Trash to Treasure

I have a few things I collect.

Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes

Egg Cartons

Baby Food Jars (when I had kids that ate it)

Small Boxes

Paper Scraps

Packing Peanuts

Random Plastic Containers

And more.

It sounds so romantic doesn't it. Boxes of random "trash." It is not trash though. It can be used. I don't consider myself the most crafty person, I just taught preschool so I learned that these practical everyday items could come in handy. And when they don't come in handy for me, I can donate them to a preschool teacher or elementary school who could use them.

My most resourceful of these collections recently has been my egg carton collection.

We used one for this.

We started some flower seeds in it. In a week or two we will transplant them into the ground when they are ready for the world and the wind and weather has a lower risk of killing them.

My most favorite thing we have done recently is this.

A flower bouquet.

It is a Mothers Day Gift to send to Grandma from the Kids. My kids loved painting these. It was a fun project and now, grandma gets a box of flowers and a bouquet for her table. In case you are interested, here is how it was done.

I cut up the egg carton and shaped them into somewhat of a flower shape.

We then painted a base color on the flowers and my children embellished them with there own painting style.

I then cut Tissue Paper into squares and poked the tissue paper and egg carton through a pipe cleaner. I twisted the top of the pipe cleaner to hold them tight.

Now Grandma has a cute decoration that will remind her of her cute Grandkids. If you needed a last minute idea, here you go, quick and easy.

So go on and collect your useful trash. Use it or donate it to someone who will. The earth might just thank you.

Thinking out of the Box(es)

I'm not much of a collector, and actually it seems like most of the time I'm trying to purge, clean out and simplify my home's storage and decoration. Especially since I've disclosed my disdain for the chore of dusting, collections seem like extra nooks and crannies for dust to settle, and who do you think is going to dust it? Right.

So call me a dusting hypocrite, but for the last 20 or so years I've slowly built a meaningful collection of boxes...ceramic, wood, stained glass, cork, ebony, china, stone, and this little miniature beauty made of guess what...horse hair!

I appreciate expert craftsmanship, so just check out this Japanese Origami box made of match box "drawers" and shells.

I can tell you exactly where I was when I bought the ones I purchased myself, or exactly who gave it to me for which occasion and the "specialness" of the giver. Instead of one large jewelry box, I keep clusters of these gems on top of my dresser to hold everything from earrings and spare buttons to special notes and little souvenirs. They are like little presents that I look at as I'm getting ready every day.

So, that's it. Someday when I'm an old lady, maybe I'll be surrounded by shelves and shelves of dusty little boxes. But they'll all have meaning, and hopefully someone will want them because they'll remind them of me, just like the piece of my grandmother's one-of-a-kind Depression glass collection.

Happy dusting, collectors!

A Bit Like Hector, I Suppose

Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string,
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
Pieces out of picture puzzles,
Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,
Twists of wires, worn-out tires,
Paper bags and broken bricks.
Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,
Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,
Leaky boats that wouldn't float
And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot.
Butter knives that had no handles,
Copper keys that fit no locks,
Rings that were too small for fingers,
Dried-up leaves and patched-up socks.
Worn-out belts that had no buckles,
'Lectric trains that had no tracks,
Airplane models, broken bottles,
Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.
Hector the Collector
Loved these things with all his soul.
Loved them more than shining diamonds,
Loved them more than glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,
"Come and share my treasure trunk!"
And all the silly sightless people
Came and looked...and called it junk.

- Shel Silverstein

This was one of my favorite childhood poems. I loved thinking about Hector and all his treasures, how much joy and value he saw in the humblest of objects; and it made me just the kind of sad I sometimes like to be to think about the people who just didn't understand - how much they were missing out on!

I don't really consider myself a collector, I don't have collections just for the sake of collecting. But I am lucky to be surrounded by things that I love, things that tell a story to me, things that remind me of things I like to be reminded of - simple, humble objects that bring me joy.

A quick jaunt around with a camera reveals just a few:


I suppose these things might in another person's life found their way into a collection. But here, they and their stories are one-of-a-kind, which makes me love them all the more.

Bits n' Pieces

  I have always loved the idea of collecting something special...but I have also been very hesitant.  I was afraid of ending up with a ton of stuff I could never get rid, like when I was a teenager and thought a classic Winnie the Pooh collection would be the perfect thing for my baby to be...ya, didn't happen.  Styles and personal tastes change but I still have those sweet things packed away in a box, high up in a closet somewhere, hoping maybe that one day it will become my daughters favorite discovery of her mothers. 

 After the classic pooh obsession faded I really put off collecting anything except a few charms here and there for my charm bracelet.  (That's for another post)

That is until i bought a home...

I suddenly began to day dream about the way things could look and the pretty things I could maybe obtain in the future and the first thing I began to search for where antique aqua blue mason jars.  I loved how they could be used for just about anything, candles, embellishments for scrapbooking, pencils, buttons...you name it!  In the spring time though, they become my vases.  I love the old and new feel they bring to our place and the way they can even brighten up the flowers.

 The other collection I had always wanted was my own set of china.  This is all my mom's fault too.  I grew up with a formal setting at special events or occasions and Christmas dinner just wasn't Christmas dinner without a pretty table.  Thanks to her I now receive bits and pieces of it for my birthday and anniversary.  It'll take a while for a complete set of everything but for now I am loving my 8 pearly plates.  Thanks mom!

My newest item to search for these days are antique dollies.  I have a project I want to do and right now I only have  a few of these pretties. Hopefully over the years though I will be able to collect enough to make this anthropology inspired table cloth... 

Each time I pull out the special tablecloth I have reserved for this, I'll add a few on until one day it will be done and I'll get to use it under my new china.

And last but not least, I love to stash fabric. I'll just go into my own room and play with it.  And by play with it I mean pull it out and refold it, put it into possible project piles and come up with fun ideas.  Ideas that will never get done because I have no time, but ideas that are great.  Trust me!  I don't think I'll ever be able to go into a fabric store without getting something awesome...ever!  I am doomed!  My poor husband!

Collections are fun but I think they need to be useful...at least in my house.  I will probably collect a tiny amount of just about everything by the time I die but at least I will have loved it all.  What do you collect?