Friday, January 18, 2008

A Bit of An Obsession

All my life I have loved collecting things. You could say I'm a pack rat, but in an OCD sort of way. At first it was books. Sweet Valley Twins, High & University; The Babysitters Club; Goosebumps - any books that were part of a series really, I had to have them ALL.

Then I moved on to Puffkins, which are similar to Beanie Babies just a little bigger and fluffier. When my parents and I repainted my bedroom, my dad built a shelf that went around my entire room toward the top of the wall to hold them all. And it gets worse - I had them in order of release. See I told you I was OCD.

During my Puffkins phase I also was obsessed with the Got Milk? advertising campaign (who knew I would ever grow up to be a graphic designer?!). The ads featured celebrities, cartoon characters, politicians, etc. with a milk mustache and a witty paragraph about why they drink milk. I would rip the ads out of magazines all the time and plaster them on my walls. I even had hundreds in folders.

I must have figured out that not one of these collections was going to make me any money, because I moved on to bigger and better things - stamps. Didn't you know I really am a nerd at heart? I actually still have most of my collection stored away. The post office releases a book every year with all the stamps made that particular year. I have one from every year since I was born.

I also have a state quarter map with most of the slots filled in. I couldn't help this one though, my dad works at a bank and started bringing them home for me when they were first released!

My innate desire to collect things has tamed with age, but it's definitely still there. I have a collection of hand towels, dish towels, soap dispensers, rugs, candles, knickknacks and more for every holiday. They are all stored in their own Rubbermaid container, color coordinated by holiday of course - green with red lids for Christmas; orange with black lids for Halloween; purple for Easter.

But the collection I love the most?
My salt and pepper shakers:



We can still be friends right?

Please tell me I'm not the only one out there with the burning desire to collect things... hopefully?

69 comments:

marisa rose said...

I had to tell you, a friend's mom collects salt and pepper shakers. They literally built an addition to their house in order for her to store her collection of thousands. The room is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Any kind you can imagine she has. There is even the "dirty" collection that they keep on a shelf behind the piano so no one can see it. And it all started when she first moved in with my friend's dad and he bought her a salt and pepper shaker set of two people kissing. Very cute!

Passionista said...

I love your salt and pepper shakers! I too, had a collection problem. I thought it was such a cool thing to do so I had stickers, rocks (yes its true), Homie figurines (from 25 cent machine), key chains, and now its shot glasses and anything owls related. I think I'm starting to realize, though, that I'm running out of places to put things!

Anonymous said...

As a kid, I collected trolls. You know, those dolls with the crazy hair? And even worse, I named them... in alphabetical order (first on A, second one B, etc)... and made it through, oh, 3 alphabets?

These days, given the space limitations of our apt, I try to limit my collecting, though I do still have the urge...

B said...

I heart you. I used to collect some odd things back in the day. Do you remember the little erasers that were shaped into animals or food items or something? I have a box of those. And pins? Ditto. CDs? Check. Shot glasses? Holey moley are there a LOT of those. Kinder Egg toys? Ha! I have 'em.

So, nope. you're definitely not alone. ;)

Anonymous said...

Now I know what to get you if I ever need to get you a present! Sweet!

Kim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charm City Kim said...

Too funny!

My dad also built me a shelf that went around my bedroom to hold my bajillion stuffed animals.

While I don't collect anything, my husband gives me a hard time about hoarding shopping bags. I have tons and tons of these bags. For what? I have no idea. I'm always filled with this sense of "You never know when we'll have to haul a bunch of junk out of the house! These bags would be helpful!" Its crazy.

shelleycoughlin said...

I like to collect shoes and makeup... does that count? :)

Unknown said...

I wish I had a collection of something! I've never had that kind of desire though. Maybe my collection of shoes counts? Or my jewelry collection?

Anonymous said...

i love the shakers. the milk ads remind me of how i collected Absolut ads. this from a girl who didnt drink really till college... def gave my high school dorm head some concerns....

Anonymous said...

ME TOO! I had lots of collections.

1. I collected those little plastic figurines found in Happy Meals and gift shops. My collection was so awesome, it was featured in my local library's showcase. (NERD ALERT)

2. I collected (and displayed) Got Milk? and Absolut Vodka ads. Who knew I would work in advertising and like drinking?

3. Precious Moments. (My mom and I had a thing.)

4. Lucy Bears. (What is up with the figurine thing?)

graffiti.girl.designs said...

ok i have no idea how i have known you this long and did not know you collected stamps. also are those penguins from the science museum in pittsburgh?

when i was kid i used to like to collect people's business cards - wonder how i became a graphic designer?

now i collect christmas ornaments that are shoes - all different kinds, cowboy boots, ice skates, sandals, high heels - if they make um for your feet i have the miniture version on my tree!

Who? Me? said...

I too collect salt and pepper shakers! And turtles. And antique photographs. And Holiday Barbies. Oh. And shoes! Shoes shoes shoes!

I heart you and your dork-ness :)

sassafras said...

My collection of things usually changes before it can get out of hand.

Salt & pepper shakers are a fun thing to collect.

Jess said...

I think you might be my sister. Not like my long-lost sister because you and I are so alike, but because you really remind me of my sister. She had the same thing going on with the Puffkins (which were super cute, by the way!), and the Got Milk ads are still up in her bedroom at our parents' house.

Have a great weekend!

Wendy said...

Heh, you're such a nerd!

the salt & pepper shakers are adorable. I'm not really a pack rat, the only thing I collect are books, I'm a total (really picky) dork when it comes to books.

thanks! I'm so glad she's feeling better too. I might post the cone pictures today, just need to find that cable! Looking forward to your random facts. :)

Ashley said...

The S&P shakers are ADORABLE!!! I feel that if I were to collect something, it'd be those.

I never really collected anything, surprisingly. Besides shoes, purses and coats. I don't think that quite qualifies though...

I'm the type of person that likes to buy books and keep them on my bookshelf so that I appear smart. Tell me thats not weird.

Have a good long weekend!!

Miriam D said...

Um, well, I LOVED sweet valley books and BSC, plus I used to collect stamps too. I also liked the absolut ads even though I realized they were trying to indoctrinate minors into buying their alcohol... I also used to collect... crystals... because I am a major dork. We can be dorky friends together :).

Lacey Bean said...

I collect stuff too!! When I was younger, I had Pogs, a candle collection, beanie babies, stamps, and I also collected the Milk Mustache ads and also Absolut Vodka ads!! They were ALL OVER my walls!

Now I collect bar t-shirts (to be blogged about today actually), other event specific shirts, rubber duckies, and hard rock cafe shot glasses. Guess I haven't grown up!!

Anonymous said...

i'm still your friend. i collect certain things and am the same way about keeping them organized, but i dont really like knick nacks... i like to collect sets of things - like my turbo jam videos. i love that i have all of them even though i only use like 3. i love seeing them all lined up in their box, different bright color with coordinating titles.

i love my jewelry box collection, keeping everything in there set up and organized, the prettiest, sparkly stuff on top, etc.

and i keep all my bath/body/lotion stuff organized in its own glass door cabinet. lol. i dind't realize how freaking much i have until after this christmas.

Unknown said...

Those are adorable!

No worries, you are not alone. I collect books, DVD's, candles, pens, notebooks, anything pink and anything colorful. It's like a disease.

Kristen said...

i collected all of the baby sitters club books too. i wanted to be a member of kristy's gang!

each of the two said...

i used to collect men...

OM made me give it up though.

Angela Noelle said...

Oh, my weirdest collection was pencils. I had TONS of unsharpened decorated pencils in one of those brightly colored kit n' kaboodle boxes. Kids are so weird.

And my longest lasting collection is Gone With the Wind memorabilia. Our guest room is the keeper of that collection and it seriously looks like a Gone with the Wind trinket shop!

Anonymous said...

I haven't collected things in a long time but I used to collect dragons. They weren't inexpensive either because they were from this one series that I liked. Um, can we still be friends? I love the penguin salt and pepper shakers, they are so cute!

A Margarita said...

I kept my movie stubs of all the movies I saw since I was 15 - they somehow got tossed out by accident. Very sad day. But I've started it up again. I jot down whoever I saw the movie with on the back of the stub, and it brings that memory back.

Anonymous said...

I don't collect things anymore (I am one of those "cleanse and de-clutter" types of people now), but I used to collect Beanie Babies. I had tons and tons. And porcelain dolls. That was probably the extent of my obsession with collections.

But yes, we can totes still be friends! Duh!

Joanne said...

Hahaha, you're totally not alone in this. When I collect things, I call 'em addictions (as if it justifies it all, haha!). lols, I remember reading Sweet Valley and Babysitter's when I was younger...hm, and Boxcar children and Animorphs...wow, trip down memory lane, there.

the fanny said...

We can totally still be friends. I collect shoes.

:)

The Author Of This said...

I have a great collection of Dust. It's taken me a while to get where I am with my collection, and I find it incredibly satisfying. I'm also considering collecting Mould in the hope that I can create a mini mould civilisation.

Yoda said...

Moving about the world as much I did, nearly everything I collected as a kid is now lost :-(

I was an avid stamp collector, and I even had the Black Penny! I'm sure someone would've found it in the huge box of packing hay we forgot to take my collection out of.

longredcape said...

Those hugging penguin s&p shakers remind me of the bear hug ones I used to have! I think they broke :(

L Sass said...

All I've ever really collected is LM Montgomery books (author of Anne of Green Gables). My parents still have them all!

email said...

As a kid, I collected miniatures. A little older - clowns. I don't know why, now I find clowns a little creepy. I'm with you on the books, though. I had every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys in existence. Even now, when one of my kids gets into a series, I'm right there making sure they acquire ALL of it. Junie B. Jones? - have it. A-Z Mysteries? - have it. Spiderwick Chronicles? - just started it, need the last two. Magic Treehouse? - working hard at getting it all. As for myself, I MUST HAVE all of the books of the authors I really like, and there are A LOT of them. I have boxes and boxes of books that I am unwilling to part with, and boxes and boxes of books that I've listed on Bookmooch for anyone to ask me to send. I have a bit of a book addiction.

B2G said...

I definitely had a rock collection. *Hangs head in shame.*

Also, The Boxcar Children series. I think I literally had every single one. There were over 150.

Unknown said...

I collect shoes and books (particularly Shakespeare ones... yum!) and postcards...

Love the green/black tetris-y s/p shakers!

xox

Maxie said...

I am SO a collector. I don't want to think about all the money I've wasted. Beanie babies... check. stuffed animal turtles...check. cows on parade...check.

I've done it all, lol.

Kristie said...

Oh darling, I collect so so many things. We can totally be collecting friends. I collect Blenko glass, vintage jewelry, Precious Moments, sunflower related items, shot glasses, local art and I'm sure other things. As for things I used to collect, business cards, matchbooks and a few other things.

Katelin said...

Haha, I love it. I was never OCD about collecting things but I was/am a serious collector too. I had a bagillion Barbies, My Little Ponies, Beanie Babies...most recently my collections are mainly postcards and shot glasses or and statues of elephants. Don't really know how those started, but I love them all. :)

PrincessPolly said...

I used to collect stamps (and books - similar taste to yours) as a kid. I still collect chick-lit books to some extent and also tops and necklaces, which are my main interest!

Damsel in Digress said...

michelle! you have to come to chicago and we can go to the caf (chicago architecture foundation) and mca stores together ... they sell the most adorable salt/pepper shakers! maybe i know this because i too am obssessed with them..

i am totally with you on the collecting things to an extreme. i blame it on my ocd? it used to be the complete series of books for me too! remember the boxcar children? and i ALSO plastered my walls with god milk ads. (cue twilight zone? maybe? not yet?) then i think i went through my nsync phase and collected every poster of them possible? oh lord. please still be MY friend?

and i have no idea what a puffkin is, but this description made me bubble with laughter: "which are similar to Beanie Babies just a little bigger and fluffier."

ANA said...

we can be friends if you gift me the penguin shakers...adorable

ANA said...

we can be friends if you gift me the penguin shakers...adorable

Jenni said...

No! You are definitely not alone!

I too used to collect series of books...BSC, SVH and FEAR STREET!!! I also went through a Beanie Baby phase, but I collected the Teenies from McDonald's.

However, my biggest collection was Disney statues. Growing up in SoCal, and having an aunt & uncle that worked at Disneyland, we went quite often and every time we went my sister and I got a new statue. I think they're stored somewhere in my mom's attic, but I just can't bear the thought of getting rid of them. I imagine that someday I'll have a big house with a movie room and maybe I'll display them then!

Ok, yeah, so I'm a nerd too! :)

Nic (NotPerfect) said...

I would LOVE a collection, I just haven't found my niche yet. I was a huge Babysitters Club fan as well, to the point that recently I looked and there were more books released after I lost interest and I actually considered going and reading them.

Anonymous said...

A little scared right now...kidding! No wait not kidding. LOL! I guess we can still be friends.

Trish Ryan said...

My sister gave me pizza slice salt & pepper shakers as a gag gift one year. As soon as I find them, I'm mailing them to you :)

Larissa said...

I used to collect salt & pepper shakers too!!! So yes, we can still be friends.

I also collected rocks. My younger brother wanted to be like me, so one day he filled an egg carton with gravel from the street, and called it his rock collection.

Miss A said...

I think this post should be renamed "A Bit of A Confession" ;-)

Wow. YOu ARE a collector aren't you.

I did the whole BSClub books thing too. I used to collect troll dolls, coins, cat ornaments, poodles...

My fav collection: my postcards - i have more than 500 and seek more and more everyday.

Thomas said...

My sister and I are starting a law firm up here in Seattle. Any advice on how to advertise, Michelle?

Anonymous said...

I collected Sweet Valley Twins and Babysitter's Club books too! I actually thought about salt and pepper shakers, but then thought I was being weird. LOL. They ARE cute though! I now collect pajamas, I think. I have more than a person should rightly own.

Sara said...

I'm like that too with books. I have a few salt and pepper shakers. Some I received from Greg's grandma before she died. :) I started collecting them a few years ago when we go on vacation, that and magnets!

Auburn Kat said...

I definitely had the Babysitter Club book obsession too!

Angela said...

And I thought I was the only one with a salt and pepper collection. Glad to see I'm not alone.

Susie said...

Those sale and pepper shakers are adorable! I am a huge collector too..my worst collecting addiction is lipgloss! And mostly girly products like lotions and stuff. I collect tons of books too (had ALL the Babysitters Club and Little Sisters books! And pretty much every other pre-teen trashy series:)) Oh, and shoes of course :)

Julie Q said...

I have penguin salt'n'peppa shakers too!!!! NICE

Anonymous said...

ok i heart you even more. that is so cute.

and i too, loved ALL of those book series. no joke.

Virginia said...

I've tried to start collections and keep them going, but I tend to tire of things really quickly, so the collections never made it out of the "random stuff" category. However, your salt and pepper shakers are ADORABLE (especially the hugging penguins)! I think I might have to start my own collection.

PS
You and Kari want to get together sometime for drinks? We live in the same city, we basically have no excuse not to. Drop me an email and let me know!

nicole antoinette said...

I used to collect dice! Hmm, I wonder what happened to those..

Donna said...

Oh, I'm so jealous. I've always wanted to collect things but I've yet to find something that interests me so much I want it cluttering the house (needing cleaned on a regular basis) I had a stamp collection as a kid, but we moved alot and I lost it.

P.S. I love Sweet Vally Twins, High, University.

elysa said...

Yeah I soooo I definitely had Got Milk ads all over my room as well. Maybe those silly ads are the source for growing up to be a graphic designer.

As for the rest of your collectorness I'm not so much of a stuff person the only thing I like in collections are movies/tv shows. I have the collectors edition box with all 10 seasons of Friends and I so want the Sex & the City you have.

Ashley said...

My mom is the collector of my family, Longaberger baskets, salt and pepper shakers, angel figurines but about 10 different makes of them, dishes, it's a bit crazy.

I went through the Beanie Baby thing, now I have a collection of blown glass paperwights. I am doing the quarter thing too.

Gretchen Alice said...

Oh man, beanie babies were my life! I still have over 70 of them tucked away in a closet somewhere. I also collected dragonfly stuff for a while and have amassed a pretty decent art collection.
But right now I'm trying to simplify and not get so much...stuff. It's challenging, but I think it'll be good in the long run.

Unknown said...

ah, no desire here...none at. all.

takes up too much space, time and effort that this LAZY momma does not want to deal with.

your shakers are cute though--sounds dirty but its not. *giggle*

Nilsa S. said...

Yeah, you've got me here. I actually purge more than I collect. So, no salt & pepper shakers or Barbie collections over here. Sorry, though it seems we balance out the world quite nicely ... you binge and I purge. Bad joke, I know.

Um... Yum! said...

I love puffkins! I was so upset that when I moved a few years back, I lost a purple hippo puffkin in the shuffle. They are so cute. :o)

And I adore your salt and pepper shakers! I've been on a search for just the right pair, but no such luck yet.

Princess Pointful said...

I collect tacky mushroom accessories- butter dishes, cookie jars, and, yes, salt & pepper shakers.

k said...

i have to say that i don't collect anything. i figure the less tuff i have, the less stuff i have to dust!!

oh wait, i take that back... i collect magnets in the shape of states (to go along with my visiting all 50 states goal).

k said...

i recognize those snowpeople from target!