The One Where I Tell You To Have Collections

Christmas is right around the corner, and while you’re busy making lists and trying to find the perfect gift for everyone in your family, there are pesky people asking what YOU want for Christmas too.

If you’re anything like me, you shrug and brush them off with a “Oh, I don’t know.  Nothing, really.  I’m fine.”

And while that may very well be true, most people want to get you something.  And try as you might, you can’t avoid the question, and typically…you can’t avoid the gift.

Over the years I’ve found that having something I collect has been a great way to get stuff I know I’ll actually love/use, and make shopping for my family a bit easier.

Of course, if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that Christmas isn’t about gifts and all that other jazz.  And you know I truly believe it.  But gifts are a real part of our traditions too.  So before I get comments about how I need to just be thankful for what I do have…I know.  I’m there.  I get it.  Promise.  I write about that stuff too.

But this post is about taking a few minutes to think about what YOU would love.  Because you know people are gonna start asking (if they haven’t already).

Now, I’m not suggesting you start 200 different collections.  Keep your choices to one or two, and ideally something functional.  You don’t want to have your future grandchildren writing in to the producers of Hoarders on your behalf…or worse, be like this guy who spent $100,000 on Beanie Babies (Oh yes.  Yes he did.)

This isn’t about filling up your house with 879 Precious Moments figurines (although if porcelain kids with giant eyes are your thing, then by all means), or spending 8 hours a day on eBay finding the rarest piece…this is about building in a simple, low stress way to approach gift giving that makes it easy for your loved ones and doesn’t result in donations to Goodwill 6 months later (Quesadilla Maker, I’m talking to you).

I love nice kitchen ware, so I’ve been slowly accumulating Le Creuset.  It’s expensive, so it’s a perfect one at time, slowly but surely, kind of collection.  Plus, there are so many pieces in both (expensive) cast iron and (affordable) stoneware, that I never really know which piece I might be getting or even how many.

My husband doesn’t always buy me LC, but even when he does, there’s still an element of surprise for me.  For my birthday last month, he got me the mixing bowl set.  And I was thrilled.  And he knew I would be.  See?  win/win.

A friend of mine gets a pair of Kate Spade studs for every occassion.  Sometimes it’s one part of lots of little gifts, sometimes it’s the main/only gift.  But with so many colors, it makes it easy for him to get her something he knows she’ll swoon over and get use out of.

Originally, I assumed that they would be expensive (based on the designer label), but they’re actually pretty affordable.  I’m tempted to add this to my list of collections.  The idea of slowly accumulating a rainbow of pretty earrings sounds fun and they’re such a simple, classic style that I can picture wearing them now and to Tuesday Night Bingo when I’m 80.

Also, I totally romanticize the idea of saying “Your grandfather got me the pink ones the year we bought this house…and the orange ones were for my 41st birthday…”  

Because I’m sure that’s totally how it’s going to happen.

Fancy French cookware or rainbow hued earrings not your gig?  What about collecting vintage, leather bound books?

Between used bookstores, antique shops, and eBay, you could score some really cool pieces and there’d never be a shortage.

Plus, they’d look amazing on a bookshelf and make you seem really sophisticated to visitors as you snack on a Pop Tart.

What about collecting these gorgeous new clothbound classics from Penguin Books?  They’ll make you look smart, serve as decoration, and you’d be guaranteed to have great titles that your kids will probably need in high school anyway.  So basically, it’s like investing in your kids’ education.  Basically.

::hint, hint family::

Did you register for China when you got married, but never completed the set?  Or were you like me and didn’t register for China, but now secretly wish you did?  Pick a pattern and remind family.  You can slowly piece together your dinnerware one gravy boat at a time.  

How about vintage Jadite?

Or milk glass?

Or a piece to an elaborate Christmas Village set?

Or a nativity?

Or…

Or maybe it’s nothing on this list, but you know EXACTLY what it is already?

It’s that thing you swoon over anytime you see it in stores, but then forget about when it’s time to make a list.

It’s that thing you wouldn’t buy for yourself on a normal day, but would still love to own.

It might even be that thing you’ve never admitted to anyone you want.

But think about it.

Start a collection.

Your family will thank you for it.

Do you have a collection?  Do you wish you did?  What is your secret love?

*amazon affiliate links used.

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jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

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