A homey cottage look can be created by showcasing some of your favorite memorabilia in creative ways.

10 Tips:

1. Postcard Pleasure. Frame favorite postcards in floating glass frames so you can see both sides of the card. You can place several postcards in an overlapping design in one large frame, or frame them individually and hang several frames together.

2. Shell Chic. Shells collected from your travels or the local beach make wonderful decorative memories. Put them in a large clear glass lemonade jar with a lid, display them on your fireplace mantel, or arrange some along with some colored rocks or plain colored Christmas ornaments to add color to a room.

3. Card Cozy. Get all those greeting cards that friends and family have given you over the years out of the attic. Put them in a variety of frames and hang them together in a hallway or stairway for a lovely art gallery effect.

4. Scrumptious Scrapbooks. Make a colorful scrapbook for each child in your family. Include school certificates, photos, and other life mementos. Use beautiful albums that will be a decorative touch on a coffee table.

5. Bulletin Board Beauty. Purchase a huge bulletin board for a hallway and post photos of your family, travels, and life events. It makes a colorful and fun conversation piece. You can paint the wooden border to match your dcor. I have done this and have received many compliments on my display.

6. Grandmas Shadowbox. Use a ready-made shadow box to frame and display Grandmas old hankie, crocheted doily, glasses, etc. A velvet background makes an elegant touch.

7. Creative Coffee Table. Purchase a coffee table that has a glass top with space underneath to display your favorite collectibles. Place small seashells, postcards, spoons, or any other collectible there for clear viewing.

8. Blow-Up Bliss. Enlarge an old photo to poster size and frame in an antique looking frame for an interesting piece of art.

9. Wicker Wonder. Purchase wicker baskets lined with pretty print fabric and store old love letters and greeting cards in them.

10. Photo Box Finesse. Purchase colorful photo boxes found at craft stores in prints that match your dcor and use them to store old photos, letters, and greeting cards. They stack well for storage and the variety of colors and patterns will add charm to your rooms dcor.

Look around your home for some clever ways to display your familys memorabilia and give your cottage some personal creative flair on a dollarwise budget.

c2006 Kathryn Bechen. All rights reserved worldwide.