Managing Collections

Sometimes it is challenging to know what to do with collections. After all, we don't live in museums, but homes instead. Collections sometimes take over and there is no comfortable place left to live. A friend once took me to her mother-in-laws home where I enjoyed a tour that I will never forget! It was a beautiful Queen Anne home, filled to the gills with appropriate period antiques. Elegance, beauty, and style were melded together in such a way that it took a few minutes for me to register that I was in the home of a "hoarder". Everything was neat and tidy, but there were only pathways of open space that led from room to room. I really had a hard time determining where the family actually lived. I remember a space at the breakfast nook where I believe the mister of the home resided. I wonder, did he have a man cave in the garage as well? So, how does one go about collecting and keeping balance in their lives? I can hear a couple of my friends giving a friendly snicker as they read this. I love my collections and how objects connect me to my heritage. Let's just say I work hard at not becoming the hoarder of elegance, beauty, and style that my friend's mother-in-law became.

How do you store or display your collections? Here are a few ideas that can help us figure new ways to store the things we love and enjoy.

~ a small wall display case for thimbles

~ china closets and hutches for china, teacups, and teapots

~ old farm implements hung on exterior walls of a barn or shed

~ antique yardsticks hung on the walls of a workshop

~ T-shirts with logos that feature the growing up years of a son that are made into a quilt

~ a bookmark collection stored in a shoebox

~ old books in a bookcase

~ photos and stamp collections in albums

~ silver teaspoons in a glass pitcher that's displayed on a counter top

~ old postcards in a wooden case

It's easy to get carried away when collecting and gathering. There are times that a collection needs to be sifted through and refined. An object that was valuable to you 10 years ago may now be superseded by a more recent find. It's an opportunity to sell some of the items you no longer cherish, or use them to give to another who is just starting a collection. Occasionally it is difficult to let something go, so finding a technique or tactic that helps you release an object is helpful. Photographing objects and placing pictures of them in an album can be helpful in this case. A picture and a short description can go a long ways in helping you pass along a collectible treasure.

What techniques do you use to help you keep your collections under control?

A Collection

"One teacup is simply...

a teacup. 

Two teacups is service for two. 

But if you take those two teacups, 

arrange them on a glass shelf with a lace scarf, 

and perhaps add a third to keep them company, 

you have something more than the sum of three teacups. 

You have something that can brighten 

your living space and embellish your memories. 

With a teacup or three and an idea for the future, 

you have a collection --- or the beginnings of one. 

And a collection doesn't have 

to be teacups,  of course. 

In fact, if an object exists on this earth 

in quantities more than one, 

the odds are that someone, 

somewhere 

has 

collected 

it."

Emilie Barnes

Violets Galore!

My mother had an affinity for spring flowers. She was an avid gardener and had an English style garden. She worked in it every day, rain or shine! Since she was a kindergarten teacher, she spent her days with small children who were always active and busy. Coming home and spending time weeding or cultivating in her garden was a stress reliever for mom. She loved her daily hour or two of garden therapy. It was rare when she missed a day working in her plants.

Her love for flowers spilled over into her inside life as well. Flowers were a theme seen in her hand embroidery, quilting, sewing, watercolor, and tea service. She was especially fond of violets, pansies, and the color purple.

This could be observed in her collection of violets teacups, teapots, and tea accessories. She enjoyed antiquing with friends. Generally, anything with violets on it took her breath away! I remember one time she took several pieces of her beautiful "Old Country Roses" china into an antique shop so she could trade for something she loved even more: violets. I remember that I gasped when I realized she'd done that!

I keep the violets teacups and teapots in a little blue cabinet. Sometimes they are organized with the teacups hanging on hooks; the saucers arranged like soldiers along the sides and back of the cabinet wall. And sometimes I keep them in a cosy shabby chic tangle, which is how I am enjoying them now. Stacked, tiered, and looking like they could tumble at any moment, they delight my sense of casual style.

A few pieces, like this little teapot, were collected by me. Mom's enthusiasm was contagious and sometimes we would visit thrift shops and antique stores together, looking for things that struck our fancy. Often, they were violet themed items. Although this teapot is covered with purple pansies, they are in the viola family and we always considered them as melding together with violets in loveliness.

Milk with your tea? Isn't this a sweet little pitcher?

And so is this one, although it is not as "fine" as the other one. No gold here!

This violets teapot shows violets in relief. It is full-size and quite stunning, but not at all my favorite. 

It always amazes me how each violet themed teacup seems to go with one another. I suppose it is the common theme, or maybe the common color. Whatever it is, I'm waiting eagerly for the spring violets to bloom in my "tea garden" so I can have a "violets tea party". How I wish mother could come. She would enjoy that.

Lastly, is a violets teapot that was given to me by a friend. It is a treasure. The base serves as a genteel teacup while the top portion holds the tea. It makes a lovely "tea party for one". Speaking of which, I think I shall go create one now.

Think spring!

Violets Teapot

Collecting teapots can be a fun adventure! Frequently I hear others comment that every teacup has a story. I believe that every teapot does as well. Teapots gather in the homes of ones who love and appreciate them by a variety of means. Sometimes they are passed down through families. Others are gifts given by friends who know you will cherish the gift. Oftentimes orphaned teapots are given to tea lovers simply because they know you will give the teapot a good home and that you'll enjoy it. And then there is the love of the "hunt" for the perfect, old, unusual, or quaint teapot that takes place in thrift shops and antique stores. They can be of great or small value in a monetary sense. But, even the teapot bought for pennies can be as lovingly cherished and cared for as one that costs hundreds of dollars. Each has a story all its own.

Today I thought I would share the story of my violets teapot. Years ago I found a delightful violets "creamer and sugar" in an antique shop. I loved them because they went with the violets teacups in my collection (they had been my mother's collection that I inherited). I used them with a plain plum teapot, as I didn't have a violets teapot to go with them. Recently my friend, Karleen, asked me if I would like a teapot that her brother was wishing to find a home for. How delighted I was when I discovered that it matched the "creamer and sugar" that I already had! An added bonus was the matching tray that was given with the teapot. Today they sit on one of my china cabinets and remind me that spring isn't too far away. They bring a bit of colorful cheer to the dreary winter days. And that is such a delight to me!

Favored teapots change with mood, season of life, life passages, and whim. Today, this is my favorite teapot. Another day I'll share about another that strikes my fancy.