A Little Restraint. . .

I sort of have an addictive personality. . . Hence my decor business.  I bought more than I needed so I decided to sell things to give me an excuse to keep buying cute things! But as a rule, I try to avoid collecting too much of any one thing.  I think it would be too easy to just keep buying something because I "collect" it. Add to that, people who know you tend to find it an easy thing to always give you.  So eventually you end up with a thousand snowmen, or birdhouses, or penguins.  Then one day you find yourself being crowed out by a thousand staring penguins that you don't actually like anymore and haven't a clue how to go about getting rid of--let alone telling everyone to quit buying them for you.

Or maybe I just made all that up in my head.  Either way, there are few things I collect.  I have collected blue Fire King dishes over the last few years in spurts, though my collection will still fit on one shelf in my hutch.

I have also collected some ironstone, though again, not any great quantity yet--more because I won't pay what is often asked, and I don't come across pieces I love as often as I would like.

My husband would argue that I collect shelter magazines. . . and truthfully he is probably right.  But I use them all the time. It's like a reference library, a source of inspiration, a mini escape when I get a chance to sit still and do something fun.

But that's about it.

Lately, I have had a thing for birds.  I must not be alone, because you might have noticed the plethora of bird related things out there, not to mention the bird/nest related home blogs.  There is something simple and homey about birds and nests, I think.

It has become a bit of a joke between Lisa and me.  I see a bird and say "Oh that is cute!"  She rolls her eyes and says "Really? I wouldn't have guessed you'd think that!"  And occasionally she will concede that it IS quite cute.  But I try not to buy every cute bird thing I see for fear of becoming the lady who collects birds.  And then each bird will loose its value and it will become more about the collection and less about the individual birds.

So I have practiced restraint and only purchased a few birds.

It started when a friend gave me this cute little terra cotta bird for my birthday in 2009.

I followed up by purchasing this cute pillow on etsy from WhiteTwig the next month.

Then I practiced restraint and merely admired birds until my next birthday when I purchased myself this adorable chippy little dove at an antique store. . .

Then came House of White, and my admiration for all things bird has found an outlet. . . though I am still practicing restraint!  It started with this silhouette pillow (for sale in the etsy store):

Last week I was at the Good Will and couldn't pass up the cutest little rooster.  He may have been pale green and yellow, but I thought he was cute, none-the-less.  I was so quick to give him a fresh look I forgot to take a before picture, but I think he turned out really cute.

He is headed to the shop along with this collection of items that coordinate nicely with his new look:

Now that I know every bird I feel the urge to purchase won't be collecting on my every surface, I may let myself pick up a few more and bring them home with me. . . even if it is only for a short visit on their way to a new home.

What do you collect, or find hard to pass up when you spy one?