Fresh Ideas for Grandma’s Linens

1. Under a Glass

Use a lace doily under a glass top table. This way it’s always safe from spills! In the photo is my little nightstand with a white tablecloth, and a large pink doily under the glass.
2. Tea Towel Window Treatment

Hang a cafe curtain rod a little under halfway across a kitchen window. Take curtain rings with clips and attach them to two matching tea towels. I saw this done once with two elegant embroidered Victorian tea towels. Let me tell you it sure had ambiance!

3. Hankie Displays

Don’t hide hankies a dresser drawer, instead display them for guests to enjoy. Frame some in a floating frame, available in most frame departments. Use different style floral and polka dotted hankies. Hang them in hallways or above sofas. Also try draping them under perfume bottles on a bedroom vanity. This looks especially nice with the fancy lace edged hankies.
4. Hankie Lampshade

Take a plain white lampshade and add pizazz in just seconds! Drape a vintage hankie over the top. Sheer hankies look even more special when they have a faint floral design. You could also hot glue bead trim around the shade bottom.

Warning: This could pose a fire hazard if used too long with to hot a bulb. So I draped my hankie over a very seldom used lamp.

5. Drapery Tieback

Use a vintage lady’s scarf as a curtain tieback. Choose a floral print to complement the curtain or use a sheer dainty one. In the photo, my bathroom shower curtain is made of regular sheer panels and tied with with a vintage scarf.
6. Dressy Wardrobes

Help you wardrobe dress for the occasion, by draping a scarf over the top. You’ll need the large scarf, almost the size of a long, skinny shawl. Place it across the top and let it hang down the sides. Find one with a fringe for even more elegance. Then stack your hatboxes back on top, and enjoy.

7. Shelf Edging

Don’t have a plain shelf, instead add some ambiance to it! Place a long lace table runner across it. Be sure to let the fancy edging hang off the shelf. Then you have a shelf fit for your beloved treasures. Also try the same idea with crocheted doilies. Simply place them so part of the design hangs over the shelf edge.
8. Sugar Water

Use a simple sugar water recipe to harden doilies. Try draping them over jello molds with fancy shapes. Sugar water small snowflake shaped doilies a hang on a christmas tree. Try sugaring large round doilies and using them under dinning room table centerpieces. Or place the doily around a bowl, and let them harden in bowl shape.

9. Doily Pillows

Make a pillow out of a large doily. Sew two square pieces of cotton together, and stuff; or start with a pre-made pillow form and cover in fabric. Then sew a fancy doily on the front, or cut a pillow size square from a large doily and cover the entire front.
10. Hankie Pillow

Sew two large hankies together around a pre-made pillow form. You got an instant vintage treasure! You could always add beaded trim or fringe. These cute small pillows are wonderful for piling on daybed, or place one in a small vanity chair.

Sugar Startch Water

Years ago ladies, starched their doilies to make them stiff and hold various shapes. Now it has almost become a lost art. I’ve had someone recently ask about a sugar water recipe and so here it is:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
Place sugar and water in a pot. Cook over high heat; but don’t let it boil. Keep stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
Dampen the doily, or item to be stiffened, and wring out excess water. Then dip it into sugar mixture. Wring out the excess, and shape the doily into your desired shape.
Try using this recipe and placing doilies over bowls, vases, and other interesting shapes. This idea works not only on crocheted doilies; but other linens as well. In the winter time, try sugaring small white doilies to use as snowflakes. Or use any doilies found at flea markets or even in your own attic. With this recipe, you can let your creativity run wild.