Being in the collectibles business means I get to buy all kinds of wonderful things I love, even if I don't get to keep them. I especially love OLD stuff. Stuff I'd have no use for. Kitschy stuff. Just plain dumb stuff.
I spent all day yesterday working on inventory for my co-op booth. I'd been accumulating stuff for three weeks and hadn't gotten around to putting it on the spreadsheet or tagging it. So it was a marathon day. Books, Books, BOOKS! Everywhere (and a couple I decided I couldn't part with). Wind chimes, pictures, glassware, travel kits, a pink and black patent leather purse (it is sooooooo cute!) and Christmas stuff up the wazoo. I love it all. But I can't keep it. Any of it.
Some things I live with for months before I can part with them. Like "Made In Japan" figurines from the 50s and 60s. I've got two sitting on my curio cabinet right now, both bought for 50 cents. One was blind in one eye. Not to worry, I'm not a doctor, but I write one, and I cured her with a toothpick and a little acrylic black paint.
Last weekend I bought a distressed plant stand. Normally I don't buy stuff that needs work (because it'll sit there for a year or two before I get around to fixing it), but this one called to me. It's got a badly water-stained pine top, and wrought iron legs. I'm going to repaint the legs and sand the top and toss on a couple of coats of polyurethane and put it down in my pub. (Yes, we have our own pub down in the basement, and it is not your usual basement bar. We have brass rails, a 1.5" solid oak bar top, the world's most expensive denim couch, a china cabinet full of Frank's collection of cocktail shakers, and lot of great stuff we've picked up on our travels around the world. Like a cricket bat we got at a boot sale in Wales; pictures of the Queen (including one Frank took in Toronto), yada yada yada.... (I guess you could call it eclectic decorating.)
I also find it very hard to part with framed pictures. I love little gold frames and have a bunch of them sitting around, either waiting for something to put in them, or just hanging around because I have no more wall space in my booth. (They don't always sell that well, but I'm such a sucker....)
The big green tote is filled with stuff to take to the co-op tomorrow. If I hadn't packed it myself, I'd swear it was full of lead.
I hope I don't get a hernia.