collecting — Page 51

Elizabeth and Bob

March 17, 2012 at 10:15 am by Claudia

A reader wrote me recently and said she had something she wanted to send me and I passed along my address. The other day, I was at the Post Office mailing some Etsy packages and decided to check my fairly new post office box. Because it’s new to me, I often forget to check it. There was a note inside stating I had a package. It had been there for 4 or 5 days.

I opened it up in the car. This was inside:

It was carefully packed in a little box. Tina, from North Carolina, sent it to me along with a beautiful note that immediately brought tears to my eyes. Yep. I sat there in the car and cried.

I won’t disclose all the words in Tina’s lovely letter but I will tell you that Tina’s grandmother, who lived to be 97 years old, was a collector. She was worried that her treasures would end up in a yard sale after her death. Tina, bless her heart, held on to them, occasionally selling them to treasure lovers via Etsy. No yard sales for Tina.

Because I collect Bride and Groom Cake Toppers, Tina sent this to me because “I know you will treasure this item.”

Tina says this bride and groom have names: Elizabeth and Bob, married in 1926 and “deeply committed to each other.”

They are very small, only 2 1/2″ high.

Here they are in front of my dad’s childhood toy – a Model T. Sort of perfect, don’t you think?

Where do I find the words to say how much this gift means to me? Something so precious that belonged to a dearly loved grandmother has been passed on to me simply because I write this blog. This loving gesture stopped me in my tracks. I was amazed and humbled.

Tina, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will treasure Elizabeth and Bob. They will be proudly displayed with my other brides and grooms. You may rest assured that their home here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage is a perfect fit. I sent you a thank you note, which should arrive in your mailbox shortly. I looked and looked for your email address but couldn’t find it. But now that I think of it, a handwritten thank you note is a rarity in this world of emails and you deserve that.

In the midst of so much that is disheartening about our world, a heartfelt gesture can turn my day around. Thank you.

Defending the Small House #6

December 20, 2011 at 7:00 am by Claudia

{Living Big in 1200 Square Feet}

Welcome to week number 6 of Defending the Small House. Today’s topic: Displaying Collections in a Small House. Most of us collect something or other; many of us have multiple collections. How do we show off our beloved collections in a small space?

I collect china and pottery. And I just seem to accumulate more and more. I can’t help it! I collect hand-painted china, china hat pin holders, Roseville Pottery, Fiesta and, my largest collection, McCoy Pottery. I have many pieces of McCoy, scattered throughout the house. How do I display them?

Tip #1: Find furniture pieces that will hold your collections, whether they are cabinets, shelves, boxes or something else. Grouping collections together in a cabinet or on shelves will make a big statement. I have a few cabinets that hold and display my china.

This cabinet is in the kitchen.

This cabinet is in the den.

Putting the china and pottery in a cabinet protects the pieces and also brings pieces made by different manufacturers together so that they have more impact. This particular cabinet has a mix of McCoy and my good china, as well as some hand-painted pieces that I treasure. By the way, the interior of this cabinet used to be the same color of wood as the outside. It was too dark in there. So I painted the inside a pale pink. Now the china doesn’t get lost in the dark interior of the cabinet and the pieces really pop.

Tip #2: Use your collections to create vignettes, like the one below. The birds are singing, they are on the piano, and the little white bird is perched on a dictionary of musical terms. Everything works together to make a sweet vignette.

Tip #3: Display your collectibles in like groupings. What does that mean? Well, for example, here I grouped together 3 McCoy bird planters – 2 the same color and one in a contrasting color. This group makes a statement. To top it off, I added a bird nest that I found in our yard.

You can also display things in color groupings:

Here I have 3 pieces of McCoy in yellow and a Fiesta pitcher in yellow. That makes a statement.

And here I have 3 pieces of aqua McCoy Pottery, alongside my good china, which has an aqua rim. If you were to look on the shelf above, you would find 3 more pieces of aqua McCoy grouped together.

If you collect something like vintage kitchen utensils or rolling pins, you could hang them on the wall in a group, creating a striking, graphic look.

Tip #4: Think up. Boy, do I ever ‘think up.’ I have a lot of pottery displayed on the top of my cabinets. This is the hutch in the den that you saw earlier. I used to have this Roseville Pottery scattered around the house. But when I grouped it together and placed it on top of the hutch, it all worked. I have a special fondness for these pieces and they make sense together. They are also nicely protected up there.

Here are some more examples of thinking up:

On top of the white cabinet in the living room, also grouped by color.

On top of the kitchen cabinets.

On top of the white china cabinet in the kitchen.

This works especially well with pottery because it tends to be large. Because of that, it doesn’t get lost up there.

Tip #5: Smaller collectibles pack more of a punch when grouped together. I have some collections that are small in stature. I group them together.

I collect egg cups:

The vast majority of them are on this shelf unit that I found in an antique shop. Grouping them together tells the story of the collection. And it makes me smile.

Look for interesting pieces on which to display your collections. This shelf is a favorite of mine; I picked it precisely for this purpose and I think it enhances the egg cup collection. The rest of my egg cups are on a sweet little shelf in the den:

My husband’s jumping jack collection is displayed by our side door.

See? Hard to keep a frown on your face when you see these! Grouping them together tells a story.

Same with my bakelite flatware:

I also have a few mini collections. These are the beginnings of new collections. All grouped together to make more of a statement.

Miniature pottery.

My bride and groom cake toppers.

Tip #6: Don’t hide your collections. Live with them. Use them. I’m very visual. I love seeing my favorite things around me. I don’t rotate my collections, storing some of them away, while others remain on display. No way! I’m proud of my collections and they say a lot about me. Heck, collecting McCoy Pottery set me on a new path with color and it shows in my decorating.

I use my pottery to organize things in my studio. I put fresh flowers in my vases. I use my china. I tuck one type of collectible in another type of collectible. I don’t know about you, but I love nothing more than exploring someone’s collections. If I visit a home for the first time, I immediately gravitate toward collections and books. And sometimes, the books are a collection.

Tip #7: Don’t think for a moment that having a small house means you can’t display everything. You can. You should. As long as you find a way to group your pieces so that they make a kind of sense, your home will not look cluttered. Group by color, group by size, group by type of collection – as long as it makes sense, it will work.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope these tips are helpful for you. Make sure you visit Brenda for her take on displaying collections in a small house.

And finally, Happy Holidays to everyone – if you celebrate Christmas or Hannukah, please have a wonderful, magical holiday!

We’re going to take a couple of weeks off from this series. We’ll be back on January 10th.

Around the Cottage

November 30, 2011 at 9:49 am by Claudia

Well, the big news here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage is….hang on to your hats…the septic tank was emptied yesterday!

I know. Take a moment to collect yourself. If I had been a bit more on top of things, I would have taken pictures. I could have devoted a whole post to the process.

Let me tell you, the guy who drives that truck and empties the tank deserves to be paid very well.

I keep forgetting to share this little gem with you. I discovered it in a local shop and was planning to sell it in my future Etsy shop. But Don claimed it. It’s about 2 inches high and says:

I’ll hold your rings
For you;
While dishes or
Washing you do.

Souvenir of Lake George, NY

Lake George is quite a bit north of us, in the Adirondacks.

The little lid comes off and there is a little well with a piece of wood in the center, just like a ring holder. I used this on Thanksgiving when I took my wedding ring off in order to make biscuits. It lives on the window ledge by the sink. I love these little wooden souvenirs. They look handmade and are so gosh darned charming.

Can you find Scout in the background of the photo?

By the way, I’ve actually signed up for my Etsy shop! Someone already had the name Mockingbird Hill – I couldn’t add ‘Cottage’ because there were too many characters. So it will be under my user name of ScoutHarper. I have no idea when it will open, but I’m aiming for the first of the year. I will carry vintage finds and some handmade things, as well. I’m getting excited.

Playing with the Necco Candy Jar:

Filled with the fabric Easter eggs I made a couple of years ago. The pastel colors remind me of yummy candy.

I’ll eventually fill it with something Christmas-y but I refuse to start Christmas decorating this early. I’m adamant about the subject. Hey, I love Christmas decorations as much as anyone else, but for me, the season loses its sense of wonder if I rush into decorating the minute Thanksgiving has ended. We always get a real tree – usually around December 10th or so. Then the decorating will begin.

They’re in the jar temporarily. In fact, I’ve already removed them. The inside of the jar still smells musty. I’ve used coffee grounds in the past to remove mustiness. I have some ready to go. Any other suggestions?

I must thank you for the wonderful and moving comments on the “Blogging Etiquette: Mean Girls” post. Wow. I read them all more than once. I was touched and in some cases, moved to tears. This clearly resonates with all of us. Whether we’ve witnessed someone being bullied or suffered through the bullying of one of our children or have been bullied ourselves – this kind of behavior leaves lasting scars. I feel passionately about the subject and it’s clear that you do, too. Thank you.

Elizabeth and Bob

Defending the Small House #6

Around the Cottage

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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