Monday, August 12, 2013

In which things get a little spicy...

As a natural-born collector, I spent most of my childhood as the bane of my poor mother's existence.  She--hyper-organized, neat-freak that she is--was constantly attempting to get me to sort through my "treasures." Thankfully, those tendencies faded a bit with age, but I still love a good collection! 

So, today, I am introducing you to one of my favorite things....my collection of salt & pepper shakers.



Most of them are vintage, but I do have several new ones as well that have been given to me over the years, or that I just loved too much to pass by (Thank you so much for that, Cracker Barrel!).



Some of them have background stories--like the quirky pair of busts below that I talked myself out of buying for six months before giving in to temptation--but most have been happy finds while junking in stores all over the country.


The style that got me started collecting is the kind that has the vegetables in some sort of container, usually a leaf or basket.


I have also have several that have been passed down to me through the family.  The cows belonged to my paternal great-grandmother, and four of my sets were from my maternal grandma.


I only actually use one of the pairs on a daily basis.  The reproduction jadeite set below was my very first set and is the one I use all the time.  I grew up using the Pepsi-Cola bottles, and saved them from my mom's sudden need to purge the kitchen a couple of months ago.



The five-piece set of spice jars above was my grandmother's and probably is what inspired this deep love of mine.  She had a small shelf running around the top of her kitchen walls that she filled with salt & pepper sets and little knick-knacks her family had brought her from different trips.  When my mom and her sisters were cleaning out Grandma's house, I asked if I could have the stuff from that shelf if no one else wanted it.  I think they all thought I was a little crazy, but those little pieces of kitch had fascinated me as a child.  Having them in my kitchen in almost like having a little bit of Grandma & Grandpa around.

Hope you enjoyed my Show & Tell!

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