Treasures

I was poking through one of my memory boxes the other day. Trying to downsize. Over the years I've gotten rid of a lot, but a few things still remain from my childhood.

Cellophane toothpicks. I loved these things! In restaurants, they would be poked through sandwiches and hamburgers. I would collect all the ones at our table and take them home. Don't quite know why they fascinated me so much. I would usually play with them for awhile and then slowly pull all the little pieces off until the pick was bare. Then I'd thrown it away. Did this every single time we went out to eat. It even sparked a dream so vivid it has stayed with me to this day. I dreamt of a pine forest, but instead of the needles being normal green, they were cellophane, in the usual colors of the toothpicks. They shone brilliantly in the sun and just took my breath away, they were so beautiful. I can still see it clearly in my mind's eye.

Cocktail umbrellas. Rarely saw these as a kid, so they were extremely valuable to me when I did come across any. Loved the way you could open and close them like a real umbrella. Loved the pretty colors and Asian designs. Of course, I would play with them so much they would end up coming apart. But I sure loved them.

Honeycomb tissue bells. Have no clue how this came into my possession. It had the name of one of my cousins written on it, so I would guess it was a place marker for a wedding or something. All my cousins were quite a bit older than me. It was folded flat, and I had no idea just what it was. I could sort of pull it sideways and see the honeycombing of it, but didn't know what it was supposed to be or how it was to be displayed. Why I never asked anyone, I don't know. I was very intrigued by it, though, so it stayed in the memory box. It was years down the road when I finally played with it enough to actually twist it in the right way and...doggone!! It was a bell!!! I was floored...who would EVER thing that thing was really a bell in disguise?? I got such a kick out of that, and was rather chuffed that I figured it out all by myself.