Collections

 I have always had a thing about collecting things. When I was young my father had a stamp collection and I was fascinated by it so I took to making a collection of my own. Mum would give me any stamps she got on mail and I would soak it off the envelope in a dish of water then lay it out to dry before using dad's special stamp attachments to put them in a book. 

Along the way I took a fancy to coins and managed to amass a number from various countries - always getting excited when there was an Australian coin mixed in with our New Zealand coins - they were interchangeable back then.

Coming into the 80's fancy rubbers (erasers for the Americans) became a thing and my friends and I collected them spending any spare pocket money on the latest fancy shapes. I also collected soaps in various forms especially covetting the all new soap-on-a-ropes! I collected Trixie Belden books which i loved to read (I still have them all today) and this was all by the time I was about 13!

I don't collect one specific thing now but I found myself drawn to these old silver souvenir teaspoons with beautiful enameling on the top. I have been hunting them out when I am thrift shopping and thought they would be fun to have in a jug on display at our retro holiday house. They are inexpensive and delightfully retro and give me a sense of purpose when I am out rummaging in the op shops. I love the colours and I am trying to collect them of places in New Zealand as a reminder of all of the beautiful and interesting places there are to visit. I guess in a way that means I am collecting them now - just not as a serious collector - I hope that collecting teaspoons doesn't make me old!!

When you are being frugal finding an inexpensive thing to collect can be a challenge but can provide hours of cheap entertainment while on the lookout for the items you are after. And the thrill of the chase is priceless!