Ari is still sick. He has ‘slap cheek’ virus. Ugh. He has been sleeping half the days away, and the nights too. I just tucked him back into bed with some Nurofen and a DVD. I watched the beginning of the film with him. It is James and The Giant Peach. There’s a bit where James opens a well worn box to reveal a collection of important treasures. Things that boys like. Jamesy mementos of life so far. There is something pretty great about treasure right? Especially when it is personal and sneakily stowed away for none to see. It’s really good to see that none-to-see stuff. There is something delicious and personal about it, don’t you think? It’s sort of an instant insight into the Treasure Keeper. It goes straight to the heart of who they are, what they did, where they have been.
Ari has a box of treasures. It’s filled with damp leaves and a snail at the moment. The snail is called Gerald. Max has not got a treasure box, but rather a pillowcase of things he finds on the footpath. They are a kind of treasure, I think. As for me, I seem to have lots of boxes of things, but no one special box. I really want one special treasure box. I am going to do that. I am going to go through my things and choose the most treasured or sentimental. I am going to put them in a box. And then I will feel complete. Well. I will feel even more complete. I feel fairly complete already. But I still want a treasure box.
As I was thinking about Treasure Boxes, I remembered that Amelie accidentally found one in her bathroom. And I thought about the one that is in the opening scenes of To Kill A Mockingbird, filled with all kinds of things found in a tree hollow. Some people I know are making their own soon-to-be-revealed treasure together, too. And The Happiness Project talks about being a Treasure House of Happy Memories. Maybe there is treasure everywhere?
Do you have a Treasure Box? Do you want one? Do you know of any on the screen or page, apart from Amelie, Jem and James’s? Did you make treasure maps when you were smaller, burning and scrunching them for extra authenticity? Or did you have one then? Tell me about treasure!
xx Pip
I worked as a nanny and one of the girls I looked after used to compose 'happy boxes'. They were full of treasures she could rediscover when she was feeling sick or sad.
I now put together happy boxes for friends and family when I feel like it and hope they enjoy the carefully curated items.
I have a treasure "crate" and so do each of my kids, not as nice as a lovely treasure box though.
In "South Solitary" the girl on the island has all her scabs in a treasure box!
I always loved treasure boxes as a kid, so much so that my daughter now has about 4, except that she's not even two – how much treasure can she own? And yes, I use to make maps all the time – I'd paint them with tea, burn the edges, scrumple them up – very authentic.
This reminded me of my grandmother's old trunk. She gave it to me years ago and I do have treasures in it. I need to go through them again…
BTW I was just reading your interview in Mollie Makes – very inspiring! Something clicked. I was having one of those "would love to start from scratch" days but thankfully that ship has now sailed.
I have three treasure boxes in my basement. They aren't actually mine. They belong to each one of my children and they are filled with things that I saved as they have grown. Even though the boxes don't belong to me, I still think I treasure them more than their owners. Someday that may be different, but for now I sneak down every once in a while and have a peak.
My most recent post is about a box that looks very much like someone's old treasure box and I love that now it will be mine. Not sure what I'll put in it yet, but I'm sure I'll find something! C.x
Aaaw bless him- how old is Arie? My little Pearl had that earlier in the year and she was really very poorly and vomitty before we realised what it was. Once their cheeks get rosy I think they're on the mend.
Flora's teacher has a special treasure box that she shows her pupils on special days- she has a jar of marmite in it, apparently! x
My treasure box is now my treasure cabinet, full of little quirky things like birds nests and skulls and Tin tin figurines etc……..BTW did you know it is the 50th anniversary of the publication of James and the Giant Peach? Cheers.
Oh no, that nasty slapped cheek, we have it up here is Sydney too, well, my two girls do and it is not a fun thing. Stay resting up Ari.
On the matter of treasure boxes, I made one for our wedding keepsakes; though I think now I will encourage my kids to make one, as I think it is a super idea.
I had a treasure box of sorts – it was a book with all the pages glued together after a square had been cut out of them. From the outside it was just an old book – but inside was a place to keep treasures and no one was the wiser. That was when I was 8 – I'm now 33 and I still have it. My Dad still complains about how long it took him to construct but I think it was worth it!
Little Love : that is such a great idea for anyone who is up the duff! You are so clever! x
I have a few different treasure boxes filled with different things. And one very special treasure box to keep the few precious little bits & pieces that I collected over the few weeks that I was pregnant with my third little one. This box is my most treasured xx
oh we love treasure of all kinds in our house. both our kids have treasure drawers in their wardrobes where they keep all manner of things. old bottle tops they find. sticks. rocks. leaves. notes. dead bugs. streamers from a party they had fun at. all those things that other people might look at and think – junk. but they know where each piece came from and it all means a great deal to them. i have a crappy old cardboard box in the hall cupboard where i keep special things people give me. i think i should get a special treasure box for this stuff. thanks for reminding us about treasure! x
I had never really thought of a treasure box…but now I want one!
I don't have a treasure box either but i'd like to make one too. and i don't know if i'm remembering it wrong but doesn't phoebe have a treasure box in catcher in the rye? it must be time to read it again!
I love treasure boxes. I have my dancing medals, some tiny troll dolls, old coins… can't remember what else – it's buried at the bottom of a drawer! I'll get it out and have a look later!
My daughters (6 & 4) have treasure boxes. My mum gave them a special box when they were about 2. It's fascinating what is deemed to be a treasure. They love getting them out and showing each other and talking about where their treasures came from.
I call mine my 'Memory Box', memories are treasures! It's full of little notes, drawings, McDonalds Happy meal figurines (from the time before they got lame) that were given to me by quirky friends, my bicentennary medallion that every Aussie school kid got back in '88, my SRC pin from high school….oh the list goes on! In fact, I am going to go and look at it tonight! Thanks for the reminder Pip!!
I have one little treasure box that my husband made me that's filled with jewelry and bits and pieces i love. Now as cool as amelie's though 🙂
i want a treasure box too! I used to bury jewellery that childhood boyfriends gave me in the garden so i wouldnt have to show my parents…they are probably still there and we moved about 23 years ago!
I still have my Treasure Box from when I was a kid. It is a Scooby Doo lunch tin filled with my favourite stickers, a found photograph of my Mum when she was younger, my Expo 88 Passport filled with stamps, the toggle from my brownie uniform, a Bicentennial medal from 1988, the list goes on. I love looking at it because it brings back so many funny little memories of when I was a kid.
Ah, love a treasure box. I had one. It was an old chocolate box I think – made of card but with an amazing foil-finished vintage world map on the top. Just thinking of it now makes me so nostalgic. It still smelled of chocolate. I think I kept notes and pens inside – there's the journalist in me…