I’m starting a new feature here at Putting It All on the Table. Occasionally I will feature an item I have collected and share something about it.  In a way, collections are like memories made 3D for me. I have so many stories and memories with everything I’ve collected. It’s time to start sharing them.

For my first item, I want to share the item that started one of my favorite collections. I have a flock of sheep. I like to buy sheep when we travel and I love to find them in different colors, materials, and poses. One thing I don’t much care for when it comes to sheep is faces. I’m generally not a lover of sheep with big googly eyes or human expressions.

My first sheep came from Maine – Boothbay Harbor, to be exact. My family vacationed on the Penobscot Bay every summer when I was kid. We always stopped at Boothbay Harbor for a day to shop. This little sheep is from one of the shops we visited. I must have been about 6 years old when we bought it. It sat on my bookcase all the years I lived at home with my parents. When I got married, it moved with the bookcase. When we had our first child, it stayed on the bookcase which ended up in her bedroom. That sheep has always reminded me of the shallow, still harbor at Boothbay, with the long pedestrian bridge that crosses it. The summer of 1976, the bicentennial, we spent the night in Boothbay in a waterfront motel and saw the fireworks over the harbor on that memorable 4th of July.

My husband and I went back to Maine for our honeymoon and stayed in a little cottage at a B&B there for a few nights. We loved the quiet little cottage, even if there were ants in the bathroom and grapefruit every morning for breakfast (a person can only eat so much grapefruit). One of the best meals I’ve ever had was lobster in the rough, at the edge of a dock, served with an ear of corn that was boiled in the lobster water, and a bag of potato chips.

Years later, we were visiting Montreal with our kids and I saw this ceramic sheep (which I always think of as the spaghetti sheep) in a shop in Vieux Montreal. Suddenly, I knew that I needed to have a sheep collection. I actually didn’t buy the spaghetti sheep the day we saw it. I thought about it for a few days and as we were leaving the city, my husband detoured and followed along behind me in the minivan with the kids, as I tried to retrace our steps and find the shop with the sheep. I did find it and brought it home and I also took back the original sheep from my daughter’s room (she was not attached to it) and my sheep collection was born.

The spaghetti sheep reminds me of the old streets of Montreal, the fireworks we saw at night, and the 4 person bicycle we, not very successfully, pedaled around the waterfront.  It also reminds me of my husband’s patient and giving nature. He encouraged me to buy this at a time when we had very little money because he could tell it was something that meant a lot to me. He drove back into the city and up and down the old streets, helping me find the one shop out of so many where we had seen it.

These two sheep were the beginnings of my flock.

I’m starting a new feature here at Putting It All on the Table. Occasionally I will feature an item I have collected and share something about it.  In a way, collections are like memories made 3D for me. I have so many stories and memories with everything I’ve collected. It’s time to start sharing them. … Read more →

When I put away the Easter decorations, it was time to do some rearranging. I get tired of always having things in the same place and in the same arrangement. When I’m bored, I go shopping around my house to see what kind of collection I can put together. This time I decided to pull together everything I had that’s white. I was surprised at how many pieces I found. The pitcher was my grandmother’s and I love to put flowers in it in the summer. The vase at the back right was bought at an art show in Naples, FL – it’s a special sculpted piece I love. The big platter was a wedding gift from my aunt. It’s Lenox. The two little vases in the center were bought at an antique barn and so were the salt and pepper shakers.  The two plates in the front on either side came from TJ Maxx!

When I put away the Easter decorations, it was time to do some rearranging. I get tired of always having things in the same place and in the same arrangement. When I’m bored, I go shopping around my house to see what kind of collection I can put together. This time I decided to pull … Read more →

My grandmother traveled to every continent except Antarctica (and I’ll bet if they had had the cruises they do now, she would have gone there as well). My grandmother was a collector. She collected Depression glass, cut crystal, milk glass, spoons from her travels, and dolls from her travels. The dolls have a special place in my heart and I hope to soon be posting about them. She left all of them to me and they have been in a cardboard box in my closet, waiting for a case to display them in (they’ll be waiting a bit longer as I haven’t found anything yet that is right). I recently decided to move them to a plastic storage box. When I did so, at the bottom of the doll box, there was a piece of tissue paper. I picked it up and it had some weight to it. I unwrapped it and found this spoon.

It’s a deep-bowled spoon, the kind used in Chinese restaurants for soup. I’m guessing she brought it back from Japan since that is the only country I know of that she visited where she might have gotten something like this. There are no markings on the back.

I was delighted to find one more gift from her after all these years. Moving the dolls had made me miss her terribly and this gave me one more link to her.  I’ll never know for certain where the spoon came from, but I’ll always cherish it.

My grandmother traveled to every continent except Antarctica (and I’ll bet if they had had the cruises they do now, she would have gone there as well). My grandmother was a collector. She collected Depression glass, cut crystal, milk glass, spoons from her travels, and dolls from her travels. The dolls have a special place … Read more →

Today I did my changeover from St. Patrick’s Day decorations to Easter and decided it was time to move some other things around. Although I have a collection of antique blue glass that was my grandmother’s, it is the absolute wrong color on this runner, so instead, I went shopping in my house (which is always fun – trying to see the things you own in a new way) and pulled together different blue pieces for this display. The little blue pieces in the front sides are called Caprice glass: this is my new obsession. I love the color and the swirls in the pattern. The blue cake plate on the left was a gift from my daughter a few years ago. She found it at an antique shop. I just bought the stacked blue cake plates at TJ Maxx for a song. The vase with the squares is from Murano, Italy. The hydrangea plate is from Capri, Italy. The turquoise vase is from Bath, England. The runner is from Sorrento, Italy. I’m not sure where the blue round vase in the front came from – that was a gift.

I’m still looking for a paint color to replace the pink in this room. I hate it. But I can’t find anything that’s right.

Today I did my changeover from St. Patrick’s Day decorations to Easter and decided it was time to move some other things around. Although I have a collection of antique blue glass that was my grandmother’s, it is the absolute wrong color on this runner, so instead, I went shopping in my house (which is … Read more →

My mom and I each have a gallery in our minds. The galleries are beautiful, with perfect lighting, neutral walls, and welcoming spaces. And they are completely filled with things we didn’t buy on our trips, but we wish we had.  (If you were wondering where I got the travel shopping bug from, it’s definitely from my mom).

My mom’s gallery includes a carved leather coat from Calgary and an Inuit bear from Calgary. There is also a sculpture from New Orleans.

My own gallery is becoming quite large. I may need to expand to a larger space and hire a curator. The gallery includes a stunning stone mosaic (called intarsia: see Wiki page here with some images of this beautiful craft) I saw in Florence (I just couldn’t spend $500 on it!) and a seascape and dunes painting I just saw in Florida (the artist’s web site is here, with one similar painting – again, it was lovely but just more than I could spend). There were beautiful, crazy-expensive quilts made by the Amish in Sarasota, FL and also in Chautauqua County, NY that I would have loved to own (I get a little crazy over quilts. My grandmother had several made by her mother. There was one made up of pieces of dresses my grandmother used to wear as a child and she used to point to the pieces and tell me about the clothes. I guess quilts take me back to that moment).

I still remember a vase covered in turquoise I saw in a shop in Santa Fe. It was stunning, but it was ungodly expensive and the inside was black, which didn’t excite me. That doesn’t stop me from wishing I had bought it.

A watermelon

tourmaline necklace from Maine and a vase painted with the New Mexico sky were on the list until my husband bought them for me as Christmas gifts after our trips. I have longed for larimar jewelry after seeing a piece on a trip to Colorado (of all places, since larimar is from the Dominican Republic: I actually just took this one out of the gallery when I bought a necklace in St. Martin — details in an upcoming post about that trip!).

Then there is the Capri watch. I saw this in a free magazine we got on the train in Italy then I saw it in a jewelry store on Capri. I fell in love when I first saw it in the magazine (the woman across the aisle from me did too – she held it up to show her husband). I had trouble in the store finding one that was right. I don’t think they had the one pictured here – it might be the perfect one. Note to family: hint, hint.

Then there was the small table, which was almost a step stool but not quite, that was made of inlaid wood showing a mangrove tree. We saw this in a gallery in Matlacha, Pine Island, Florida. I literally went back to that store 3 times to look at it. The kids gave up and sat in the car. We moved it into the light, out of the light, next to chairs and all around the shop. In the end, we didn’t buy it because I just couldn’t picture where I would put it.

In Jerome, Arizona, I saw an amazing puzzle box of a chicken I should have bought for my mother, who collects chickens. That one haunts me. Lesson to self: do not allow husband to talk you out of things you are certain of!

At the SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) shop in Savannah, GA I saw a huge, beautiful multi-media painting. It had pieces of music glued into the painting along with things like buttons and other items I can’t remember anymore. It was stunning but where on earth would I put something so huge? There was a mosaic mirror frame made of broken pottery and with Scrabble letters used to spell out words in it that I saw on Captiva Island, Florida. At the time, I couldn’t picture where I would put it (my solution to this was I made my own mosaic frame for a bathroom mirror, but I didn’t include the Scrabble letters).

It actually gives me great satisfaction to write about the gallery in mind. Actually recording the items here somehow makes them more real for me!

Do you have a gallery in your mind? What’s in it?

My mom and I each have a gallery in our minds. The galleries are beautiful, with perfect lighting, neutral walls, and welcoming spaces. And they are completely filled with things we didn’t buy on our trips, but we wish we had.  (If you were wondering where I got the travel shopping bug from, it’s definitely … Read more →

One of the hottest tickets in Naples Florida these days is The Royal Scoop, a local ice cream shop that now has two locations, but the homemade ice cream is also sold in shops and restaurants around the area. We stopped in to try the ice cream recently. I’ve never seen such an operation! You wait in line to order. Then, like a fast food restaurant, your order is put into their system and you’re shuffled off to wait at another counter for your order. It didn’t feel very efficient and several orders seemed to be coming out wrong as we waited (and waited). The line was gigantic and the place felt like it needed a good scrub down. The ice cream was good, but it wasn’t worth the wait.

However, while we waited, I found myself enchanted with their display of ice cream scoops. Some were quite old while others were whimsical and fun. It got me thinking about how interesting it would be to collection one type of kitchen tool and display it. I do have one grandmother’s rolling pin displayed in my kitchen and the other grandmother’s tin liquid measuring cup, but it might be fun to expand those collections. At one time I had a display of antique cookie cutters on a wall in the kitchen at our old house. It was a nice display and an inexpensive collection to add to (you can pick up old cookie cutters at flea markets).

Do you have any kitchen tool collections?

One of the hottest tickets in Naples Florida these days is The Royal Scoop, a local ice cream shop that now has two locations, but the homemade ice cream is also sold in shops and restaurants around the area. We stopped in to try the ice cream recently. I’ve never seen such an operation! You … Read more →

If you read my blog, you know I like to decorate for many holidays. It gives me something to look forward to and gives me a little bit of festivity throughout the year.  I like to decorate for Valentine’s Day because I love pink (no red hearts here!).  In addition to my heart shaped items, I like to put out my pink glass for the holiday.

I was digging around in my linens, wishing I had a Valentine runner, but I realized I have tons of handmade doilies inherited from my grandmothers. I also found a

table scarf my grandmother embroidered. These look just perfect with my glass and I’m so happy to have something they made by hand I can display. Many of my pink items belonged to one of my grandmothers, so it is especially nice to be able to display them this way.

If you read my blog, you know I like to decorate for many holidays. It gives me something to look forward to and gives me a little bit of festivity throughout the year.  I like to decorate for Valentine’s Day because I love pink (no red hearts here!).  In addition to my heart shaped items, … Read more →

In addition to the new decorations, which I shared earlier, my existing collections have undergone some changes, mostly because last year I received some new items for them as gifts and did not display them until this year.

In case you haven’t gotten the hint, I’ve got a thing for trees, and I’ve also got a thing for pink. I’ve been working hard to update my collections to reflect those obsessions!

We have a huge mantel to decorate for the holidays, and I used to struggle because it needed height. My collection of tree toppers has solved that problem. They look wonderful grouped in front of the mirror. Last year we added some new pre-lit garland and I found two boxes of this amazing pink garland at an antique store that has made it gorgeous. This year I added some clip-on pink roses that have shiny ice or dewdrops on them. I think the mantel is looking fabulous. I would like to add a few more pink tree toppers to complete the collection.

I have a wonderful little collection of trees that sits on my grandmother’s chest in my dining room. That collection has been expanding as well and I received some beautiful ones to add to it last year. At this point, the chest is full, so unless I find something fabulous, I will need to put the brakes on this collection!

In my quest to update the dining room, I created this little display on a side chest as well. And my teacup collection has been changing as well. My grandmother bought me one teacup each year for my December birthday. When I was a child, it was a pretty horrible gift. I didn’t drink tea, I didn’t like them and didn’t care. As an adult, I still don’t really drink a lot of tea (and when I do, I prefer a mug to a tiny cup!), but I do like having a collection she started for me. One problem is most Christmas china tea cups are red. And, as I mentioned, I don’t do red, I do pink (I do have red in the kitchen, where it looks fine with the blue theme, and I have cranberry in the family room). My challenge in recent years has been to find cups that are Christmas, but are pink (or at least not red). My mom had a couple handpainted for me, which added to the collection. As you can see, I’m still working on getting the red out (so to speak!).

In addition to the new decorations, which I shared earlier, my existing collections have undergone some changes, mostly because last year I received some new items for them as gifts and did not display them until this year. In case you haven’t gotten the hint, I’ve got a thing for trees, and I’ve also got … Read more →

Having a collection is not just about finding, buying, or creating stuff (the thrill of the hunt). It’s also about arranging, protecting, and thoughtfully caring for the collection. If something is important enough to spend your time seeking out and buying, then you have to be prepared to devote some time to caring for it and keeping it in good condition.

Labeling

This is one job I have been trying to be better at. When my world traveler grandmother passed away at age 99, her home contained many fascinating treasures, but unfortunately we didn’t know where many of them actually came from. While I appreciate inheriting the collection of dolls she bought on her travels, I just wish I knew for certain where she bought each one. I’ve begun trying to label my own treasures, or to take photos and label those, so that there is some chance that they will be identifiable in the future. I wish I had done this when I started my bookmark collection. I have over 60 at this point on display in my office and while I can identify where most are from, there are some that I’m a bit hazy on at this point! I have the same problem with the sheep in my collection. Over the years, I’ve forgotten where some came from.

If you label your treasured items, include details such as when and where you bought them,

as well as any special information (such as “bought on our honeymoon” or information about special materials or craftmanship).

I got a P-Touch machine as a gift recently and will be using that to do some labeling.

Protecting

I am embarrassed to admit that the doll collection sits in a cardboard box in a closet at our house. Someday I will buy a case and stands, after I have someone repair the costumes that are falling apart.

Having a collection is about preserving it and honestly, that can be awfully expensive. I have

antique glass that was my grandmother’s on shelves in our living room, but they get so dusty and I am afraid of breaking them. I would love to have glass shelves with glass doors and lighting to keep these in.

Protecting and displaying your collection doesn’t always have to be an expensive proposition however. Lucite boxes are inexpensive and can be bought at craft shops. Think creatively about how you could show off your collection. An inexpensive shelf or bookcase can be a designated area. A dab of museum gel will keep things in place on the shelf. A kitchen cupboard with the door removed provides a special niche for a display. You could designate a side table in a corner as a display area. Some collections work nicely gathered on the floor in front of a fireplace or in a corner. Others can be hung on a wall, or placed on each step of a staircase. I display my bookmarks on colored paper inside inexpensive frames with the glass removed.

Cleaning

Keeping your collection looking good means taking the time to keep it clean. This can be a challenge since it can mean a lot of dusting! Keeping your collection behind glass doors or in display cases can really cut down on cleaning time.

It’s also important to know how to properly care for your items. I have a sweet grass basket that was handmade in the Low Country of South Carolina. Every year, I soak it in water then let it dry in the sun, as I was directed by the shop owner.  Find out the proper way to care for your collection.

When you are cleaning breakables, I find that it is often easier to take them all off the shelf or out of the case and put them on a table and then clean them one by one. It seems that when you are reaching in past other items that you are most likely to knock something over or break it.

Organizing

I am spatially challenged, so I have a hard time organizing things so that they look right.

Fortunately, my husband makes up for my deficits and between us we’re able to sort things out. It really makes a big difference how you arrange a grouping of items. One way and it just looks like a bunch of stuff. Another way and suddenly it looks like an interesting collection. These are some things to keep in mind:

• What’s behind it. The background color of the wall, shelf, or case greatly impacts how your collection stands out. Aim for a contrast: light-colored items against a darker background or vice versa. I painted the inside of my living room shelves different colors to better show off my glass.
• What’s under it. A table runner, artfully arranged piece of fabric, or metallic paper underneath it can all help to focus the eye on the collection as a group, and also to help it stand out. Stands, holders and other items that allow your collection to stand upright will make it more visible and visually pleasing.
• Lighting. Almost everything looks better when lit. Cabinets with lights built in them are ideal. If not, try a stick-up battery-powered light for some quick illumination.
• Keep it clean. Dusty collections look bedraggled. Keep it dusted and polished as much as possible.
• Group like items together. Sometimes it’s best to organize your collection into types and display similar pieces together (for example, a group of round baskets put together within your larger basket collection makes for even more cohesiveness).
• Organize by color. You may wish to group things by color for a high impact visual statement.
• Pay attention to height. Taller items in the back, shorter in the front allow for maximum visibility.

Moving Collections

Sometimes you get tired of a collection, which can be hard to admit if you’ve spent years creating it. I have moments when I am ready to pack my teacups away and do something else with that wall in my dining room. I did decide to be done with glass fruit years ago, and although I have inherited a collection lace doilies those are packed away. If it no longer makes you happy, why are you looking at it?

I rotate some collections to keep things interesting. My grouping of pink glass comes out for Valentine’s Day. Blue pottery emerges for the summer.  And of course, holiday collections come and go with the calendar as well. If you look at something too long, it becomes stale. Moving things around keeps it fun and interesting.

Having a collection is not just about finding, buying, or creating stuff (the thrill of the hunt). It’s also about arranging, protecting, and thoughtfully caring for the collection. If something is important enough to spend your time seeking out and buying, then you have to be prepared to devote some time to caring for it … Read more →

We take tons and tons of photos on vacation. In the past five or six years, I have concentrated on trying to get a really good photo of the four us in whatever fantastic location we are at. We have photos of us eating shave ice in Hawaii, at the rim of the Grand Canyon, in front of a castle in England, in the Colosseum, in front of a glacier in Alaska and lots more. I pick a really good photo from each trip and frame it. However, my shelves and tabletops quickly became cluttered.

For a long time I’ve wanted to do a staircase display of photos and finally I realized that if I gathered all of these photos together from around the house, they made a rather grand collection. Fortunately, the frames they were in worked together. We had an empty wall along part of our staircase, so we got to work.

First we photocopied the photos in the frames and cut them to size. We were then able to tape these up on the wall and move them around to find the perfect arrangement. Then we had to do the hard part – remove the stands from the backs of the photos, so they would lie flat on the wall. That was a commitment because now they can only be displayed on a wall.

Next, we decided to make our lives easy and we used the new 3M removable velcro attachments for wall hangings. One piece goes on the frame and one goes on the wall and they velcro together. The sticky stuff comes off if you pull on a tab, without damaging the wall at all. Miraculous. It also allows for those “oops” moments when you need to correct a mistake.

I am hoping to be able to add to this collection of photos, so being able to remove them and rearrange if I add new photos really helps.

We take tons and tons of photos on vacation. In the past five or six years, I have concentrated on trying to get a really good photo of the four us in whatever fantastic location we are at. We have photos of us eating shave ice in Hawaii, at the rim of the Grand Canyon, … Read more →