Collection of Boats

The  white one was a gift and so also ghe small brown one.  The brown one is from Sweden and was a gift from friends after their visit to that country.  The blackish looking one is actually made from real silver and is again a gift given by a friend in UAE.  I have to get it polished and shining one of these days. :}

Perfume Bottles ... 8

Mugs ...... Pic 1

We love collecting pretty mugs.

Popcorn Tin

This is a collector's item.  Also seen are  a couple of pics that my daughter drew in an art class

Christmas pretties .... THREE

Christmas pretties .... TWO

Christmas pretties ..... ONE

We have countless Christmas-themed little things that I try to bring out and display in the living room every Christmas.  They give that special nice feeling.  The best time to buy this sort of stuff is after the Christmas holidays when stores want to get rid of their X'mas things.  We have picked up some great pretties like these for a song.

Bamboo Lamp holder

We bought this piece in the United Arab Emirates one Christmas

Birds

I bought these at a church bazaar many years ago.  Since then  I have kept my eyes open for similar pieces to add to this collection but so far have not been lucky.  These are wall hangings but I keep them propped up on the book shelves.

Japanese tea kettle

I have no idea how this pretty piece is still intact.  I remember playing with it when I was a little girl.  I used to use it as a vase too in my childhood.  There's not a single dent anywhere on this piece.

Glass house

This was bought in the United Arab Emirates.  Made in China of course, but it is very nicely made and the dried flowers and weeds are arranged beautifully. 

Also, behind the glass house you can see some of our priced books.  We have many antique books and I will try to photograph them at a later date.

Popcorn Tin and Peanut bears

These are collectors items.  The popcorn tin is from Houston Food company and the glass bears in which I have stored tiny wooly toys afre from Kraft Foods

Little miniature frames

Wooden craft from the Philipines and Alaska

I got this set of wall decor from a Filopino friend.  The 2 other wooden works are whistles that we bought while visiting  Alaska

Prints on wood.... kitties

Absolutely pretty kitty kats

Trophy Stand

Our Scrabble trophies.  The two big shells are from St.Thomas island in the Carribean.  The shores were littered with these shells.

Cluster of Pictures on the stairwell wall

8 lovely things hanging on part of our staircase wall. 

Modern Art .... Sun and Moon

Painting: Cuban pre-done painting of a senorita

Paintings like these are found in Cuba.  The street painters leave the eyes undone and if you buy the painting and want the subject to look a bit like you, then you sit on a stool in the middle of the street while the painter tries to capture your looks into the pre-done painting.

Painting: Peasant Woman

This painting is by the same woman who painted the "flowers in a vase".  I bought it for the frame but then was too lazy to dismantle the thing for a new pic.  It hangs in my bedroom as do a tonne of other pics.

Painting: Flowers in a vase

I bought this painting from a garage sale in my neighbourhood.  The lady who sold it was the painter and this was one of her very first painting after completing a course in oil painting.  I liked it because the entire painting has just two shades of  blue and pink.

Print of a Greece island

Bought at our church bazaar

Painting on Silk

We bought this in Thailand.  The painting is beautifully done on silk. 

Bottle Collection Part 7

Jewel encrusted pen and keychain Bible

The gold pen has some tiny jewels and has been in my mom's family forever.  The bible keychain was given to me by a colleague at my very first job.

Indian Shoes and a Japanese Fish

Colored bottles are from the $ shop.  The pretty  shoes are made from heavy metal and are from India.  The one on the right has it's original pink color dating back from the early 1900s.  The white fish is Japanese and is too delicate.  It's made of glass and has lost it's fins.  The Ivory brooch in the shoe has lost it's clasp.

Doll Collection ... 2

Doll Collection .... 1

I keep the dolls hanging over the mirror on the dressing table.

Doggie Collection

My doggie collection.  The silver one is an ashtray.

Bottle Collection ... 6

Shelf holding tiny gifts from around the world

Pretty things on a tiny shelf in my bedroom.  There are four Chinese masks  on this shelf which were presented to me by a Chinese trader visiting the company I worked for more than 20 years ago.  They are very detailed and well made.  Also on the shelf is a wooden piece with a camel, herdsman and grass, this was given to me while we were in the Middle East.  Each piece is removeable.  Russian Doll on the lower shelf was a memento from friends after their visit to Russia. The tiny little elk on the same shelf is a  Christmas tree ornament from our visit to Alaska.  The dark wood bird-thing on the top shelf is from Indonesia from an Indonesian woman we used to know.  The Black penguin is a Christmas hanging ornament and was made by a colleague of mine.  Other bits picked up from Church bazaars.

Ceramic Boot

We bought this from our trip to Hong Kong

Bottle Collection ... 5

More from the collection.  The smaller they are, the prettier they look.

Bottle Collection ... 4

The Orchide bottle is like a flower about to open out.  The other two are from Avon Perfumes

Bottle Collection ... 3

One of my daughter's favorite perfumes is Organza.  So here are three pretty ladies in two sizes of the brand.

Bottle Collection .... 2

I love the looks of the blue bottle.  It has a golden dragon on it.  The green bottle is like a leaf and shaped like one.

Bottle Collection ... 1

I am an avid collector of perfume bottles and pretty vases.  The bottles  with the gold casing are from my mother. The blue bottle is really ancient.  Slim, sleek and feminine.

Spanish farmgirls

My daughter picked up these when travelling in Spain.

Wooden Bottle Holder

This beautiful piece was picked up in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.  The glass decanter was bought separately

Jam Jar

This is another item from my parents' house.  The lettering says: I C Hoffmann  Strawberry Jam and the lid also looks like it's an original.

Floral design Serving Dish

My daughter gave me this as a birthday gift and she bought it from an antiques shop in Toronto.  The back has markings that say: Victory - Salem China Co, USA.

Plate with brown design

Fortunately, I was able to salvage this from the dump heap that my mom had thrown it on after renovating a part of their house.  It has a crack and the rest of the set of 6 plates are no more.  I think this is either from Portugal or England.  The marking at the back has the imprint of a crown.

Elaborate designed wine keg

I just love the intricate work on this piece.  It is all wood and supposed to be a wine keg kept on a wooden stand.  It even has a removable cork at the upper end.  This was probably acquired at a Church bazaar and I think it is either English or Irish made.

Village Ashtray

We bought this pretty ashtray although we don't smoke.  The craftsmanship is beautiful. We picked it up from Bombay, India in 1995.

Avon's Flower Girl

Avon's pefumes might not be that great, but most of their their perfume bottles are a collector's delight.  I was lucky to find this at an antique shop for almost nothing.

Chinese Milkmen

We picked these up from Hong Kong when we were on holiday there in 1989.

Weasels on Tile

This is original tile-work by someone named W.Morgan in 1982.  We picked it up at a Church bazaar and the back of the tile-work has a label that says: "Kimberley Enterprises, In Original,  Torrance, California,USA

Steel Pins mold

This was won at a scrabble tournament.  It's pretty heavy and has moveable steel pins that you can mold to keep the impression.  You can see the imprint of my hand in this photograph.

Wooden mugs

Probably from Holland.  Bought at a garage sale.

Pretty little things

The wooden box wherein these tiny pieces are housed contained soaps that my daughter had given me on my birthday.  Makes a great little showcase for tiny pieces like these.  Most of these are from $ shops.