Do you collect anything
 

Besides scrapbook kits? LOL

When I was younger I collected unicorn statues, but once I had my son, he turned them into white horses and there went that.

I have a small collection of regular sized tea pots that were all gifts, but don't really collect them per se. Apparently, I am hard to buy for. LOL

I do love the mini teapots and the tea for one sets though and have an entire list of ones I would like to own. They fit nicely on my tier trays, so I while I don't display them all the time, I do display them at different times.

Do you have anything that you collect because you want to or anything you collect because other people didn't know what to get you and just started a collection for you? That happened to my sister. My sister in law started a Grinch Who Stole Christmas Village collection for my sister and has given her practically every piece over the years and never once seemed to notice that my sister never displays them. LOL

Tell my about what you collect and why. :)

Oh no - sorry your unicorns were all made into white horses!!!

I will have to check out mini tea pots - they do sound perfect for tiered trays!

Back in the day I used to collect Precious Moments, mostly given as gifts from my husband and son. They now set in a nice curio cabinet but I don't pay much attention to them, but, could never 'get rid of them' either.

My hubby and I like to search for and collect vintage Pyrex bowl sets and vintage glass sets in metal carriers. I also collect Longaberger baskets, most of which are used for storage in one way or another.

My mom had a large dog collection and my sisters and I split it up when she passed away, so I have about a dozen vintage dogs that I display on a small shelf in my office.

shot glasses. I have over 200.

And magnets from all the places I go

Recipe books... and now I also find recipes on a few favourite websites and print/file them away (I'm old school). I have more meal ideas than I could ever make in 10 lifetimes!

As for why - since forever I've loved the whole process from browsing/planning meals, grocery shopping, cooking and then eating it. The only part I don't like is cleaning up.

I have quite the collection of cookbooks. I did go through them when we moved around 5 years ago and donated some. But, I bought more since then. I think I haven't bought a new one in a few years, though. I'm always hoping to find one that is "the one." Not yet, though. lol

Years ago I seemed to be acquiring a number of bird decorations as gifts. Yes, I do like birds and bird knick-knacks but I wasn't asking for them. I guess when people don't know what to get you, they latch onto an idea when it comes along. Just yesterday, Nathan walked up to me with a small iron dish (for lack of a better word) with an iron bird perched on the edge. It must have been tucked away behind something and was a little dusty. He said, "Maybe we could put some water in here for the (outside) birds." lol That thing holds maybe 1/2 cup of water. I've never been sure what to do with it. Jewelry holder? Potpourri holder? I don't know. Which is probably why it was tucked away.

When I was young, I used to collect thimbles. Pretty ones and memento ones. They were small and easy to display and reminded me of places I'd visited. As I got older, I turned those thimbles upside down and started collecting shot glasses from places I visited. Fairly inexpensive mementos but they took up more space so I eventually stopped collecting those. And went bigger. Lol. I have a rather large collectible Barbie collection as well as several 8" and 16" Madame Alexander dolls and a few Hummels. I bought most of them before I had kids and have only added a select few over the years due to space and $$$. Forever and ever, though, I have collected sterling silver charms, also as mementos or related to interests. They are fairly inexpensive and take up very little space.
My dad has a huge collection of pocket watches and gingerbread clocks (and some tractors) and my mom has a large Santa collection so I guess it's in my DNA.

We can't keep anything breakable out because Noah (autistic kiddo) likes to break things. We even eat off of plastic plates and use plastic "glasses". :rolleyes: I am quite the geek though, and my husband and I collect Pops from various geekdoms.

I love to collect books but eventually end up out of space and have to get rid of some. A few I will always hand on to. One is "Miracle at Carville" by Betty Martin (Pseudonym}. It is the true story of a woman who found out, at the age of 19, that she had leprosy. She was sent to a leprosarium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After some years there, she meets, falls in love and marries. This book is fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone to read. It was recommended to me in high school and I reread it numerous times before I bought my own copy. The Hansen's Museum sells copies of this book. Hansen's disease is now what leprosy is called.

Gnomes! Stuffed gnomes, ceramic gnomes, items with gnomes on them (dish towels, blankets, outside flag, decor etc)
Also, books (physical and digital). I still have the old books from my childhood.

magnets and mugs :)

Magnets for me too. It's hard to tell what color my refrigerator is.

Magnets of places we’ve visited, I have them in the shape of each state, and then usually a fun one from the city or location we go to.

Christmas ornaments, that’s starting to become a problem. Of places we’ve been.

I use to collect Barbies when I was a teen and precious moments in my 20’s. I still have a few of both.

We do the Christmas ornaments from places we have visited as well. I have a 9 foot skinny tree and have to pick and choose ornaments now...Travel ones get first priority and then the older handme downs

I am trying to convince hubby I need a second tree just for the travel ornaments.

Accessories? I love bags, shoes, jewelry, etc. It's not really a collection though cause I regularly sell pieces off. When i was younger I had collections, but now I don't want the clutter of it.

Fridge magnets from places we have been.

Starbucks mugs/bottles/cups - It started with the 'you have been here' series mugs, but it expanded into any pretty Starbucks items that that are pretty or catch my attention.

Accessories with crown shapes or crown on it. Not sure why, but just love it. Crown pendants, crown shaped rings, even a Starbucks cup with a crown shaped lid...

Today I really collect scrapbook staff. But earlier I was a excessive collector of:

- Ferrero Kinder Surprise eggs
- edgar Postcards
- Diddle Mouse & matching merchandising products
- Panini Collector cards
- Barbies

... and this all as an adult! LOL! :o

Oh I had a lot of this and sold all not a long time (and nobody wants it lol) if I knew it I would have give it to you!:)

I think I probably a digital kits collectors (or hoarder)
I used to have plenty of collections when I was younger:
-X Files related stuff (I sold my entire collection some weeks ago)
-Stickers especially from Jolees and Sandylion (sold)
-Writing papers from different brands (Diddle the mouse was my fave) (sold)
-Anne Geddes products (sold)
-postcards from all the places I went (lost)

Now I only have Willow tree statues. :)
But my kids are great collectors now...:unsure:

Spun glass figurines -- spun glass is where some one takes sticks of glass and warm it so it like a string and then it is formed into objects. I have several bird ones, rocking horse, cradle, train, basket and several others. I should probably do a scrapbook layout on them.

Most was a present from my husband - they are hard to find now (guess learning the craft is not something people want to do now).

Jill, do you do tier trays too? I totally love them because they are festive and small. Just a little nod to the holiday or season or whatever. LOL

My mom used to collect all kinds of "depression ware" dishes and had cabinets full of them. Since she has passed, I have given most of them away as dishes don't have much appeal to me.

Longaberger baskets are beautiful, but I have never purchased one.

My grandmother used to collect squirrels and I have one of her squirrels. I don't do anything with it, but keep it as a remembrance of her.

I know a lot of people who collect shot glasses. Small and easy to keep tidy I bet. :)

My mom was big on collecting things and cook books was one of them. She had a ton and I kept some of them, but gave the majority away. I like to look at them, but I hate to cook or shop or meal plan. Maybe you could send me yours each week to copy? LOL

I love those forced collections, like your birds and my teapots. LOL And then you feel you have to keep them because they were gifts.

What is going to make the one cookbook, the one?

I don't collect them, but I do love looking at the Barbie aisle at Christmas time and I am always happy when we get a family with a little girl for the holiday so I can buy her one. LOL

My mom, again, collected Hummels. My brother asked for them, so he has them all, or not. I wouldn't be surprised if he sold them for the cash. LOL

When I go to Disney, my souvenir is always a charm for my Disney charm braclet. But that is the only charm bracelet I have, so not sure if that makes me a collector.

As I have mentioned a number of times, my mom was a collector or many different things, including santa claus ornaments, so when she passed, I gave things to whoever wanted them just to gain some room and order in my house. I can even park in my garage now. LOL

Pops? What exactly is that? Sorry, but I am clueless about so much.

I am going to have to get a copy of that book. Thanks for telling us about it.

My mother collected books too. But then she could read two books a day, so she needed tons of them. LOL

Gnomes are fun. I love the little stuffed ones that are perfect for a tier tray. They are huge these days, so I imagine your collection is growing a lot.

What kind of mugs?

Do you buy magnets as a souvenir or do you buy any that you like?

Actually making and continuing to make LOTS of the recipes in the book. The closest one I have to that is my Paula Deen Kitchen Classics.
Here on Amazon
All of my holiday side dishes are from that book. lol And some desserts. Compared to the whole book, that's a small percentage but it's more recipes from one book than I make from any other book. But, I can't cook that kind of stuff everyday. Too much cheese and butter and yumminess for everyday. lol Now that I'm talking about it, I should flip through it and see what else is in there. These days, especially, I need inexpensive foods and I like simple ingredients.

I have honestly never thought about getting magnets as a souvenir, but it is actually a good idea. They are small enough and you see them and the memories they invoke every day.

Christmas ornaments are so easy and fun to collect. My sister puts up three trees each year and still has some she doesn't use. Somehow in giving away my mom's things, my sister got all the Christmas ornaments, mine included, so I have been rebuilding my collection. I went with a "sugarplum theme" and no fragile ornaments because I will have grandkids some day and I don't want a tree they can't touch.

Get a second one! Especially if you have a family room and a living room. Put those ornaments to use. LOL

Totally understand about the clutter. I was buying a lot of bags a few years ago, but stopped because I tend to carry the same one. Now my DIL switches all the time. Since they have been staying here, I find empty purses all over the house. LOL

You love the crown, so you must have been a princess in a previous life. LOL I had no idea that Starbucks made teapots for one, but they have some cute ones out there. Expensive as heck on the secondary market, but cute.

Okay, so I had to look some of those things up. LOL I'm still not sure I understand what qualifies as an edgar postcard.

I do have a lot of willow tree statues, but they have to be ones that relate and speak to me, like the mother and son ones. I do have the entire nativity set which I just love. What kind do you have?

Had to look them up to be sure what they were and they are so pretty. But delicate looking. I don't think they would last around me. LOL

I have a few collections...

My Precious Moments... I had two curios filled with them, but downsized to one, and moved it to my bedroom.
I started collecting them at my high school graduation. The first few pieces were gifts. Actually most of them were gifts.

I collect an ornament from each place we travel, plus I collect Disney ornaments.

I collect lots of craft supplies... cricut stuff, fabric (lots and lots of fabric right now since I started quilting again), paints...etc

I have thousands of childrens books... preschool teacher and this momma loved books too.

I have lots of mugs... but I don't really buy them...almost all gifts...

I have lots of picture frames everywhere... so I guess I collect those too.




My hubby would say I collect clutter.... sadly, he may be a little right.

I used to collect quotes - I had a book and if I found a quote that spoke to me, I would write it down. This is pre-internet days lol I would search books for inspirational thoughts or funny sayings and I would keep them in my book.

Lately the only thing I collect is books - I keep buying them but don't have much time to read them lol

- dust
- open tabs in my browser
- bookmarks in browser that i never go back to

:D

Edgar postcards are free postcards that are placed in displays in various pubs and restaurants in 49 major cities in Germany. The cards feature advertising, art and even sayings. Over 29.000 cards have been published to date. Google: Edgar Freecards.

ROFL! Maybe :D Hopefully I was a happy princess then :wub:
They are expensive! That is why I only get them when I get permission from hubby, OR for the 'You Are Here' collection I grab it when we go to a new place that has Starbucks there.

LOL, my dad used to say that about my mom and it was more than a little true. I keep things contained for the most part because I grew up in clutter and only display a few things at a time.

I forgot all about the material that is filling my craft room cupboards from when I quilted. I haven't had time for it in a while, but I mean to get back to it, so I keep my stash. LOL

My son, who was a teacher at the middle school level, has boxes and boxes of "pre-teen" books that he has collected with the help of my sister. She is always buying him books for his library.

Yes to Disney ornaments! :)

I used to write down quotes the same way. With the computer, I pin them now to a board that I call "Words To Live By." That way I can go and re-read them whenever I want.

Thanks for the info. I will have to check them out. Are you German? I work for a German company here in the states and have gone to Germany on business a few time. Beautiful country. :wub:

Starbuck is expensive as a whole. We make the caramel for their drinks at my work place and they use the top ingredients, which explains their pricing.

I will have to check out that you are here collection. Since I don't drink coffee, I rarely go to Starbucks, so I don't know anything about that.

I have active collections of all those as well. LOL

I collect Precious Moments figurines. I even have one signed by the sculptor. I also collect books and photos. Way too many photos. Printed ones that need to be put into albums somehow.

When I was little my family went on a lot of road trips, and my siblings and I always used to ask for souvenirs everyplace we went...and I mean while we were passing through places on the way to our real destination, LOL. My parent used to let us buy postcards, so that became my collection. I have postcards for everyplace I've been or passed through since I was 8 or so. The nice thing about that collection is I've probably got a few hundred, but it still fits in something the size of a shoebox.

I don't intentionally collect bags, but I guess I have a collection of them. For years I was the kind of person who used the same black purse every day until it wore out. But over the last 3 or so years my life keeps changing, and I've been on a so-far-unsuccessful quest to find the perfect purple bag that keeps working for me even when what I need to carry changes. My mission for this summer is to sell the ones I rarely use (and keep trying to find "the one" rather than switching among my favorites every few days).

It is good to learn this. I drink coffee, though not avidly, but so far, after trying so many international brand coffee-shops, I found that Starbucks is the one with the most 'stable' taste of all. Of course, that is a personal opinion :D

Yes, I'm German. I live near Nuremberg/Bavaria, a wonderful old town.