Little Things

Life is often about the little things. It's those little kindnesses to one another, the pleasant routines, the cozy comforts. Taking a leisurely evening stroll. Watching a bird at the feeder. The slow, deep inhales of salty ocean air.

However, it is not these little things that I'd like to talk about today. No, it's actual little things. Tiny, wee things. Cutesy pretty (and not so pretty) things. Yes, lately I've developed a fondness for tiny treasures.

I made this owl out of sculpy clay.

I found this female alien figurine in a parking lot. See the bow in her hair? Or, attached to her head, rather.

I don't generally consider myself  a collector of stuff. Actually, strike that, since I do tend to collect fabric. Oh yeah, and maybe yarn, too. But in terms of actual collections? Not so much. Well, until now, that is.

Most of these items came from thrift shops, Goodwill, and yard sales. The exception being the amazing morel mushroom hanging up on the right (a sculpy creation made by my friend Stephanie) and the flower fairy made by my friend Jade.

My friend Anne made this mini painting, which I adore. The frame came from the thrift shop.

I believe it all started when my young friend Lila gave me a tiny wee bear with movable arms and legs. Now, I'm generally not a fan of stuffed bears, or stuffed anything for that matter. But somehow I found this wee bear rather endearing. It wasn't the color of the bear,  its soft fur or sweet face. No. It was its diminutive size that I was drawn to. So, this little bear actually found its way to my kitchen windowsill. And after awhile, surprising even myself, that bear was joined by other small objects. A miniature giraffe, small ceramic figurines like an owl, chicken and hedgehog, a small plastic alien figurine, a tiny plastic human skull, a mushroom, a mini rock that reminds me of a whale. These, and quite a few more small items, just sort of appeared to me, either on the beach (whale rock), in a parking lot (alien), as gifts (ceramic and felted chickens). At the local thrift shop I discovered teeny tiny canvases that had been painted on, most probably by children. I snapped them up, too, along with a set of teeny tiny frames.

The little bear that started it all. Thanks, Lila!

That being said, this new passion for searching for (and sometimes even making) little things has become, well, an actual thing.

Happy rock person with tiny mushroom key holder found at a yard sale (ten cents). I created the black bird using sculpy clay. To the right is a mermaid figurine made by Jade.

The parameters of this self-imposed scavenger hunt are that the items must be found, thrifted, dirt cheap, or free. Other than that, the sky's the limit!

While on a recent thrifting shop to St. Stephen I discovered a red wooden display shelf for teeny tiny tchotchkes. I had been searching for something like this for a long time as my kitchen windowsill was getting a bit crowded. This was a perfect deal at $3 so I snapped it up.

Sweet wee baby booties that are knit on needles barely bigger then a matchstick!

This mustache embroidery hoop wall art is three inches in diameter and is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Now to make a special space in my home specifically for these little objects. The side of a  kitchen cabinet  facing the dining area seemed the perfect spot. It's out of the way but has a high visibility factor. I mean, I want my things to be admired and adored by all,  naturally! (Thank you, Anne and Dana, for sufficiently  oohing and ahhing over my littles collection the other morning, by the way. Great job!) That space is now home to the doodads and miniature artworks that I have collected over the past year or so. The wonderful part is that since I have either scavenged or thrifted most of the items, I feel just fine parting with them whenever I tire of looking at them. 

The Great Wall of Little Things

Someday, I will most undoubtedly tire of my little things collection. But for now, for reasons even I don't completely understand, these little scavenged objects and cast-offs bring me big pleasure. And I'm okay with that.