We celebrated my mother-in-law's 91st birthday today at her house. She, of course, grew up in the Depression and also lived with her grandmother from the time she was about 14 or so, and because of those experiences she is a world-class saver and re-user. She and each of her kids opened a gift bag today, and inside was a teddy bear created from fabric salvaged from things that she and my late father-in-law wore. One special bear was hers alone and different from all the others, and it was made from the suit jacket that my f-i-l wore for years to church and every dressy event they attended. My hubs' bear and his twin sister's were made from the dress that their mom wore to our wedding. Mind you, she made this dress herself in the first place, 44 years ago, then took the dress apart for these bears. Other bears were made from a later suit my f-i-l wore, in part because he wasn't about to waste money to rent a tux for one day for a wedding, and some were made from "every-day" pants he wore to town. One bear wears an old necktie of his; the bears made of wedding event fabric also wear "rings" to represent the wedding history.  Two of my hubs' sisters did most of the work of making and stuffing the bears; Grandma did the deconstruction and design. 

I thought maybe some of you might enjoy this story and seeing the bears before they went to their new homes.