Then click on "enter". If this is done correctly, you should see a little yellow smiley face appear after you refresh your page.

*Test the link from my blog to make sure it goes to yours.






Blessings,
Miss Sandy