Do you have the collector's gene?!
Forty three years ago , when my daughter had her first Christmas, I bought a big copy of THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.
Every year it would come out and take it's place on the fireplace hearth to be read on Christmas eve.
Over the years I became fascinated with all the old and new copies of this book that were done by different illustrators.
That is where the "problem" began.....so I began collecting these and now have over 72 different ones.
I put many out around my house the week before Christmas but most stay in a large antique trunk in my guest bedroom.
Some are truly hilarious with strange pictorial twists on the old poem.
One of my favorites to read aloud is a more recent one:
The Night Before The Night Before Christmas.
My grandkids howl with laughter at the disasters that befall this family and I always get all teary on the last page.
Oh, I'm a collector all right. Won't even begin except to say that every year I choose one very special illustrated hardcover Christmas story for children. I display these in one room on tabletop easels and enjoy them enormously for about six weeks.
It is so much fun to pick one out each year. Some years, nothing makes the cut. I like books with religious themes of the season or classic tales like the Nutcracker but pick whatever speaks to me that year.
Everyone who comes to visit wants to see "the book of the year" and no, I haven't found one yet this year. Last year was "The Story of Holly and Ivy" by Rumer Godden, illustrated by Barbara Cooney. A great addition to my collection. Thanks for asking this interesting question.
It has just dawned on me that I buy at least one angel tree decoration each year and have done so for some years past! I did not realise that I was doing this until I saw a lovely angel in a shop display the other day and thought to myself that I had not bought one this year. Am I dense or what!
I do collect other things too but in a more conscious way. When I travelled, it was little bells. I accumulated a big collection of small elephants which were mostly gifts from an Indian friend. Then stuffed animals which were themed from countries and then given to my GGD with books about those animals.
I wish I had more room on my couch because I have started to accumulate interesting cushions. Twelve so far!
Cushions.....throw pillows?
I saw a small rectangular one today that made me chuckle out loud : Dear Santa, I can explain.
Another in the same vein: Dear Santa, how good is good?
Yoyobon, I think these are the same things, mine are usually about 16" (40cm.) square but I like sumptuous materials either plain or with attractive patterns. I change the covers and had some in red holly-patterned ones last Christmas but as I have given myself a Waverley merino wool throw in cappucino check as an advance gift, have sought out shades of cream, in cotton and suede materials and a couple of dramatic floral ones for contrast. The Harrods bear collection sits in front of the ones atop the couch! I like a change of decor in lieu of moving house.
Books - roses - fabric. These are the perennial ones. From time to time a lesser obsession will hit for a while and I want lots of hand-crafted-looking, old-fashioned Santa ornaments, or framed Arts-and-Crafts tiles, or something else in that vein, but after I acquire a few I can (blessedly) let the desire for more go. I take pleasure in being surrounded by carefully chosen, beloved objects, but I do not enjoy piles of clutter.
Rosefolly
Except for books and fabrics (love my stash - think of a 1940's typical sized clothes closet full of storage boxes of fabric), I can stop after a few of something. I have ventured into Santas, snowmen...wooden carpenter's planes, green glass bottles. I also swap them in and out, not usually having all the collections on display at the same time and sometimes using just some of each.
Yes, Rosefolly, books - roses - fabric, exactly. Fabrics is the worst mania as I don't really sew that much so can't justify that collecting craze. I collect anything with garden implements on it, fabrics, china, melamine, note books. I have yards of a wonderful American fabric with spades, forks, watering cans, seed packets, etc. on it but whats's left of it is a bit too little for window curtains so all I've made from it yet is a cushion. I wonder if I dare to divide it into strips along the length of it. Perhaps it will look too scanty although our kitchen windows are rather small.
I also collect teacups and teapots in a small way and I've invited 7 people for afternoon tea next Sunday which will make a party of 9, and an opportunity for me to use my 9 English teacups. My other sets are only of 6 cups.
I tend to collect Hallowe'en decorations rather than those for Christmas.
Children's books are often so beautifully illustrated that I can't help but thinking they're wasted on kids. I know that is a terribly ungenerous thing to say. About twenty years ago, I bought an edition of the poem The Highwayman as a gift for a young child. When I actually sat down to read it, I was horrified by its violent and spooky illustrations. Totally inappropriate for a child. As a replacement I bought a beautiful book called something like The Hidden Cottage (author's name is escaping me at the moment). This book concerns three wooden dolls "living" in an abandoned cottage. The illustrations were so charming that I ended up buying a third, less interesting, book for the same child.
I have met some very hardcore collector's of illustrated books for children.
When I have been looking for books for my 2 year old GGD, I have been amazed at some of the illustrations. I bought a copy of Raymond Briggs "The Bear" (put out for 50cents!)as I was so struck by the intricate drawings. Never mind the story although I knew he wrote the famous "Snowman".
Usually I go for brightly coloured illustrated books for her to look at but this one was breathtakingly beautiful.
After I wrote my last post, I looked up "sumptuous" which I was not sure I had used correctly and one definition was "costly". This would be incorrect in this instance! I get my changes of cushion covers cheaply at sales or from a shop which sells modestly-priced covers in luxurious fabrics left over from curtain remnants. I didn't mean to sound like I was bragging! I once got a round velvet one for 90% discount. A couple of the jewelled decorations were loose and just needed a stitch to secure them!
Mariannese, perhaps you could make your curtains of white or cream fabric, put a deep ruffle of your printed material at the bottom of the panels and then make a valance and swag across the top?
Besides books, I have a small collection of a few teapots and different teacups. I also have an assortment of small trees that I put around the sides of my nativity set. Some are green, some are large ornaments, some are candles, one is a gumdrop tree; but all put together I like the effect.
The correct name of the book I mentioned is The Hidden House, by Martin Waddell and beautifully illustrated by Angela Barrett.
Yoyobon, that sounds like the loveliest collection.
Ginny, Love your tradition.
I don't intentionally collect anything, but I might start a collection of those Christmas cushions.
What happens to me is that after a while I realize I've a collection going. I never intended to have a Christmas tree with all musical instruments, but one year I saw I did. And folks, the only musical instrument I play is an iPod. I have a collection of art prints of people partying - Renoir's "The Boating Party" makes me particularly happy. My better art, I finally noticed, is all of mountains. (A water color of Montmartre counts, doesn't it?) That is probably because I've done most of my buying on ski vacations.
To call my book and fabric stashes "a collection" would be putting an undeservedly refined spin on compulsive buying.
I forgot my cushion mania, perhaps I am a little worried that it is getting out of hand! My latest find on ebay (Swedish branch) was two wonderful red velvet cushions with a golden Christmas tree on them. They look so good that it will be difficult to switch back to the plain green cushions after the holidays.
Thank you, Carolyn, for the suggestion for my curtains.
Obviously I collect books, but I have a special collection of Agatha Christie books with Tom Adams covers. I also collect two types of china, Royal Crown Derby Imari and Royal Worcester Prince Regent, as well as having a collection of souvenir spoons.
So I understand the collection bug.
I collect travelogues and would love to acquire one for each country in the world. I imagine some of the smaller island states are going to be difficult.
I also collect owl statuettes and have about 50 of them. I will only buy them for myself if they are under 10 cm tall, but I have several bigger ones that have been given to me. I have cockatiels for pets and they produce dust on such a scale that I have packed away all but a few choice pieces of my owl collection, because I got tired of dusting them every other day. I still have not been able to find a completely dust-proof glass cabinet to display them in.
I also collect miniatures, which I keep in glass-fronted miniature cabinets. They include a few owls, but after my last trip to India I discovered that I actually have quite a number of miniature elephants, so it seems I have inadvertently started collecting those as well.
Netla, my collection of elephants was really only a few to start with. An Indian friend of my late husband met me in Hong Kong to show me around while I was on a stopover and asked me what I would like, in reciprocation of a gift I took him. I could not think of anything so mentioned that an elephant ornament would be fine. In the next few years he sent every kind imaginable, stone, wood, leather, brass,china, pottery... One baby, etched in a glass plaque.
Also other fun elephant items like tiny ones playing instruments and doing tasks like gardening. Overwhelming generosity! I finally had to tell him that I had run out of places to put them! I have given a lot to my GD who also collects them.