Collector Items like. . .

My mom had a collection of over 200 sets of Salt & Pepper shakers. Remember those?? She had every kind you could imagine from wherever she had ever vacationed etc..

I mysdelf collected OWLS. I had them all over my home, all sizes and all shapes.

My Mom collected spoons, bells and musical figurines. Whenever any of us would travel, we'd always try to bring her back a spoon and a bell. She had a lovely collection of musical figurines, but the collection got split up when she died. We all took a few of our favourites, which worked out well since no two of us had the same favourite.

I used to collect wooden boxes, but had to stop when that's all anyone ever gave me for birthdays and Christmas - last count I think I have close to 100 of them. Thankfully, most of them are very small and have managed to find a useful niche somewhere in the house.

I don't collect anything now, though do buy small fridge magnets wherever we travel...I love it when I go to the fridge and see one of those magnets and am immediately transported back to that place and that time...lovely memories for each one (if we didn't have a good time somewhere, I don't buy the magnet, LOL).

My mom collected bells and thimbles. I had to sell most of them when she died as I had nowhere to put them. I started collecting black bears a few years ago and now have more than I know what to do with! I didn't think black bear items were so common, but I have quite the collection now and no duplicates!! Once people know you like and/or collect certain items, that seems to be what people give you.

Chatty, Eagle, and yonuh,
When WB and I went to the Great Smoky Mountains, we bought
a black bear made from the trunk of a tree, by a chainsaw artist. I collect cows, "Mary MooMoos"; my DIL gives 'em to me for Christmas. I have cow pillows and calendars, etc. My ex has an aunt who collects frogs; she has 'em everywhere in the house. My neighbor collects Santas, lighthouses and items with apple designs.

I collect dust...no two alike...it's an "ever-revolving" exhibit. You never know how much, what kind and how long they will stay!!

But seriously......I've collected tea pots, tea cups/saucers, buttons, bears, lighthouses. No more collections of anything now. Way too busy. Personally, I think "collections" are the stores' marketing ploys to make people buy more, more more. I'm so thankful that, in our business, we sell products that are practical. healthy and consumable. No one wants to find "somewhere" to put stuff anymore!

Di, I feel the same way now. I don't even like to go shopping anymore, because I don't want to be tempted. I have better willpower than ever before, but still...

Everytime we renovate a room in the house, we do a major clean-up and keep only a few pieces and give the rest away. I'm like you, don't want/need anymore dust collectors. We like the more uncluttered look...our decor is becoming increasingly based on Princess Lenora's theme of "Light and Love"...whatever doesn't speak either to us gets tossed.

Do you think there is a stage when we do collected things much like those Di mentions and then reach a place where only decluttering is an answer?
also others will likely buy they goods in thrift shops and the cycle starts up again
keeps the economy going

I look around my living room as I'm typing and see that most of the things are family keepsakes, music boxes and figurines that were in our family home for most of my lifetime...there's a figurine that supposedly represents a famous sea captain uncle, another that my Mom saw as a reflection of herself. I wonder where these will end up someday, but for now, they do provide some measure of comfort.

Other items are little things we've picked up on our recent travels. These days, whenever I buy anything new, I'm consciously imagining the space it will occupy and if I can't mentally fit it in anywhere, I don't buy it. And we've switched to finding small fridge magnets for our travel souvenirs now.

I do think there are stages, as if the things we collect somehow represent something about the part of the journey we were on at that time. Then as we move on, I suppose it no longer becomes necessary to hold on to those "time-holders"...I can't think of the exact quote, but what comes to mind is the notion that in order to find space within ourselves for new experiences and new thoughts, we have to empty out the old ones first. I see the decluttering as a physical manifestation of that evolution in our inward journeying.

Many times for me it takes removing an item to then discover exactly what serves me well just at that times.
Likewise...in any growth I have achieved first old concepts have to be set away.The important thing is to be brave enough to do away with anything...whether it is a teapot or an outgrown attitude.

It's an interesting discussion, MA. A few years ago, after we had cleaned out the family home, 30 years worth of stuff at the cottage and then Mom's apartment, I had to make room in our little house for many things that will eventually go to the nieces when they set up their own households (if they want them). I became the temporary holder of them. At one point, I was so disturbed by the accumulation of boxes and clutter, that I went on a cleaning binge. Hubby's brother runs a rather large odds and ends store in Quebec, and we brought many boxes of these things to his place. Many of those knick-knacks now sit in this brother-in-law's living room display unit, which is sort of comforting...almost like going home, LOL.

But about two years ago, I began searching through our house for a little knick-knack that my Mom had given me as a child. When I couldn't find it, I figured that I must have tossed it in the box during that clean-up and was disproportionally sad about having lost it. Then on one of our visits to this BIL, I noticed my little treasure on the top shelf in his kitchen. Well, I started crying and was embarrassed to say why. But my other sister-in-law knew (she visits us often and knew my Mom, etc, so there's a close bond there), and she mentioned it to this BIL's wife. So she wrapped it up in special paper and gave it to me, and I couldn't believe how happy I was to have this silly little thing back.

It now sits in my bathroom, and continues to bring joy for whatever reason, I don't know yet. But it also taught me not to be so quick to throw things away, to take whatever time necessary to allow myself to evolve to the point where I don't need whatever these treasures represent.

I had a brass teapot holder for the hearth inherited from my home.it was engarved "Oor Ain Fireside" a Scottish term and a song we were sung as children.I liked it and I knew it was old.

My husbands niece admired it and eventually I gave it to her willingly.I was 25 at the time.In time I discovered she had given it to her FIL who "liked it better than me" her quote.

I regret more than I can say..it had been my Gt Grandmothers and since doing family history I have recalled the item.

Mostly because these women before me had polished the stand I wish I could do so now

I do have a mirror of the same provinance and although not valuable it is old..and we all looked in this mirror to do our hair check our beauty..he! he! before school..work and family occasions.I wont part with it.A friend embellished it with stained glass fushia over the darkened marks..I have made a treasure of a family item

This niece became an antiques dealer both in US and UK..was remiss of keeping in contact until she needed us..so early on I learned that family treaures are but lent and should remain just that...in the family.
My husband found Wemyss ware local pottery his mother had stored she claimed that ..she sold it.as this had no sentimental value and it had been her Grandmothers it matters not..

every day items when past their use or need I do declutter.

I remember when I was young and foolish, I got rid of an entire
box of "Buffalo China"; many, many times I've regretted doing that. And then there was that pair of cranberry glass lamps I wish I still had. I'm tellin' ya, the dingy stuff we do when we're young. Geese!

This post is redundant; sorry!

My parents collected art glass - mostly paperweights - and antique cameras. After they passed away, we auctioned off over 1600 (that's right, sixteen HUNDRED) cameras. The glass items I am STILL selling, bit by bit, since 2004.

So I tend to steer away from collections per se. I have a few cameras and paperweights (just a few, the ones that had some personal attachment for me), and I have a lot of books, although I think I'll eventually donate them to the library. What I DO have, though, is scrapbooks. Some day my kids are gonna have to figure out what to do with them all. They can take up a lot of space.

Carolyn

I am iving away all my fat clothes, some never even worn. I feel as if they are now just junk to me and I never want to fit into them again.

Chatty,
I've notice lots of people give stuff they don't want to the
AMVETS, here. That is a busy store. And many items are new.
So happy you've gotten to the weight you like!

When we traveled more, I would collect one item each trip of native or local arts or crafts, always looking for the unique. I like supporting other artists. I also have a small collection of masks, but I'm almost out of wall space.

The items I collect are large and leaning towards expensive, so friends/family don't buy them for me. My house is my gallery, so I don't want a lot of clutter.

Divine,
I know what you mean. Clutter! A person collects items, which have to be dusted, etc.; then before long, you want to clear
it out of the house, to have neater surroundings. I've ran out of space to put things, so I've stopped collecting. I enjoy rare stones, such as: pink and blue quarts, and amethyst.

Give away what does not make a memory in your mind, keep the things that make you happy, and what your children are happy to cling to=- they'll appreciate it! And ask them what they would wish for you to hang onto. We have a teapot that was in my in-laws home, it was on the top of their fridge, ugly as hell. We have that now, and my sons delight that it was saved and now it sits in our kitchen.It WILL be passed on for sure. You gotta keep what speaks to you...and just shove the rest. We come into this life sans everything, and it is very easy to keep all the bits and pieces to try to quantify your experiences. Having lost all our parents,and the quandary you go thru there, I can tell you there is a lot of pain there, trying to get thru that stuff, and it was just from a point of generations- they kept everything and wonderful for that. Photos and childhood memories are worth saving. Always photos. Get rid of the other stuff. Keep it in your hearts and minds and share with the other generations to keep it safe.