Comments on: On Not Collecting

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:25:35 +0000

I loved my sticker notebooks. I didn’t trade them, just collected. Loved having a “special” book for stickers and if I still had them now (just 2) they would be part of the small collection of sentimental items I keep.

By: Mary Denny

Mary Denny — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:45:46 +0000

BTW when I travel or go to concerts, I pick up a cheap little keychain that I put in a tin when I get home and at christmas time I get them out and hang them on the tree. Now that I have a grandson, he is thrilled to here each story as we take them out and hang them on the tree. They don’t take up alot of room and are put way with the few xmas things I use every year.

By: Ashley Laurent

Ashley Laurent — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:16:40 +0000

When I was a kid, I collected books and beanie babies. However, after a large donation to the Children’s Hospital, I am free of all beanie babies and many children’s books.

By: Mayfair

Mayfair — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:34:36 +0000

About the sheep: what I meant was that the actual knicknacks were not as beloved to me. I adore real, live sheep & hope to have a few one day on a little plot of land next to my tiny little cottage:)

By: Mayfair

Mayfair — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:30:43 +0000

When I was a kid in the 80s, I remember a lot of girls collected stickers and traded them with each other, kind of like boys did with baseball cards. Someone gave me a “Sticker notebook” with laminated pages where you could place the stickers for display & carry them all around to show & trade with friends. I remember thinking, “What is the point of this whole thing?” Once you peeled the sticker off the page of the special notebook, it was already less sticky, so it was useless as a sticker. I never really got into it AT ALL, but all my female friends gave me stickers “to keep & to trade”….like they tried to make me a sticker collector. I recently found that sticker notebook in a box in my parents’ attic & I was reminded of how pointless it all really was! LOL.

In college, I must have expressed a love for penguins, cats, & sheep at various times because people have been gifting items with these animals on them to me for years…yes, about 15 years. I have cleared out a lot of my clutter, but those penguins are the next major thing to tackle. I put over 120 of them in a box last night to donate. These are stuffed animals, figurines,and random knicknacks with a penguin motif. Wait til they open that box down at the Salvation Army! Penguins for everyone! Door prizes—-a penguin for everyone who enters the store! I do really love penguins, so I have chosen a select 3 to keep & display tastefully on my book shelf. The sheep were not as beloved to me, so they were easy to discard…and I didn’t need all the cat knicknacks since I have 2 real kitties:) They are so much better than clutter-cats anyway:)

By: Canis

Canis — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:58:51 +0000

My collections are that of tumbled stones (I am somewhat of a new-age like creature…more down to earth than most)- I have about maybe 40 in a box- and essential oils, since I use them from perfumes to therapeutic needs. When I think of buying something, I ask myself if I am going to get a lot of use from it…or,…if I have survived without it to begin with, will I ultimately need it? I used to collect antiques and coins but it was too much of a hassle.

By: Mary Denny

Mary Denny — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:14:37 +0000

I started to collect Fiesta dishes 11 years ago. I used to buy on ebay, small town auctions, resell what I didn’t want. Made some money over a year or two that did support my Fiesta habit. Now I am sick of it. Before I moved five years ago, I gave quite a bit away to my stepdaughters and kept my favorite color, chartreuse. Well that green/yellow color doesn’t go with anything in my new house. As you have said and other before you, “if it’s giving you trouble whether to get rid of it or not…then get rid of it”. So I bought a set of good stoneware, kept only clear glassware and boxed up the Fiesta. I thought about selling on ebay. I checked and it’s just not selling. So I offered some friends to come and take what they want and the rest is being donated to a local charity that will sell it on ebay or local auction. They will get the money and I will get peace of mind. The one thing you have to remember about any collection is it’s not worth anything if you someone doesn’t buy it. Get rid of it!

By: Vespa

Vespa — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:15:20 +0000

I do collect small hat pins from places I go. I have a bulletin board covered with grass cloth and they are stuck in the board. They are small and inexpensive,

By: Maureen @ Vaco Vitae

Maureen @ Vaco Vitae — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:31:02 +0000

I have to admit–I never “got” the collecting thing–even as a kid. I always wondered what you were supposed to do with the items once you acquired them. Look at them? What’s the point?

LOL–clearly I was a minimalist from the get-go and didn’t know it.

By: Julia K Walton

Julia K Walton — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:10:39 +0000

So interesting to read about everyone’s collections! I inherited a stamp collection from an uncle when I was younger and was encouraged to add to it, but wasn’t very interested and was delighted to pass the whole thing onto a work colleague’s son who was really pleased with it.

Nowadays I try not to have collections, but… I still collect buttons, fabric and yarn – stuff for craftwork… have way too many books, old cassette tapes, records and CDs that I never listen to. It’s almost all going to go over the next two years, when my husband and I plan to move to an even smaller house