Other Than Chickens, What Do You collect?

[MROO]

I'll start things off with "Santa Claus." Years ago, my father gifted me with a couple of small, unique Santa Claus figures, saying, "I've noticed you collect them." Funny, because I hadn't noticed that at all ... until I gathered them all in one place. That little side table opened the floodgates. I "started out" with about forty. At last count the collection numbered over four hundred ... fifteen years ago!
They're mostly small, between three and ten inches. The littlest is a hand-carved wooden piece less than a half-inch high. The largest is a stuffed Santa advertising Pepsi. He stands over three feet high! They vary from abstract ceramic to detailed wood carvings to about a hundred tree ornaments of every make, age and style. Some Santas play music, some are articulated, many are too fragile to do much more than look at them ... but I love them all! Most are put away for the season, but I'll try to get some better pics as they migrate out of their boxes and tubs for the Holidays.
Here are a few that "live" in my typeset shelf. Oh - and we have a pretty extensive Christmas Music collection, too!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Cool! Other than aches and pains, nothing. I'm at an age where I'm trying to divest myself of "things." Hey, that's what we need here, a Marketplace!

 

[MROO]

Cool! Other than aches and pains, nothing. I'm at an age where I'm trying to divest myself of "things." Hey, that's what we need here, a Marketplace!

I'm looking ahead to that point, as well. I'm in the process of downsizing much of my various collections. I'm making slow improvement on much of it - our local thrift stores LOVE me, but they're getting mostly clothing, outgrown kid stuff, kitchen supplies and seasonal decorations, right now.

Sewing and craft supplies will be next. That'll take a serious mind-set adjustment, as I've always held fast to the motto posted on my sewing room wall:
"She who dies with the most unfinished projects wins!"

Rehoming my Santas and waaaaaaay too many dolls is going to be much tougher. They'll have to be the last to be "power-sorted." At least, by that time, I should have a place to spread them all out and enjoy the process ... at least a little. I'm afraid I'll need some serious therapy to let go of those.

So, what DID you collect that now needs a new home? If you say dolls or Santa Clauses, I think I'll start that therapy early!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm looking ahead to that point, as well. I'm in the process of downsizing much of my various collections. I'm making slow improvement on much of it - our local thrift stores LOVE me, but they're getting mostly clothing, outgrown kid stuff, kitchen supplies and seasonal decorations, right now.

Sewing and craft supplies will be next. That'll take a serious mind-set adjustment, as I've always held fast to the motto posted on my sewing room wall:
"She who dies with the most unfinished projects wins!"

Rehoming my Santas and waaaaaaay too many dolls is going to be much tougher. They'll have to be the last to be "power-sorted." At least, by that time, I should have a place to spread them all out and enjoy the process ... at least a little. I'm afraid I'll need some serious therapy to let go of those.

So, what DID you collect that now needs a new home? If you say dolls or Santa Clauses, I think I'll start that therapy early!!

I've never had the opportunity to be a collector, I've moved way too many times. Well, books maybe, but even those had a tendency to get lost along the way. The stuff I "have" now was mostly my late MIL's, stuff she collected living here for 60+ years. Out with it, I say, out and begone!

 

[MROO]

I've never had the opportunity to be a collector, I've moved way too many times. Well, books maybe, but even those had a tendency to get lost along the way. The stuff I "have" now was mostly my late MIL's, stuff she collected living here for 60+ years. Out with it, I say, out and begone!

OhMaGosh! I FORGOT ABOUT THE BOOKS! My books are all old friends, even if I never get the chance to read them again, I have a hard time parting with them. I've been giving many to our local schools. Some end up in the library ... ahem ... the "Media Center" but most go to classrooms. The public library doesn't accept them anymore. Everything's going digital. That's SO sad! I wonder if I can just build a wall in my sewing or living room. I can just tell whoever lives here next that it's "structural" and has to stay!

 

[Ext 918]

Cats. Not really by choice. My former elderly neighbor just fed them. This resulted in a massive amount of kittens, some abandoned. He knew we had 2 indoor males, so he started bringing kittens to me. I couldn't say no...

Fast forward to me and my family hand raising kittens, getting my residence designed as a feral cat colony, getting the neighborhood to help catch and fix the breeders in the neighborhood. It's been 3 years since we've had any kittens around. Thank goodness!

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

Multiple knick-knack jars on bookshelves I painted contain any trinket I've decided I want to keep but know I don't want to take up standing space. It's a way I can keep my small things from when I was a few years old without it being odd to others. I have a total of 7 jars of varying sizes. Insides are small plushies, beads, coins, you name it!