Decorated for the holidays here, but our paper moose is there year round. Started as a half-joke 6 years ago. Still there....

One more (I could post many!).

Lol porkandham - LOVE the yacht sign! (I really wanted an old giant BBQ sign in atlanta - the Q shack it belonged to even said I could take it but DH refused to help me load it. I am pretty sure that I am still mad at him about this.)

Love seeing everyone's treasures!

Thank you for remembering the walking sticks in my foyer....

I've posted this before as well, historic Wm Morris wall paper panels in the DR.

Hats hung stacked.

This is a very old pic because we have painted the paneling and gotten rid of the blinds, but the Italian platter remains. It was a wedding gift from my former boss and his wife.

porkandham, I love your rooms!

There are a lot of great ideas here! I don't have any pictures of it, but we hang decorative trivets on our wall in the dining room, and pull them off when we need to use them on the table.

I searched high a low for something of interest that was not a painting. Found these salvaged antique tin ceiling tiles on line. The year and place where they came from is written on the back of each. They were not repainted or touched up from when salvaged.
{{!gwi}}

These angels were given to me in memory of my oldest son who passed away from colon cancer at age 27. Each angel has a message engraved on its wings. I took the glass and picture out of a frame and used it to frame my angels.
{{!gwi}}

Badgergirl, I'm so sorry, but what a wonderful tribute to your beautiful son.

Porkandham, the bedroom with the twin beds is my ideal guest bedroom!

I've shown this before, I'm too lazy to get up and take a new picture of something. lol.

This was during my quilting phase.

A metal piece given to me by a friend. I believe it is Guatemalan.

This is a very old quilt by my great grandmother of all the state flowers

Mementos from Iraq

Have no idea, but he's cute!

Old bookends

Old tin Proctor and Gamble box from my great aunt

Old fans

A doll that my grandmother got for perfect attendance in grade school

And one of my favorite pictures I took on a cruise to Alaska a few years ago. My butt looks about like this now, so I couldn't pass it up!

Merry Christmas everyone. This is a fun and interesting post. And even though I don't post a lot, I enjoy reading the decorating forum every day.

I love art in all forms, including non-art art (LOL).

In our dining room I have a wooden metate (made to grind corn into cornmeal on) that was painted:

Also in our dining room, I have an Ethiopian cross hanging on the wall next to my hutch. It was originally made to fit on a shaft and carried during processions:

Here is a (red)serving tray, hand-painted by a friend of mine who was born and raised in Taiwan. It's so special to me that I keep it safely hung on a wall instead of using it as a tray:

In our family room, we have a beautiful Native American quiver and arrows, pair of baby moccasins and a pouch that were framed to hang on a wall. I love the detailing on them, which is incredible:

I found a very old window and decided to reverse paint some Southwestern designs on it. I have it propped up on the wall above a cabinet in my kitchen. Also in this pic you can see the real (30-some pound) fireback that I used as a backsplash above my cooktop. It's practical and pretty and I love looking at it while I cook there.

And here's another very old window that now has reverse painted santos (saints) on it. It hangs in my powder room.

Lynn

Fabulous, unique artwork! I love it all!

Sueb20 - I'm especially curious about your heart-shaped rocks! Tell us more! Did you collect them all, and if so, how long did it take to amass such a cool collection? I have a rock and shell collection, but out of all that I've accumulated throughout the years, I've only found one heart-shaped rock.

porkandham: I "aquired" an old green salt and pepper shaker from an old abandoned house once in my youth. My mom has since aquired it from me and will not give it back! Love the sign!

Killinsnakes, the quilt and doll are amazing!! Have you looked up the doll to see what it's worth?

I have an old doll that comes with history and I can't find a thing on her.

Killinsnakes, that butt shot is seriously cute! (Never thought I'd be saying that about a photo of rear-ends, but I love it!)

Sunny, thanks! Yes, I collected them all with some help from my kids. One of my sons seems to have an especially good eye for them; I think he found two of them one summer. That pic is at our beach house...obviously we spend a lot of time on the beach and there's one beach in particular that, for some reason, has really good rocks! Since we make specific rock-hunting trips there at least once a summer, I think at least a few of these came from that beach. (I have a huge bowl of black rocks with white stripes in them, and another bowl of pure white stones.) Anyway, three have been accumulated over about 8 summers.

This pic is from home (I seem to have a thing for hearts on windowsills) -- DH gave me the glass hearts and one of the two heart rocks is from Bermuda, and the other I think is from Aruba.

Okay, here's one more item(s) from my "rock art" collection. I found these stones at Big Sur a few years ago. They are unlike anything I've found at any other beach. Such interesting colors and they are soooo smooth to touch. I have been keeping them in a glass box (from West Elm -- love these boxes -- I have others filled with shells from special vacations) but previously had them in a bowl on the coffee table, and I may do that again because I love to pick them up and look at/feel them! Weird, I know, but they're so cool.

I have a lot of "stuff" and a lot of art but these silly little rocks are in my top ten!

What a wonderful, meaningful collection, Sue! Definitely not something you see everywhere. Heck, I've never seen anything like it anywhere - but what sweet symbols of happy memories spent hunting for these shapes with your loved ones. Love, love, love your hearts!

Gorgeous rocks! They look like they would just feel good to hold in your hand! I bring back a little rock or two from every trip, and while they're all jumbled together at this point and I'm not sure which one came from Cheddar Gorge in England, or which came from Cabo on an early trip there with DH, I still love them all. There's something so pleasing about rocks!

Love non-art! I have many things I haven't yet taken pics of - my laundry room has old washboards and some metal sock stretchers on the wall. In my kitchen I have an antique lefse rolling pin. I also have 4 walls of plate shelves in my house so have plates, antiques, and various decorative items there.

One of my fav things is this sign that my parents salvaged in the ocean about 50 years ago. It's a sign that must have fallen off a boat and is my DM's name and maiden surname initial. What are the chances of that? My DM would never have hung it in her home but I rescued it from their basement and now do have it hanging on a wall. Here it's just propped on my shelf.

Here's my Christmas mantel shelf with silver plates as a backdrop...

Here are a few silver plates on a wall from years ago...

This wall cupboard is made from a picture frame and has held various collections over the years. Here is what it looks like now with my collection of old glass fishing floats and shells...

Here is is with bone china teacups and some art glass balls...

And here is is with some small pottery pieces...

I've occasionally hung this and other rugs on the wall...

i love all of these, especially the heart shaped rocks! laurainlincoln and clairebouyant, the white textural piece was a gift. I *think* it was from West Elm like 2 years ago.

Luckygal - I'd love to see your washboards! I have a couple from my great grandparents' house that I'm planning to hang in my laundry room. How did you hang yours?

Badergal, I'm sorry for your loss. So young.

Sueb20, love the heart shaped rocks. My mom collects those too. DH found me one on our lot, it's now on the den FP surround.

Pipdog, DD2 had me do a belly cast of just her belly. We covered in fabric strips left over from the fabric wreath (for hospital door, then nursery).

Love seeing everybody's things. I am always drawn to "odd" things. Enjoy the hunt, the find, then seeing them in our home.

Annie, I have a collection of walking sticks as well - several with the metal "tags" for European hikes.

Not found, but our 1yo portrait dresses (my, my sister's and DD2s) are in our main level guest room after being framed to use in DD2's room in our last home:

Also in this room are a paper doll in wedding dress made from ribbons and lace. Was smashed flat in a frame until I rescued. :) Over it is an evening bag that my grandmother passed down to my mom:

Antique German antler mounts in the MBR:

Handpainted (for the most part) china. Several by my grandmother, another wedding gift to my parents, largest piece was Christmas present from DH. Yes, it's in our MBath, and they have gotten harsh comments in the past when posted - but you don't eat off of them, and even though they were in our DR last house, they just don't go with the "feel" of this our for the DR.

In our back hallway, I have skeleton keys from my grandfather, then father's furniture store. I arranged on handmade paper.

I think of the copper and wood TV cover (slides open) as artwork. I don't open/watch during the day (or if/when DH is out of town), so I wanted something pretty to look at.

I'm sure there's more around the house, but this is all I have on Photobucket. lol

I have 3 antique chalkboards in my living room instead of pix. There is one much larger one on the other side of the fireplace. This is an old picture and lots has changed, but I still have the chalkboards there. They are useful, too.

{{!gwi}}

Good ideas. I still have a lot of empty wall space so I am always looking for different things to put on the wall.

Ladder with various fabrics hanging. African basket.

Framed postcards of sketches of old Bombay.

Tapestry:

Canvas prints of our architect's sketch of our house.

Ideas I have yet to implement: I would like to hand a vintage movie reel on the door to our new home theatre and maybe use vintage letters and keys somehow as wall art. Oh and I have a printer's tray that I need to do something with too.

Allison, I can't imagine that anyone would not like the plates in the bath! What better place to put them than over a woman's vanity?

I don't think I've seen pictures of your sunroom before. More pics please. :)

oakleyok: I have no idea what my grandmothers doll is worth. I have never done any research on it at all, I just love the doll! I was the only grandaughter who played with dolls, out of 8 girls! I was very happy to get her. My mom had the doll restored for me one year for Christmas and my brother made the display case out of old walnut.

I love (non-art) art. This is an old floor register.

sueb, love the heart-shaped rocks all lined up! I have given several to DH and they're around the house and garden, but I think I'm going to start lining them up in one place. So much more impact.

Laurainlincoln.. I have that book with the birds.. I love looking at it again and again. Love all the ideas here.

Sueb, there are a lot of similar looking rocks in my neck of the woods. The ones with the holes (filled or unfilled) are either vesicular rhyolite or porphyritic basalt. Basically magma cools and forms air bubbles and minerals fill in those bubbles (vesicular rhyolite - the holes are round shaped) or sometimes the minerals are there first and the magma surrounds them (porphyritic basalt - the holes are more angular). Sometimes the minerals are worn away over time leaving holes and other times they are intact. I'm a geology nerd, yes, I know. I have moved boxes of rocks from home to home over the years. :)

I want to do this w/ my wedding gown in my hallway. I have 1 large wall that needs something but I want 1 large thing. It will go on a black background. The idea originally came from someone here on GW whoe had their children's baptism dresses framed.

{{!gwi}}

Source: casasugar.com via Tiffani on Pinterest

My clock wall art installation.

lodalady,

I have seen some really pretty old registers that I have wanted to use as art, but they are so heavy. How did you hang yours?

Oakley, I'll have to take some pictures of the sunroom.

Neat clock wall.

I always thought Adrienne's wedding dressed was so pretty framed. Guess she won't be keeping it there now.

Geo, thanks, I was hoping someone would have some info on those rocks! We live in New England and never see anything like that on our beaches.

Loving everyone's non-art!

Here is one more from me. Spray-painted ceiling medallions in DD's room in our beach cottage.

I adore this thread. It's so much fun to see everyone's "non art".

Here are a few of mine:

This post was edited by bettydee on Sat, Dec 22, 12 at 17:42

Wow, there are some amazing treasures here! Thanks for sharing everyone. I love seeing the variety and creativity - it's totally inspirational.

I had planned to use this old mantel mirrorÃÂ as a headboard... But it ended up being too tall to go over the bed.

So we had a mirror cut for it and mounted it in our hallway... I love the scrollwork, I think it's so beautiful.

Somehow this is the third large antique mirror I've collected, and I'm kind of turning into a hoarder... I feel like every room needs one!

Here is a link that might be useful: Where we got it / How we hung it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed browsing all the photos and reading the stories of your collections here. Such beautiful pieces and wonderful, touching stories.

To see most of mine, you'd think my home was full of antiques, which is far from the real deal, but these seem to be most of my most interesting non-art things. However, some of you have given me some ideas for things I could do in the future with things I have stored!

This is a small collection of silver vases, albeit in need of some polish right now.

{{!gwi}}

My collection of miniature tea sets. This started with my aunt giving me her much-used Mickey Mouse set she had used back in the 30's as a child and a then-new set when I was about 8-years old (the blue and white delft set). The rest is a mix of old and new I picked up along the way as an adult. I also have a lot of old hankies that belonged to my grandmother and great-grandmother, and yes I use them at weddings and funerals. They made some of them, including the tatting on the edges.

{{!gwi}}

Gallery hallway of family photos (old and new)

To honor our home states (Alabama and Ohio) I started looking for old maps of our states and regions. This is one of Alabama and of the Eastern US in our breakfast room. The next one is an Agricultural map of Ohio.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I think I've posted enough. Thanks for viewing. BTW, those clocks are awesome! And I adore that mirror, and I can't say enough about that belly cast!

I am enjoying seeing everyone's (non-art) art. I never realized that displays of rocks could be so interesting. Love the 1 year old portrait dresses and the handkerchiefs framed. I need to find where I put the hankies from my grandmother. The clock wall is cool too. The uniqueness of the different displays is wonderful.
Also, thank you oakleyok and allison for your kind words. It's been 7 years but it is still difficult.
Happy holidays to all my fellow GWers.

I have my wedding dress displayed on the large shelf above our front door.

Love this thread! Here are my kitchen corner shelves- with a variety of vintage pottery and tole trays. I've been editing my shelves, they had become a catch-it-all for every prize I drug home. Still working on it. I have more trays lining the counter tops.

Sueb, that is a stellar collection of heart shaped rocks! I collect them too, and keep them in a hand turned wooden bowl on my kitchen counter. The kitchen is the heart of the home, it just feels right. I have seven so far, ranging from 3" to 1" in diameter.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Here are some things from my mom's house:

These are Chinese silk embroideries that Mom had framed. Each one represents an occupation.

These are weapons that my father's father brought back from the South Pacific in the 1920s or 30s.

And a hand woven Tree of Life from New Mexico.

pps7, The register was not professionally hung, that's for sure. I hang most light weight items on straight pins, but I believe the register is hung on a couple small nails. The wood is sitting on the nail head.

Suzannes1, love your tree of life.

To pps7, Most of my small, light weight items are hung on straight pins, but I believe the register is on small nails so the wood is sitting on the nail head. I'd take it off and look, but I'm afraid it would require dusting every little square before putting it back up, LOL.

I love seeing all these interesting (non-art art)!
Suzzannes, I love your Chinese silk representing occupations!