Something Weird, Unusual or Anything You Save or Collect

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Something Weird, Unusual or Anything You Save or Collect

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Started 2 years ago by terriok
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terriok
Member

I save all old wallets.

I collect Nancy Drew books and stuff, girls series books, Barbie dolls (I try to avoid that or I'll go nuts), Golden books, anything Beatles (including Beatle cards- I try to play keep away or I'll go nuts), lunch boxes, books of every genre, every card or letter I have ever received as an adult (they do not take up much room; I tossed the envelopes), Disney pins, vintage board games, all sorts of crafts stuff (big time), art supplies, teaching stuff (great profession for pack rats), photos (they stay big time), Disney cartoon cels, vintage cartoon coloring books, boxes everything came in, cool paper, music CD's, tapes from my Spanish classes (my wonderful prof died young but I cannot find the right recorder- I have to look harder on Ebay, micro-mini or mini?), vintage magazines, crafts magazines, software (even outdated...you never know...), Mickey Mouses (I have 5 Mickey Mouse watches- 4 play "I Wanna Hold Your Hand), all jewelry (which I do not wear), men (I wish!), Mom's stuff, clothes 20 years old I am saving for "good", cassette tapes (I gave away the ones that were not mine), old prescription bottles, stuffed animals.

My apartment looks like a vintage toy shop. My friends love looking at all the vintage stuff.

I recently tossed 20 pair of drug store reading glasses (I kept about 5). I tossed all VHS tapes I recorded that I had not labeled what was recorded. I tossed many empty boxes, passed on loads of books, old hand-me-down clothes, old prescription bottles. I have made major progress. Now I notice it but does anyone else? I really don't care, I suppose.

Posted 2 years ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Outdated software will never be useful. The entire computer industry keeps changing things so you must buy new.

I'm not a collector and I cannot relate to collections, so I can only ask this thing: are your collections causing you distress?

Posted 2 years ago #
ArtGal
Member

I have a very small collection of Beatles stuff...and I collect art supplies for classes (but have been very good at using them up pretty promptly :)
I used to collect pig salt and pepper shakers...I don't know why, so I sold them. I do collect nature things...like leaves and pods and such (for paintings,) but I have done really well at returning them to nature after using them. I guess, like many others, books are my biggest issue...now I only keep ones that I read over and over again, and if a friend asks me if they can borrow one I give it to them as a gift (one more book off the shelves! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

I'll be totally honest with you. The collections do not cause me any distress. In fact, I love doing it.

Some of it really has to go though!

I come here to learn and I enjoy the posts, people are open and friendly.

I use to be significantly worse. Many "hoarders" or "pack rats" (and I was never really bad) have PTSD. I sure do.

When I watch "Hoarders" I get up in the middle of the show and start tossing! It is the supreme motivator for me.

But being a collector may imply I have it more under control and I am getting there.

For a few years, I had to live with next to nothing and I was not happy. It had nothing to do with having a lot of stuff or not. But my point being not having clutter did not make me happy.

I'll likely always have some clutter but that's okay. Minimalism is great for some people but it's not for me!

My sister-in-law is so afraid of clutter she throws out all the presents I give the kids. And I bought high quality items to help the kids learn, that I know they will enjoy from teaching as long as I did.

It all goes in the garbage which has to be traumatic for those kids! My brother finally broke down and told me after his older daughter tried to tell me. I did not even catch it when my niece told me.

Then I later observed my sister-in-law scanning the room for stuff to trash. Kids learn by doing. They learn by playing and toys are terrific learning tools. She even tossed the books! I am sorry, that is sick.

The least she could do is give them away after the kids tire of them. There are plenty of poor kids who would be thrilled. I know. I taught them.

By the way, Artgirl a book is a wonderful gift.

There is a terrific quote by George Carlin:

That's all your house is:
a place to keep your stuff.
If you didn't have so much stuff,
you wouldn't need a house. You could just
walk around all the time.

A house is just a pile of stuff with a
cover on it... a place to keep your stuff
while you go out and get...more stuff!

Posted 2 years ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

I love that George Carlin quote.

One of my favorite quotes on stuff is by William Morris:
"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

While I believe that everyone has their own level of tolerance for clutter, I think your sister inlaw might have an issue. Very sad for the kids.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

That's really a shame about your SIL, terriok! It sounds like she has just the opposite of a hoarder problem. However, she may be teaching her kids to be hoarders, because they have to hide their things from their mother, so they can keep their things. They will be so afraid of losing their things, they may learn to keep everything. You might point that out to her.

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

Thanks, Julia! Great quote.

I never thought about it, Claycat, but you are right that they may start hoarding and hiding things. I sure would. I cannot talk to her at all. She is a control freak.

My brother ought to put his foot down. "She throws away my stuff too!"

I'd never put with it.

The twins were about five and came by my apt to visit. They were eyeing my tiny Mickey Mouse keychains.

I collect all sorts of Mickey Mouse stuff. A friend of mine and I use to one up each other on who had found the neatest MM stuff. "Oh where did you get that? I want one too!" Two grown adults! Overgrown kids. LOL.

The Disney parks are full of us!

So I offered them each one to pick out and my brother would not let me do it. These are tiny objects that would take up no space in a drawer. Kids can be easily trained to put their toys away. They are good at it. I have seen them.

I tried to give them stickers. "Ok, you can only take one. You know Mommy is going to throw them in the garbage".

I was sick!

My Mom tossed everything but at least she let me play with my toys until I outgrew them.

Posted 2 years ago #
Scottland
Member

I "collect" tools. I like old, wooden-handled tools, and rather than hang them on a pegboard like in some family-run hardware store, I keep them in a vintage tool chest. I bought or bartered each one so I could use it, not because it looks nice, and I do use them. Having a diverse "collection" of tools means I will more likely have the right tool for the job and will expend less effort to do it. So, these are things I both know to be useful and think to be beautiful, yet still, looking at all of them at once it does look like a "collection."

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

i have a small coin collection.
there are less than ten coins, but they are all special five and ten centime pieces, counter-stamped with the pears soap logo.
they caused a recall and a hastily put together act of parliament and put pears soap on the map.
i don't need any more of them.

i have five perfect parker 51s.
three, i don't use, so i am thinking about selling them.

i love glass paperweights and sometimes i'll see a paperweight and think, o i'd love to have that.
but i know where that road ends!
so, i have one paperweight and it is the one i use on my desk every day.

arranging, dusting, cleaning, moving, insuring and looking at collections of anything really don't have a place in my home or in my life.
collections seem like the absolute antithesis of uncluttering, to me.
i just cannot reconcile the two ideas!

Posted 2 years ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

Bandicoot,

There is a paperweight collection in one of our museums. It's rather large, and sadly, the whole collection isn't on the internet, but there are a few here.

http://www.bergstrom-mahlermuseum.com/collections-a-exhibits/6-permanent-collections/17-paperweights.html

Posted 2 years ago #
inga
Member

If it isnt causing you any distress to have all this stuff (or to buy all this stuff) then good for you. If the collections actually give you something back then thats even better. Personally I have a collection of photos that drives me nuts (its my current project to sort them all) since they have no dates or organisation to them, and if you looked in my house you might think I collect file binders but I dont really collect them, they are just my filing system. I do collect books, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler specifically, but I'm no longer compulsive about it and have in fact missed buying the last 3 Cussler books so its incomplete and I'm OK with that.

To be honest, all your collections would drive me nuts. I'd love to see how you have them laid out/stored. Do you have to dust them? How long does it take?

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

LOL. Let's just say I am working on it! ;o) I dust.

I talked to Tom Clancy one day in an AOL chatroom. It was neat. I asked him for Harrison Ford's phone number which he did not have. Nice friendly guy.

Posted 2 years ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

wow that would have been cool, chatting with Tom Clancy.

I collect Tarot cards. I have dozens of decks. I love the artwork, they are all beautiful and the symbolism is fascinating. I've managed to give a couple of unused ones away. I don't know if that's unusual or not. I have a few quite rare, valuable decks, though they aren't worth money to me as such, because I got them at a fair price and will sell them for the same, or gift them, if I ever part with them.

I do have a collection of odd small objects - a miniature Buddha set with a statue, bell and dorje (think it's called) and a small carving of an otter; a piece of copper ore and a few other rocks and crystals. Small things that are meaningless to others but precious to me.

Posted 2 years ago #
themusiclivez
Member

I collect CDs. I have about 300 (I do go through them and sell ones that I really don't like, however, so the ones on my shelf are for bands I really and truly love!) They are well contained and where I can see them and appreciate them! I love having pre-fame albums, rare promo singles with bonus tracks, etc.

Posted 2 years ago #
ojorojo
Member

Bookmarks, preferably interesting freebies or advertising ones and the ones I picked up at famous/Landmark places like Canterbury Catheral.

Maps from places I've been to.

Posted 2 years ago #
Aunt Cloud
Member

I still have the positive pregnancy tests and the hospital bracelets of kids who are now in elementary school. I don't collect them, though - no intent of adding to those I already have.

Posted 2 years ago #
chacha1
Member

Whoa, good topic for this crowd!

I collect books. I buy, use, and eventually pass on CDs and DVDs. I buy and use beads and rocks (mineral specimen and gemstone-type rocks) for jewelry/art projects, but there are a few I consider "collected," i.e., I would have to be offered large sums of money to part with them.

I used to collect Madonna ephemera - books, picture discs, videos, etc - but gave that up and now I am down to just a couple of things, plus her music video collections on DVD. Still would love to get the Blonde Ambition tour video on DVD, though. Mine is a bootleg, oops. :-) Also used to have a stamp collection (that started when I worked in a department that received tons of foreign mail), finally gave that away.

Also, DH and I tend to collect small art pieces, usually glass or pottery, from our travels. The last thing was a blown/lampworked glass octopus from Laguna Beach. I save an assortment of mementos from each trip, but am getting better about being selective - and am editing past assemblies.

klutzgrrl - I don't even know how tarot works, but I bought a "Tarot of the Cat People" because the art was so beautiful! It was designed by Karen Kuykendall, a fiber artist.

Posted 2 years ago #
Amy
Member

You have some neat stuff, terriok. I bet your place is fun to visit!
I got interested in antique/vintage chinese stuff when my son moved to China to teach English. I have a nice collection of carved bone figurines, the largest of which is 24 inches tall. I also found a nice 7 ft tall 8 panel Chinese screen that fills one wall in my dining room.
We went to Shanghai to visit my son & his wife 1 1/2 years ago. The Chinese destroyed much of their beautiful antique objects during their Cultural Revolution, so what I have was brought over here prior to 1949. Finding unusual stuff to collect is like being on a treasure hunt.

Posted 2 years ago #
terriok
Member

Chacha, you can find absolutely anything on Ebay... I always wanted Beatles wallpaper. ROFL! I did not buy it but the treasure hunt was fun. I can think of some ideas for using it, ok- many! I doubt it would still stick to the wall but art projects galore! ;o)

You can do a search and then save it. Ebay will notify you when you have hits- once a day at the most.

Someone was selling a copy of a film taken of one of George Harrison's concert in Chicago in 1974! I was there- first row center. (Of course, I was a toddler! HA!) I really wanted to get a copy (no sound) but the price was outrageous and the lady was firm about it.

Thanks, Amy! You are welcome any time! ;o) Treasure hunts are a blast!

Cool stuff!

Posted 2 years ago #
Sky
Member

The only thing I collect is hedgehogs. I started with crystal hedgehogs and people have given me all kinds. I don't even remember how I got started but they are small and very cute. I've bought Waterford and Lalique ones on ebay for very little. The search is what makes it fun.

Posted 2 years ago #

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