SoCS May 29 – Collect

Linda is the host of SoCS. Her statement for this weekend is…
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “collect.” Use the word “collect” any way you’d like. Have fun!
I have read many of the contributions to this weeks challenge. I encourage everyone to see how bloggers responded to the prompt.

In an effort to collect my thoughts before beginning to write, I pondered all the things I have collected in my lifetime.

 

I started my first collection on my honeymoon at the ripe old age of 18. We went camping and I purchased a set of salt and pepper shakers. They were cute and inexpensive. Little did I know at the time, that I would go on to collect well over six hundred sets. At first, I just collected S&Ps from places I traveled to. (Including visits to Disneyland) Once I began my collection, family and friends found them to be a fun gift to give me. I do have to admit to asking others to please stop gifting me sets. While I enjoyed purchasing my sets for many years, I have begun the process of regifting, donating, and purging some of my collection. Last year I downsized over three hundred sets, but if you look at my shelves you would not be able to tell that.

About thirty years ago I started collecting music boxes. They were frivolous, yet they brought me joy. I would search for ones that were meaningful. I remember a particularly lovely one I bought for my wedding in the late 1990’s. It was a bride and groom. The groom was stomping on the glass. A friend painted a yarmulke on the groom for me. Thankfully, my collection never got as large as my S&Ps.

When my mom passed away, she wanted me to have her Norman Rockwell figurines. At that point I decided to gift most of my music boxes to friends and replace them with the NR collection. I already felt like collections were taking over my oak shelves.

I have been collecting menorahs for most of my adult life. I have tried to keep my collection in check. I currently have about 30. When/if I want to purchase a new one, I gift one I already have. I don’t want to purchase more, but sometimes…   I have happily gifted about fifteen to loved ones. I also have one saved from my mom’s collection for each of my grandkids. She picked them out many years ago.

I have a collection of fabric in my sewing room. There are boxes of fabric sorted by themes. There are drawers of fabrics sorted my colors. I donated a ton of fabric over the last few years. I am happy to say, now I only purchase fabric if I need it for a specific project.

I have an enormous collection of scrapbooking supplies. The last few weeks I finally donated 10 years of scrapbooking magazines. I first told myself I needed to review and touch each magazine. Crazy me. I ended up donating about 20 bags the first time and about the same the next week. I really am trying to reduce my collections.

I have a collection of bowling balls I have decorated for my garden. It began with my mom’s passing away. I wanted to decorate a ball with her costume jewelry. I was addicted after that. I haven’t searched for a bowling ball in quite a while. Thrift stress are fine for dropping stuff off now, but not so much for entering and shopping. 

I have been collecting picture frames for quite a long time. My garage is carpeted for the dog and for crafts when grandkids came over. I had about fifty or more pictures plastered all over the garage walls. I repainted the garage a few months ago and finally took down all the pictures. I removed the photos from the frames and will either add them to my scrapbooks or give them to the grandkids, as most are of them. I donated many of the frames already, but I still have a stash to go through. Decluttering collections is hard sometimes.

I have never been a girly girl. I do not collect purses, jewelry, clothes, shoes, or make-up. I am working on reducing my collections so that when I move to a one-story house, I won’t have to move as much STUFF.