Repurposing Old Memories

            Since my Dad passed away we have been clearing out his condo and dividing up all of his belongings among family members.It was very important to us that everyone,grandchildren,great grandchildren, niece and nephews were able to have something that once belonged to our parents. Many items have ended up in my basement. Mainly to allow me to have some time to think and not just toss things out.

Among tons of items were lots of his trophy's. You see my Dad was an awesome golfer,bowler and softball pitcher. I believe had he not followed in his father's foot steps, banking, he could have been a professional golfer. He even had a few trophies from his years of living in Sarasota Fla for shuffleboard! So needless to say he had a lot of trophy's.

Below is a photo of Dad (second from the right) presenting Jim Clark a trophy for the poll position at the Indianapolis 500 in 1965. Jim Clark ended up winning that year. Over Jim's shoulder is a man named Colin Chapman who was the head of Team Lotus. This was the first year for a rear engine car.Dad was very active for many, many years with the Indy 500. It was a passion of his,and as a banker he was in charge of many of the gates ticket sales,of course before computers came on the scene.

A year or so before he died he took a large number of them, removed the name plaques and donated them. He being the ever practical man never wasted anything, or accumulated an abundance of anything that simply wasn't necessary. Waste not want not could have been his motto, if he'd had one.



Just a small group of his much loved trophies


I have been racking my brain for ideas of how to incorporate these trophies into my home..... in a useful way not just on a shelf or stored away in a box.
Yesterday I stumbled upon a blog called Just Something I made. Cathe a graphic designer,crafter,and blogger shared a great idea. Re-purposed trophies , turning trophies into cupcake stands! What a marvelously, fun idea.



Before

  First she took some yard sale trophies,took them apart,and then spray painted them silver.


After

 She then painted the bases in a bright, fun hot pink.



Before



After

 I really like this idea because we could repurpose a few of them and then give them to family members as a fun way to remember Dad. I think this is better than just throwing them in a box and putting them in the basement. I know the first one I take apart I will feel as if I'm destroying one of his cherished objects. But I also know Dad's sensible logic ,and he would be proud that we are actually using them and that they serve a purpose!



The finished product

 Here are a couple other great ideas she had for old trophies.

A coat rack by Kate Pruitt. This would be so cute to use some of my son's baseball trophies and pass them down to their son's.

Wine bottle stoppers found in this months Country Living made by Shannon Vance and Robin Sweeney from their blog Stash Style. I know I love giving wine with a wine a nice wine bottle stopper as a gift. What would make it even more fun would be a stopper from a family trophy. This I hope to do soon ,and I hope when I do they turn out as good as these.