Japanese glass floats and art glass.
The floats are in a large apothocary jar in the front window. I actually found this gorgeous piece of art glass at Costco. Reminds me of Chihuly glass.

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The largest of these floats is the size of a beach ball. The smallest one is about volleyball size. I am very picky about my floats, I do not collect reproduction ones. These all have barnacles on them!
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I have some in a Waterford bowl that my MIL found at a garage sale for $2. Fortunately the cats don't mess with the floats. Pardon the dust!
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I also collect fleur de lis finials and acorn finials. In fact, I pretty much collect finials. And in my kitchen I have funky chickens (roosters).

You're such an Oregonian, pesky :) Did you really find all those on the beach?! Amazing.

I collect 20th c. PNW (and the odd CA and SW) studio pottery (although I'd sure love to see that William Manker, idee...) esp. by women. I'm just starting though--don't have the truly big names, but definitely a lot of shapes/textures/glazes I like. I should photo a few of my display shelves just to give a taste, even though they're way overcrowded right now...

FireKing Jadite Diner ware
Tiki Mugs

old porcelain bowls, tole trays, and rug beaters

I went to bed last night, and thought "how could I have forgotten I am a chairaholic?" Then I come back to see Pesky's post and wonder "how could I have forgotten my famous balls?" ;D And the list goes on.....

glass fishing floats
vintage wooden back chairs
children's chairs

I collect yellow ware, antique Christmas ornaments, Jessie Willcox Smith magazine covers - you can see a bit of all of them here.

Also, blue onion canisters and spice containers.

Photos, documents, prints and ephemera that have to do with the block I live on: the earliest pieces I have are from the 1790s, the latest from about 1960 when the house I live in was part of the documentation of endangered properties.

Green art pottery with ears, lugs or handles, mostly.

McCoy: matte black footed planters
Harmony pieces from 1961

Keane prints, mostly large format from portfolios printed in Japan (I have about 2 dozen)

Design books (100+)

Art books (100+)

Danish modern candlestick (60+ of these)

Lamps (most of which do not work or have shades)

Single socks, apparently.

I have flirted w/ collecting drabware - it's so beautiful!

Prill - I love your yelloware.

I collect black and white photographs both old and new. I especially like pet photographs.

Rocks & feathers w/ my eldest son.

Old silver & mercury glass.

How could I forget my collection of white ironstone?!

Turtles! This candy dish my DH slip casted for me. I had a box turtle when he met me named Ossa. He wrote "ossa" on the bottom of this ones shell.
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I collect Santos, preferably those that are hand-carved here in New Mexico.
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I also collect Cottageware. These pieces, mainly from the Forties and Fifties, are marked either "Made in England" or "Made in Occupied Japan". I inherited my grandmother's small collection and have been adding to it ever since. These 2 pics show just some of my collection. My two prize pieces are the biscuit box and coffee pot, on the green and yellow cake plates:
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I collect crosses. I don't care for "cute" ones, and these days only occasionally buy very unique crosses, as I now have about 60 of them. My DH tells everyone that it looks like we have a serious vampire problem in the area with so many crosses! Here's one wall in a hallway with them, although every room in our home and all our patios and gardens have at least one cross and there's one above every door, too:
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This is one of my only crucifixes. It's from the Late-1700's in France is is a repousse crucifix. Because part of it is covered in crimson velvet, I had it framed like this by an art conservator to keep it dust-free.
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I collect Fruitware, although this technically includes serving pieces in the shape of fruits AND vegetables. Again, these are just a few of my pieces. I do use them a lot; they're not just for looks:
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And, this past year or so I've started collecting various dinnerware. I don't buy entire sets (heaven forbid!), but mainly dinner and salad plates and some bowls. I search for them at garage and estate sales, Goodwill and other thrift stores. I don't buy them for investment, but because I love to set beautiful, fun and cozy tables for my family and friends. I've made a great group of friends through this hobby.
Here's a set I use in the weeks around President's and Independence Days:
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I use these a lot all throughout Autumn:
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And, my DH & I collect art, mainly Southwestern and Western. We lean mainly towards traditional paintings, Indian pottery and statues:
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But occasionally, we fall in love with a great Contemporary piece:
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The last thing I collect are newspapers from important days in our recent history. I don't display any of them, but like to think my future grandkids will enjoy seeing them.
Reading back over my list, it sure sounds like my home must be a cluttered mess, but it's not. I've worked hard to keep things (except the art ) contained and I think I've done a pretty good job.
Lynn

I started out collecting flamingos but the 17" tall peacocks have taken over the mantel. I've gotten 2 new ones since I posted pics, the pink and aqua. I will be forever seaching for the mates and console bowls. California pottery, TV lamps, Icart prints.

vintage hat boxes (small collection)
gesso frames
old books
transferware (only old and only from England - both blue and red - not one pattern but various)
Johnson Brothers Friendly Village transferware (old only)
ruby red glassware (started with pieces from my great-grandmother)
old silver
old brass
old lace/crochet pieces (not doilies but larger pieces)
vintage pillowcases
salt cellars
old art with children featured (recently bought a framed set of male and female paperdolls)
old small clocks
old keys
old dresser and apothecary items
antique oak and mahogany furniture pieces

hmmmm everything I collect is old LOL

tina

Italian Florentine trays, they come in lots of colors but I only collect the deep red/gold and black/gold or just plain gold.

A question: where do those of you with multiple collections keep your pieces? I have several boxes and my DH made me a database to catalogue them (which I have yet to do), but I'm feeling already a bit overwhelmed by the numbers...do you all rent storage units? Or have carefully organized boxes in the attic?

Flyleft, I store/display my Cottageware collection above the cabs in my laundry room, although I do take them down and use them. My collection is safe up there and I see it everyday, many times, as we all go through there to get to the garage.

I store my dishware in the new cabs under my eating bar in the kitchen. The cabs run the full length of the bar. They're only 12" deep, but the shelves hold a lot. I also have two dish drawers that each hold a couple sets (don't forget that I don't buy complete sets; usually only 4-8 dinner or salad plates per set, as I like to mix them up when I set a table). Another 4 sets are stored in my hutch, with my antique set that I inherited, displayed in the glass-fronted cabs in the upper part of the hutch. My two Christmas sets are packed away until December.

All my art is hung on walls or displayed on shelves. I've pretty much run out of wall space, so we've stopped buying and will probably sell some of it soon.

All by newspapers are stored in our garage storage closet in a metal file drawer.
My Fruitware is usually displayed in a glass-fronted cab in my kitchen, but I do move it around, depending on the season (I don't enjoy seeing it during Winter).

I guess, for me, if I'm going to collect it, I want to see it. When I run out of room to display it tastefully, meaning when it starts to look crowded and messy, I stop buying and start culling, getting rid of the pieces I like least. I hate seeing messy, overly-crowded collections; that's when they start looking more like dust collectors to me.
Lynn

Books - mostly 19th century fiction. Lots of first editions, but any nicely bound edition (leather, marbled endpapers, interesting illustrations, etc.) might appeal to me. I only collect books that I would actually like to read, and I do read and re-read them.

As I'm a librarian I get first dibs on the donations :-)

Ditto what Lynn said. Most everything I collect is used/displayed somewhere in our home. I'm a firm believer in using what you love. Much of my old silver, ruby red glassware and red transferware are in a china cabinet. The salt cellars are there also. Some of the other plates are used in my kitchen or hang on walls. I don't have any of my Friendly Village displayed, that is stored in another cabinet and used during the winter holidays, etc.

tina

Ditto, ditto also to Tina and Lynn. I used to collect *just* to collect, now I use what I collect in my decorating.

Silver(plate or otherwise)
Vintage crystal/glass
Copper
Creamware
Birds/birdcages
Old books
Dog/cat pictures or plates(old or new)
Vintage furniture
Vintage linens
Urns
Lamps(new or vintage)
Trays(black)
DINNERWARE!!
Decorating books and magazines~new!!

I could start a *new* collection any day now!! LOL

lynn, thanks for your reply. Makes sense :) I was just reading a bio of Calouste Gulbenkian from the point of view of his art collecting, including acquisition strategies (fascinating--high-stakes international diplomacy)...he had so much, all of the highest quality in the world. Kind of like the rugs in the Vanderbilt Mansion in Asheville, except even more so--jawdropping when you really get a sense of the scale of it. And he knew and remembered each piece intimately, every detail of appearance, provenance...he had a professionally staffed museum in his own home to which he personally would go and wander around his masterpieces. WILD. I'm not at his stage LOL but there's no way I could display all my pottery at one time unless the DH and DD moved out :). Maybe it's time to cull a few or set up my private museum :)

Flyleft, out here in New Mexico many people collect Native American pottery, storytellers, etc. Although we haven't done this ourselves, I've seen many beautiful displays where people have run one nice, substantial and good looking, shallow wood shelf along the entire length of a wall or walls ~ say 24-36" below the ceiling, depending on the ceiling height itself. They display much of their vast collections on them, keeping only their prize pieces to display on coffee tables, bookcases, etc.
Just one more idea that I see a lot out here.
Lynn

Without really intending to, I seem to collect animal figurines. Now, don't go thinking Precious Moments -- maybe "figurines" is not the right word. But we have animals made of metal, wood, leather (a couple of small moose we got in Wyoming), and glass scattered around the house. I'm just drawn to them. I have a little bronze cow sitting on the coffee table; a bronze monkey sitting on the floor by the fireplace; another brass monkey sitting on the end table; ceramic sheep; a brass frog holding a bouquet of flowers behind his back; and so on. They're mostly small, and tucked into bookcases or tables -- not "displayed" as a collection.

I have a small collection of antique egg cups that are, again, animal figures -- ducks or bunnies. Just 4 or 5, on a small shelf.

We always buy a couple of interesting objects when we travel, and that might be my favorite collection. Most of them weren't expensive but they have great sentimental value. I have a tiny handmade-paper book from Florence, a set of miniature art books in a little box from a museum there, a miniature David statue, a little Eiffel tower statue, a small oil painting from a street market in Paris, lots of shells from Sanibel and Captiva... and so on.

Oh... and this collection is a little embarrassing, but somehow we got started collecting shot glasses from everywhere we travel. DH really gets into it -- finding " the right" one. They are displayed in a glass-front kitchen cabinet that's sort of tucked into a corner. It's a fun collection because they're so cheap, but I fully admit that it's kinda tacky.

Lynn, that's a *great* idea! We have to start work on the living room soon (as soon as the upstairs bath is finally done) and I think I will try to incorporate shelving that's inaccessible to cats, not even within jumping distance, to display more pottery (with quake-hold of course :)). We have some double-height windows, but of course I can't display anything on them because the cats jump from the mantelpiece over to the display cabinet and up to the upper windowsill...so we display our cat collection :)

(that actually reminds me of last week, driving past a house around here -- they have a big bay window, and the curtains were closed, but there was something in the window--I thought "what have they done, set up a store window?" but they had a really cool cat tree/condo thing, very modernishe (my word), and a cat was taking a nice warm sunbaked nap in it. Truly a cat display :)

(sue, I collected china animals as a kid -- and we have several studio pottery animals as well now as part of the collection-DD *loves* them especially! (she collects Dansk animals too [and studio glass paperweights, but that's not on topic]) There's just something about cute little animals that have been really well made.

I have always wanted to collect something and finally settled on Limoges porcelain hinged boxes. They are small and so they don't take up too much room. Dh got me this really pretty curio for them. CostCo carries them at reasonable enough price that dh can get me nice ones. Other people have given me some of the knockoffs which I love also. It makes gift giving to me really easy. I have them grouped like cats, story characters, places, baby, etc on the shelves.

Dh likes to get me special ones to mark events in our life or places we have been. One special one was obtained at the Atlantis in Reno, NV. It was just after 9/11 when I came across this New York box with the twin towers. I figured it would be nice to have. There is a really cute metalic pink hershey kiss that is for breast cancer. Paper says Kisses for a cure. I would like that one. My dh's favorite one is the penguin. It is really old fashioned, not one I think he would like best but he does. One really funny one is the basket to the left of the watering can. It is a basket of candy. I was an at home mom for a while and was always busy on the house unlike my friends who "sat around eating bonbons all day". So dh gave it to me as a joke because I never sit around.

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And yes, that is the box for our first best buddy's ashes. It is empty because his ashes were scattered. It hold a lock of his hair.

Dust

1) I misspelled my own word -- it's modernische. Knew it looked weird. It's German or Germanish LOL

2) palimpsest, I remember you mentioning your lamps and your Danish Modern candlesticks. Any chance of a photograph? How do you store them? Are the Danish modern ones metal? Or wood? Or both? I have a few old Dansk pieces...

Flyleft, what are you going to catalog and keep in boxes? If not seasonal (like holiday decorations), why don't you leave it out? Everything I've named is out also.

Adding to the list again:
Limoges, but only 6 pieces DD2 helped me pick out in Paris. I'll give it to her later on.

Do dust bunnies count?

I used to collect Longaberger Baskets and Pottery. Seems now I "collect" espresso m achines and grinders. Current count 9 and 7 (LOL). I also have a lot of green depression glassware and my fave "vintage" china - Wedgwood Torbay.

allison--it's the various studio pottery vases/pots/bowls/plates/sculptures I've collected. No way could I have them all out at once. I have two display cabs with three shelves each full of them, and they're also scattered among the bookshelves (I know that violates some people's sense of design, but I can't help it--it's a horizontal space!). And then several boxes. I admit, I do love the things. But I guess some culling is in order.

Pewter love English pewter and display around the house;
Dishes - different china patterns. Display seasonal in D/R breakfront, when not displayed, stored in pantry closet, my office cabinets and anyplace else I can take over:);
Unusual/different bowls and serving pieces;
Stemware;
Items from travels to other countries - most also displayed in the D/R breakfront;

Lynne - love your display of crosses, beautiful.

Matches!!!

I used to have strict enformance policy of only the places I visited but now I have friends family send to me. Anybody have any they want to send?? LOL

Interesting thread. I don't collect anything. Unless you count sea glass. I have a lot of beaches nearby.

And now, the hijack: prill, I have a couple of framed Good Housekeeping Jessie Wilcox Smith magazine covers that I stumbled onto. I had no idea who she was, but they are SO sweet, I had to get them.

I too love the way the crosses are displayed. It looks like a collection and then you realize they are spiritual too. Really nice. I did not think to comment at first but then realized how nice it really looked.

I also love all who collect pottery. I would love to collect something that big but just think I would get carried away. I have a neat piece though that I will not part with ever. It is a blue Bauer jug. I was at my friend's house after I had married just after highschool. Her grandmother who was from Oklahoma lived in guest house. We went inside and I noticed this pottery and mentioned how much I liked it. A few days later my dh at the time (highschool sweetheart) was a plumber and had to work at her house. He mentioned who I was and she remembered my visit. She asked that he take the blue jug to me. It is very unusual. It has spout and handle but no other entry opening. Just a round ball with spout and handle. Antique dealer thought it was really cool. I am thinking she got it in Oklahoma and possible right from the source. It sits on my kitchen cabinets up high.

the rest of my post...

I was told mine were actual covers, not prints. If so, do they have any value? Would they need to be the entire magazine or is the cover only sufficient? I didn't open the frames to find out if they are actual covers. I bought them to look at and they were cheap enough it didn't matter. Just curious if you know.

It's great to hear what people love!

I have a collection of Haeger pottery I gathered from thrift stores starting back when I was in college, and I've also collected vintage romance novels, including teen novels, from the 1920's through 40's.

I have a small collection of vintage fish-tank castles from the 1930's and 40's. I used to use them in my actual fish tank, but my fish grew too large so now I sometimes display them on my mantle in the family room.

I have a few pieces of Howard Pierce pottery, too, and there are two or three other pieces of his that I'd like to have, but I'm pretty much out of places to display things, even with rotating, so I'm not sure whether I'll add more.

I also have my childhood collection of dolls wearing traditional costumes from various regions and countries in Europe where we traveled when I was little. I keep them boxed up and put them on the Christmas tree at holiday time.

I'd love to see photos from those who didn't post them!

...and let's not even get stated on Christmas ornaments! LOL

I collect horse Christmas ornaments!

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Have you ever heard of the author Lida Larrimore, from the Thirties? When I was a girl, a neighbor (who was a retired librarian) gave me one of her books, "Tarpaper Palace". It was "ancient" even then, but I loved it . . . and still do. Over the years since then, I've managed to find a few more of her books. All are first editions and all wonderfully written. Just wondering, as I've never known anyone else who collected books from that era.
Lynn

kitchenkelly!!!! you took my thunder away LOL
So I will simply say:

DOG HAIR!

Add me to those that collect dust and I'll add cat hair.
Though I do collect milk glass, cobalt glass, crosses and angels too. I have a small collection of elephants too from my teen years. I do have some blue and white china too. None of my collections are worth anything. I just like them.

Just had to say, yep, dust bunnies on my Hummels ;-) ... sadly, the good Hummels are displayed on top of a TV set right now and the set of Hummel spice jars and display shelf (that my grandmother so sweetly started buying for me when she could no longer afford the real thing) is inside the pantry (haven't really decorated in there yet), so, sorry no pics.

Lynn, sorry I don't know that author. But I do have a good friend with an out-of-print book business, so if you've tried eBay to no avail, you could always try him. My favorites from the 30's are Kathleen Norris and Faith Baldwin. They were the Danielle Steeles of their day, I suppose, so they are pretty commonly found in thrift stores just because there were so many of their books made. I looked up Larrimore online and from the descriptions of her books that I read, you might like Kathleen Norris and Faith Baldwin books, too.

Hooray for lovely old books!

I, um, *literally* collect cat hair...I have a drawer full of little balls of 'felt' I've combed out of our cats and rolled up--go ahead everyone, say YUCK now!

I am trying to think of what to do with it. I know dog hair can be knit into things (very *warm* things); don't know if cat hair is long enough...?

I collect alot of things,Antiques in general furniture
depression glass in cherry blossom pattern in pink & green
oilers I have about 500 all sizes ,shapes metals copper,zinc,brasss etc I started that by accident.
owls,My house is 1700 so mostly antiques.Tins like old coffee cans etc,with advertising.Christmas ornaments,

Fly, I should start saving my Tibetan Spaniel fur for you ;^D
From the size of the dust/fur balls I pick up around our home every day, you'd think she'd be bald by now, but she has the thickest, softest fur! Personally, I can't imagine doing anything with pet fur, as it seems like it would be very tedious and complicated to comb and card it. If you do ever figure out a use for it, let us all know!
Lynn

Fly, what about using it as stuffing for pillows and comforters. Of course with all the cat allergies you might have to find a way to wash it first. But gosh with four cats I sure could make a load of pillows with what comes off my cats!

I've always wanted to find something to do with the lint from my dryer. I know you can use molds with the lint and a washed down white glue mixture for decorative items. And with all the different colors you could really have some fun. I wonder if you could felt lint?

Ah, lynn, thanks--but it's family only :) Seriously, I do know someone whose mom was extremely into spinning/knitting and she made a sweater out of their collie's fur. WAY too hot to wear, but fascinating.

I'm thinking a scarf? It's so soft. And justgotabme, we have three cats but only one really sheds visibly and collectably. Even though he's a shorthair. He seems to have a very thick coat and I comb him to keep him from getting hairballs--and just think it's a waste of -- something -- to throw the fur away. I'm sure I could wash it too. They're really soft felt-feeling little balls. Maybe a pillow, but then the softness would be lost.

There are lots of things to do with lint--wish I could remember any of them! But it's basically clothing-grade fiber...I'm not as attached to it as I am to the cats' fur, so we put it outside for birds, pretty much.

I collect friends and memories and, so far, neither have become a storage problem.

buyorsell, that is a festive tree!

bulldinkie, what are oilers?

Blue and white dinner plates (the plate rail is 24 feet long)
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And other assorted blue and white pieces
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