What do you like to Collect?

I collect birds and keychains. But like alot of you, I hate to throw anything out. I may need it someday!! Like I've said before though, I will start getting rid of some of these things that are of no use to anyone! Famous last words. lol :)

Tim and I collect cobalt glass. We especially enjoy hand made pieces! We have a friend who is an increadible glass blower in VA and he has made us several pieces.

Erin

Erin my grandfather was a glassblower! I only have a few pieces left but they sure are pretty!!!!!!
My dad was the collector of the family just ton's of cool things like an old 78 record player, an ancient singer sewing machine with peddle, tons of old bottles and depression glass. There are a few old toys too!!!!!
I know some are worth lot's of money but I will never let them out of my site.
My sister and I use to hate having that stuff around the house but you know we love it now!!!!!
sue

ruby, Wow! That is really neat about your grandfather! Our friend let us spend the day in the shop with him and showed us how he made the pieces. He makes it all the "old fashioned" way. What an art!

Where is South Dennis? I grew up in Bridgeton, NJ (south Jersey).

Erin

My Goodness I don't feel so bad after reading some of the thing you all collect. I am known as a pack rat and my new collection is anything from Lord Of The Rings.
I will be collecting everything and anything from Harry Potter, I love the movie and the books, I have read every one of them.

My son loves harry potter, he has read all 4 books. He's 12 and I was impressed how quicly he read them and how much he liked them all. I took him to see the movie :o)
I bought him some harry potter stuff for christmas, hallmark has some %50 off.

Your son has good taste, I also went to see the movie and of course I will have to have it as soon as it hits the store. I know that he will be one happy camper come Christmas, make sure that you get pictures when he opens them.
Isn't it wonderful to see our children and grandchildren reading, I am so proud of him.

yeah, I'm very proud of him too :o)
I will surely take pictures.........will have the digital ready to go :o)

I collect Arthur Court pewter and aluminum stuff. It is easy to collect because I don't have to have a lot of space for it as it costs too much to have a lot. I get a piece every decade or so, but I like it. Not like I/m gonna will it to anybody or anybody will fight over it cause it is not enough to worry about, but I like the Rabbit style of Arthur Court.

Stamps, Coins, Buttons, paper Clips, Cricket pictures, knick-knacks, key chains, pens/pencils.... and a lot of dust and junk.

Roz, I started my granddarling a collection of the Arthur Court eggs when she was born, and now they have discontinued the eggs. We are really glad she has all of them. One base is the wrong one, store error, but we never could find the right one. I like the style too.

Dinu I make my own buttons from polymer clay for my Crazy Quilting projects.
I do love old buttons as well and I find the best ones at the junk stores. I will buy something just for the buttons and sometimes I get lucky and find some material that I can use in my quilt wall hangings.

Couldn't help but to bump this thread, odd
that it has been in the closet for almost six years now!

As of late, I have a thing for pewter mice. I've always loved them,
but they just seem to be multiplying around here now.

For some time I've collected stamps, business cards, etc. but
nothing too serious.

I've given up on, but have a large collection of white ceramic drink
containers. Typically one will see a buddha from Benihana restaurant
with his arms above his head. Who knows how many I have now, as
they are all packed away in the shop. There are so many different
designs and shapes. Ninjas, buddhas, cats, cooks, you name it.

One of my favorite things to collect, though I've pretty much collected
all but the very high dollar sets, are rosette and timbale irons. They
are the cast iron or aluminum shapes which screw onto a handle,
then dipped into a batter and into the frying pan. A few moments in
hot oil and they are left to dry on a paper towel & sprinkled with powdered
sugar. They live in a dresser right now, but I would love to have a proper
way to display them. I have a few which an uneducated seller put on Ebay
that are very old. I won them for a song! :-)

Accidental collections would include animals. LOL.

I have a thing for crochet and rag rug books, yet have never made either.
Funny, all this stuff will one day end up in a yard sale when I die. Then some
of it will end up in an antique store, given away, donated to goodwill, sold
on Ebay and end up back in another yard sale. Can you just imagine the
amount of money one object generates in it's lifetime?

KM

Good morning, collections...well I'd have to say 'fake food' grandchildren always test what they are eating as the majority of time anything that is out is fake...last Thanksgiving, when I went to serve the piece, each had several finger markings in them, all said they were checking to see if it was real or fake..too cute..lol

WUVIE,
Your timbale irons sound so interesting! Had never heard of them and not sure I ever saw one, but I have lots of old kitchen stuff and would love to use one.

I used to have a shop where I sold old kitchen collectibles and a lot of the time I wound up keeping stuff I got attached to. I havent had the shop for years but my kitchen is a testament to the 40's and 50's from the pots and pans to the dishes.

I wont say I collect, lately it seems like I just "accumulate" interesting things. How does the saying go...anything more than two is a collection....

Well then, I have about 25 advertising drink glasses with the red lettering that was given away in soap boxes and from businesses. I like unusual water pitchers,and glass or pottery nesting bowls ( its fun trying to find a whole set) and of course my books which line every wall in my house, cant count them.

I too think about the "estate sale" they will have when I'm gone and if someone will enjoy my stuff as I have.

I collect coffee mugs. Every time I visited somewhere, I always looked for one that had the name of the place on it. Then my family and friends started bringing them back for me. I love getting them from places where I * have been or a friend or family member * has been. I try to get unusual ones ... you know something different. I also collect lighthouses or unusual nautical things. I have a brass fish, a brass lantern, a brass sea shell, a glass fish and other such things along with my lighthouses. :)

I collect dragonflys of course, but other things are rocks, colored glass, sea shells, birdhouses, and hostas.

Rubyglass, Frogs, Fossils, Minerals, Gold, Marine pets, Tropical & non tropical plants, flower seeds, etc. Judy Showers

My wife and I inherited three 1885 - 1920 marked bisque dolls and one antique child's rocking chair that the largest doll claimed was her chair, from our parents. We did our homework. Along the way we bought another, and another, and another. We finally discovered that we felt ordained to collect and keep these kids and their toys. What followed is proof this is a progressive illness too. As an artist craftsman I soon discovered I could be a good doll doctor to fix some that just naturally found there way into our home with one illness or another. We think dolls talk in some way to each other. We could not have possibly with a sane mind found and brought all these dolls without divine intervention and some means of doll communication. The next thing that happened found us buying how to repair and restore books. One of the books had outstanding merit. Next I found myself in that author's basement for a week of professional doll doctor training. In the meantime more dolls showed up and a few antique same time period antique toys just seemed to catch our attention. After all the dolls needed something to play with while page two of our perceived ordainment revealed old toys in the fine print. In that school I learned how to make wigs the same way those old German grandpa's and husbands did at the turn of the century. My wife was a much better wig maker than I. All of a sudden like we discovered be had to many babies. Culling and selling only made sense I became the better restoration person. Mamas with sick dolls just started to show up at our front door. At a doll show in New Jersey a doll momma showed up and said........."within reason I would pay your asking to be taught what you know and do". Bingo.....she sat down and four days later we were great friends and she was a darn good artist-craftsman doll restoration person. Three years later she sang a famous jingle. "Take this job and shove it". She has been a full time doll doctor for about fifteen years. A hundred more students in Americas only two teacher doll restoration course with published books and video became a fact. More dolls and more dolls....they just kept coming so we kept teaching. I retired. My partner carries on teaching in Va. Beach,

All of the above happened after I had a stoke and was not going to be able to carry out my normal work a day job. That inheritance and my stroke were the best two things after the meeting and marriage to my bride who gave us two great kids. I think my bottom line was that I really like collecting knowledge and giving it to others. The dolls were just a medium we came to find ourselves working with. Our teaching found students from all over the world. I would think that there is a fair chance that a large percentage of today's doll doctors trace some of their learning to our presence in the field. You may look the school up if you care to. G and M Doll Restoration Seminars My partner now answers the phone or the Emails.

The moral of this report is.....be careful what you collect it could lead you most anywhere. " What your mind can conceive and you can believe you can make happen". We still have a few of those babys and their toys.

docgipe

I have mild OCD as part of my personal suite of life challenges, and an inner child that isn't a child--it's half magpie and half packrat! Things I collect avidly include:

seashells, the smaller the better (think my smallest is about 2.5 mm long)

small stones, particularly semi-precious, tumbled or not

toy snakes

live snakes (down to 2 now from all-time high of 12)

weird stuffed animals

Magic: the Gathering cards (I have the shiny version of "Thieving Magpie" in 2 different versions, thankee kindly, and actually own the original art to my alltime favorite card)

And, of great importance for the last year and a half, I collect digital photographic images! I had to stop sculpting miniature animals out of polymer clay because of as-yet-undiagnosed neurological problems in my hands, and turned on a whim to digital photography. Talk about your runaway trains...I have a store online, a photo archive bigger than the hard drive on my tower (bought a 500-gig external hd because I had to!), a factory-refurbished Canon, and an image count since 4-18-09 that is about to top 70,000. I mostly photograph birds, scenery, and tiny things--the macro on my camera is stunning, which gives me an excuse to buy the occasional handful of pretty rocks or shells while on my rare tourist jaunts to the west coast from sw Montana. Shown below is a single feather, by the shape size & color most likely from the head of an American goldfinch, that was stuck to the window of my mom's place in Oregon last month when I visited. Actual size of the feather was about 4 mm at the widest.

White porcelain is my bugaboo. And vintage fabrics and lace. And 1950's tablecloths, and really good antique french and german bed linens, and barkcloth and any textiles from the 30's that are Russian and...and and, well you get the picture!
Now that I am downsizing, I am at the point where I have to whittle this stuff down. Each time I handle the fabrics though, I get very nervous about giving them away.
And sterling silver sugar and claret spoons, but those I'm keeping for when I am broke and homeless from all this collecting! I'll be the lady in the barkcloth pup tent, selling off my silver to buy flowers and bread!