100% Love

Today I wanted to highlight the gorgeous Victorian jewelry box my sister gave to me for my 25th birthday.



This year's birthday was a little weird because even I didn't have time to celebrate it, being so busy with the book and all but I did get some fabulous birthday presents. And this was definitely one of the most thoughtful of them.



Not only is it silver but it has all the beautiful scrolling detail around its sides and the little claw feet to stand on. Then on the top you have a bouquet of flowers which, as I've mentioned before, the Victorians love tying their furniture accessories back to nature.

I can imagine in the future when I have my own family it would be a wonderful box to put surprises in. Chocolates...little notes...pretty coins...toe nails. :D No I'm just kidding about that last one. But anyway the possibilities are endless.

One of my favorite poets is Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), sister to the famed painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). I plan on doing a whole post on Christina later (and not just because we share first names) but for today I wanted to post a poem that reminded me of the flower designs on my Victorian box.

Roses Blushing Red And White *

Roses blushing red and white,
For delight;
Honeysuckle wreaths above,
For love;
Dim sweet-scented heliotrope,
For hope;
Shining lilies tall and straight,
For royal state;
Dusky pansies, let them be
For memory;
With violets of fragrant breath,
For death.
-Christina Rossetti

*Disclaimer: As I was searching for this poem I ran into a number of different titles and this may not be the poem's true title. But nonetheless, the poem is the same.

And for anyone who is curious (because I wasn't sure) about what sort of flower a heliotrope is, here is a picture of it with the heliotrope fairy. It's also called vivid lavender.