There are quite a few things I look to buy when traveling, but an item that I often recommend to anyone looking to start a souvenir collection is the bookmark. I have over 80 bookmarks I’ve collected in my travels, and I hope to add more with future trips. So what makes the bookmark the perfect souvenir?

Portability

Bookmarks are small and nearly weightless. You don’t have to worry about how you’ll get them home, if they will break, or if you have room in your suitcase. Even if you’re traveling with carry on luggage you can bring them home. You don’t even have to really pack them, just stick them in an outside pocket or inside a book.

 

Cost

Bookmarks are cheap! It is only in rare instances that I have spent more than $5 for a bookmark, even the artisan-made unique bookmarks I search out. You can easily bring home a souvenir from everywhere you go without making a dent in your budget, yet they make a big impact (more about this later). This is also a great benefit because you can simply buy them as you see them – no deciding if you might find a better one later in the trip. Buy all the ones you see and then decide when you get home which ones belong in your collection.

 

Availability

While bookmarks aren’t in every cheap souvenir store the way shot glasses, thimbles, and t-shirts are, they are still relatively easy to find. They’re often positioned near the register in shops. Shops at museums and historical sites frequently carry bookmarks. Stores carrying artisan crafts often sell them. You can also find them at galleries and craft co-ops where there are sometimes bookmarks that are mini prints of the art carried in the store.

 

Servicability

Unlike a lot of souvenirs, you can actually use bookmarks in your daily life. They are great for marking your page in the novel you’re reading, but they can also be stuck in your cookbooks to mark your favorite recipes or in your Bible or book of poetry to hold a favorite section. It’s a lovely surprise to open a book and be reminded of a place you visited.

 

Uniqueness

I’ve never met anyone else who collects bookmarks as a souvenir, so you will be part of a small class.  Your bookmark collection will be eye-catching and surprise people who see it.

 

Artistic Quality

Although bookmarks are definitely made to be used, they also are easy to display. I create groupings of bookmarks in large frames and hang them on the walls of my office. Many of them are really small works of art. I have bookmarks that are quilted, pressed flowers, metal, gemstones, carved wood, leatherworked, lace, graphic prints, photographs, woven fabric, and even glass. Because they are so tiny, you can display many in a small space.

Start by picking up a couple of bookmarks on your next trip. Stick them into books or wait until you have about 10 to frame them. They make the perfect souvenir.

There are quite a few things I look to buy when traveling, but an item that I often recommend to anyone looking to start a souvenir collection is the bookmark. I have over 80 bookmarks I’ve collected in my travels, and I hope to add more with future trips. So what makes the bookmark the … Read more →

Last week I talked about how my bookmark collection started and shared my Alaska bear bookmark. I thought I would share another beautiful bookmark. This one is from Venice. Venice is one of my all-time favorite destinations, so it is special to me for that reason. The scene (of the Grand Canal) is hand-painted on leather. Leather is an Italian specialty. I love the view of the Grand Canal, which emphasizes the bridges that cross it and the tall buildings that surround it. The gondola ride we took through the canals is one of my favorite memories of all time.

The tail of the bookmark is a tassel, another Venetian specialty. Tassels are thought to have originated in the Middle East and later became popular in France and England. What lies between the two? Venice. Venice was the gateway to Asia and the Middle East, so trends passed through here. This is one trend that stuck. There are shops in Venice that sell nothing but tassels. I was delighted to find that at our hotel, all the room keys were attached to big, beautiful tassels, which you must turn in when leaving the building each day. I found the display behind the hotel desk so beautiful.

Last week I talked about how my bookmark collection started and shared my Alaska bear bookmark. I thought I would share another beautiful bookmark. This one is from Venice. Venice is one of my all-time favorite destinations, so it is special to me for that reason. The scene (of the Grand Canal) is hand-painted on … 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 →

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 →

I have a thing for sheep. Quirky, unusual, yet lovable sheep. They can’t be too big. They can’t have faces that are too human. And it’s most fun if I buy them on vacation. Here is my flock. Do you love it? It’s so big I’m going to have to expand to another shelf (the big blue on on the bottom left has already begun the migration). I have a silver money sheep from China (I did not bring that one back myself unfortunately!), a cranberry colored sheep I bought on Hilton Head, a cool one that looks like it’s made out of spaghetti that I bought in Montreal, the most amazing sheep with a face made out of a crossword puzzle from Vancouver, a great one with its head tipped from Maine, one with pink ears from Hawaii and many, many more. There are sheep made of lace, clay, cotton, paper mache, bristles, real wool and much more.

My latest addition is the fab pink sheep in the front right. My friend Melanie McMinn, felter extraordinaire made this for me in New Zealand. Check out her Etsy store. She makes all sorts of amazing, gorgeous felted creations, real works of art. I’m so happy to have one of her pieces in my collection!

I have a thing for sheep. Quirky, unusual, yet lovable sheep. They can’t be too big. They can’t have faces that are too human. And it’s most fun if I buy them on vacation. Here is my flock. Do you love it? It’s so big I’m going to have to expand to another shelf (the … Read more →