As a girl I have fond memories of my “crazy” Aunt Elsie . Aunt Elsie was crazy, in a good way. She had wall sized wooden spoons and forks hanging in her dining room. Wind chimes fashioned from seashells blew in the breeze on her covered patio. Coy fish swam in her hand dug fish pond. She wore colorful Mumu’s from her home, the island of Maui. She told fun stories and threw her head back when she laughed. Every once in a while she would show up and surprise us with a pink box full of sugary freshly baked donuts (still to this day my favorite treat).

But of all the wonderful things she did, my favorite was when she hid the glass chicken with silver dollars inside. I remember the anticipation of arriving at her house to search for the covered glass chicken. 

There were four of us siblings. She would place 4 silver dollars in her glass chicken and hide it in the house for us to find during our visit. It was a treasure hunt! Sometimes we would find it right away, sitting on the shelf it always occupied. Sometimes we wouldn’t find it at all and we’d have to wait until the next visit. She’d say “well I guess she hasn’t laid any silver dollars for you today, hopefully next time”.  As an adult I realize her creativity, and how the story would change based on whether she had prepared our magic silver dollar laying chicken or not. 

Thinking on it even more I’m struck with the lessons that glass chicken taught me.

One small, creative idea from my Aunt Elsie helped me to learn about anticipation, hope, surprise, wonder and even disappointment. 

How far we’ve come from this concept of small pleasures. The idea of waiting for something special, instead of instantly gratifying ourselves with an Amazon cart item. (Don’t get me wrong the connivence of Amazon has changed my life.) The wonder of the story she created, and my youthful naiveté, allowed for a simple gift to be an extraordinary experience. I mean who would not believe that "Crazy" Aunt Elsie had a magic, silver dollar laying, glass chicken?

Share the magic in your home. All you need is a glass chicken, place your favorite treasure inside and let the fun begin. Be sure to tag us @loveshackvintage.ca on instagram with your magic, silver dollar laying glass chicken stories! We'd love to share in your magic you're creating.