Oh, I love that little truck. Jen, I will tell you, never mentioned before. I was asking about a tea chest for tea not long ago.

I was throwing out junk after everyone talking about junk the other day and I found an old jewelry chest, probably of walnut, with little drawers maybe for earrings and rings, and a bag of tea just fits perfectly in the little drawers. The armoire side opened and there were little hangers, cute, probably for chokers, etc. I put tea in the drawers and on the door side, I sat 2 small containers for sweet 'n low and sugar.

I love when junk can be used in our homes. It is really very charming and I love your truck. I think I have one in there from kids' past, and I might have to put something in it.

Auntjen, I'm glad you like rocks because I like rocks too. I pick them up everywhere and remember where they came from. I actually brought some of the limestone rocks riddled with "Swiss cheese" holes from our old house in the Hill Country to the new one -- as if we needed more. And I've picked up shells and shards of old glass and pottery from beaches everywhere including an island off of Hong Kong, and brought them all the way home.

That old truck is a very cool treasure.

Love that truck - I love things like that - your textiles are soo charming...you have great style.

I like rocks too. We have a basket in the entry way for interesting nature finds - unusual leaves, sea shells, feathers, strange seed pods, pine cones, interesting rocks. I go through it now and then and some stuff gets thrown into the yard or put into one of dd's fairy houses (she makes these in the yard - the rule is, only natural, found, materials.)

I have a fondness for old garden statuary - an angel with the wings broken off, a deer missing one ear - I love to see these old cement pieces peeking at me in the garden.

And I like your truck.

Jen, is that anaglypta paper?

Did someone say rocks are "out"? (So what if they did.) I have them inside and outside of my home, and most are considerably larger than a post it note, or even a bread box. Everyone in my family knows that the best "soo-vi-neer" they can bring me is a rock from wherever. DH has been known to haul 30 pound stones halfway across the country, and even my grandson mails me interesting little rocks he's found.

And who would think treasured childhood antiques are tacky? I think those are *exactly* the kind of personal touches that make your home unique; it's the look Pottery Barn is trying to capture with their incredibly overpriced, "aged" accessories.

Of course, the biggest TCA we have around here is outside by the road...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:153400}}

Oh, littledog! That is precious! Is there a personal story behind that little beauty? If so, please share!

Yep, that's anaglypta paper. One of our home's previous owners put it up, and I'm not sure how old it is -- but it's starting to peel off in places. :-(

My MIL has offered to give me DH's little red wagon ... I think it's one of the Red Flyer type. I'm not sure what to do with it, but I think I'll take it anyway. Heck, it might even be cute in front of the Christmas Tree, holding packages.

Patricia, what a clever use for your old jewelry chest! I love it when something is just perfect for an originally unintended use.

How cool that some of you also are rock hounds! Oooh, sea glass is something else that fascinates me, although my only pieces are strung along with some other beads on a necklace that a friend made.

Postum, it's so sweet that your daughter makes fairy houses! Do you have any photos to share? I like old garden statuary too. I've got a one-winged angel sitting atop a hidden and unused rusted clothesline pole in my backyard. Also have a sundial that's all but crumbling, but I can't bring myself to throw it away!

Cattknap - thank you so much. What a kind thing to say, and coming from someone whom I consider to be a brilliant decorating inspiration, I'm honored! :-)

Once I stopped along the side of the road to gather the coolest looking weeds. I don't recall what they were, but they were growing wild in a field, and had little furry "pods" on them. Reminded me of pussy willow in a way, but that's not what it was. I brought it home and placed it in a vase, thinking how creative I was for using this stuff as a decorative accessory. The next morning, those little furry "pods" had somehow migrated off the stalks and were everywhere. What an awful mess that was, and a lesson learned to be more careful about the "wild finds" I brought home from there on out.

I'll bet those pods were milkweed.

Fun, interesting "junky" things - this is what all those slick decorating shows, with their neutral colors and sterile furnishings are missing. So often I have seen Donna Freeman make a homeowner get rid of everything interesting and turn the house into a colorless clone. It's the decorating equivalent of dumbing-down.

My entire family (incl. 3 kids) collects rocks from the beach near our vacation cottage, and I think we may have to move out soon because the rocks are taking over! I have a small collection of heart-shaped rocks that I have found on the beach, which is my favorite collection ever!

Rocks here too--since moving to the PNW we've become agate hounds like half the state, and love jasper, granite, thundereggs, obsidian, whatever else the ground or coasts yield up. We also keep beautiful pieces of wood, even small little peeled bits of bark, up to big pieces of driftwood (one of which is going to have pride of place up on the wall as you go into the Master Bedroom). We've even toted home other people's given-away outside rock collections--some AMAZING agatized petrified wood chunks--one person didn't like the rocks the PO had obviously carefully collected over years and years, so he gave them away on craigslist! We've got several groups of gorgeous rocks now awaiting my outside-remodel.

I have to chime in here, on the heart shaped rocks. My DH started it many years ago and we have them from inside and outside the country. I just love them and they always put a smile on my face !

Glad I'm not the only one who brings home rocks and shells from my travels. My DH gets mad at the extra weight in the suitcases but I don't care, it's coming home with me!!A friend of mine even brings home bags of sand from her different trips and has them in bottles in her kitchen and sends some to relative too. I don't think I'd mail to relatives but it's kind of neat to see the different colors from the different beaches she's been to.

It's just the idea of bringing home something from a place you went to or loved and conjuring up that feeling again when you get home that is appealing to me and rocks and shells are free to boot!

I LOVE that truck!! My favorite collectibles are old wooden tool boxes, and a few of them are so primitive that they look like they're about to fall apart. I use them on the dining tables filled with napkins and seasonings, and in the bedrooms and bathrooms filled with books, toys, toiletries, etc.

I also have some seashells in a glass jar - nothing special to look at but they were collected from the beaches of my childhood during a trip home to Florida for my grandfather's funeral.

There is something really solid about rocks. I too love them. Quartz, granite, flagstone, and of course diamonds. I went to the diamond mine in Arkansas, but never found a diamond. I am now searching for an Indian grinding rock to add to my collection.

At our last three homes, I collected rocks and built rock walls - you know what they say about lemons, if you have them make lemonade. Well I say if you have rocks, build rock walls and place them in the landscape as accents.

Anyone every see the movie with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez called "The Long, Long Trailer"? DH makes me watch it before we go on a trip, so I won't collect too many rocks and weight the car down. Ha !.

Below is a chair I just can't bear to part with. I bought it at a garage sale when I got out of college over " " years ago for $15. I put it in the back of my VW and drove to my apartment. When I got home I couldn't get it out of the back seat - I knew I should be able to because I had gotten it in - finally I did. I have enjoyed it ever since. It is sitting next to our bed acting as a nightstand for now as I am looking for a new nightstand to go with our newly redecorated bedroom. Not sure where it will go next, but I'm keeping it. I have all modern stuff now, but this is the last hold out from a different era.

Below is a quail among some of the "rocks" we have collected on our property and placed them around the flower beds (these boulders were placed by DH with his tractor as they are much too heavy for me to move by hand).

{{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}

That truck is fantastic--people around here drive vehicles that look just like that!!
We also collect rocks from our travels, and we inherited my in-laws' collection that they picked up on their own trips. But of all of them I really love the fossil rocks. One of my favorite presents is the following fossil I got from my husband on my B-day last year. I still haven't figured out where to display it because it's about 12 inches in width, but I'm sure I'll eventually find a spot. It's jammed full of those shells:
{{!gwi}}

Another rock lover here, too!! I have some special rocks I took back from the Grand Canyon that sit in my antique bookshelf. I love finding heart shaped rocks too, they go in my garden.
Cool "spice truck", by the way!

Our last house was built in 1938 by a rancher who had constructed the fireplace using rocks gathered from "every one of the 48 states." All kinds of rocks of different colors and textures, some of them arranged in geometric patterns. It was not exactly a beautiful fireplace, but it was certainly interesting. He must have loved rocks too.

Jen, Love your little truck, and how you displayed the truck
with the spices.

I too love old junk, as well as rocks. "I brake for rocks" We often go on rock hunt and have found
some beauties. I too have collected small rocks from all over the
place, in this country and out of this country.
I have them in our beach. Our son a couple of years ago, bought us back rocks from the French Rivera for our beach.

We have a rock that looks like an alligator, a bullseye rock, and one that looks like a frog.

Here's the frog rock...Yer looking at it from the
back, see the butt and the hind leg and the bumps in the back of the eyes?
This rock almost got away from us (long story) it has special meaning.

{{gwi:178906}}

I don't have a picture of the alligator rock, (it's covered in moss now) but our 'imagine' rock is another favorite. (that's the only store bought one we have)
I keep it in the beach section of our pond all season, and bring it in for the winter.

we have had this rock for ten years, as well as Sunny, our first fish.

I love all sorts of old things! I'm a primitive antique collector so I have a house filled with old tools, kitchen utensils, old blue canning jars, crocks, baskets, wooden boxes and crates. I just love finding a new piece and trying to figure out how to incoporate it into our house. The best part is finding a new use for that old piece! Others may consider it all junk but it makes me so happy! I love having pieces with history around me :)