For someone who's not all that fond of tchotchkes, I've sure got a lot of them.

Jun 21, 2007

Thursday Thirteen 98:33

I'm a decorating minimalist. I like clean lines (caused by my distaste at my childhood chore, dusting...including all the bevelled details and curlicues on my parents' furniture, and all the decorative doodads Mom had), I like to use shelves for books (I have just a few), and I dislike visual clutter. Yet somehow, over the years, I've managed to slowly but surely accumulate little decorative items that I have to have. It's kind of...weird.

Only about three of these items are not “working” — that is, they don't serve some function in addition to being attractive. Photos are over in the gallery.

1. My dragons I bought my first dragon in 1991, while at university. I've since bought more, all from the same sculptor. It's not so much the need to have a set (because there are a few of the "family" that don't speak to me as strongly) as a need to have the proper guardians for my cats.
   
   Oh, shut up. You do the same thing. Don't lie on me.
2. A chalice Handcarved from redwood, shaped and polished, finished in deft, and numbered. It was cracked when my cats knocked it off of its shelf. Even so, it's beautiful. This is one of the few purely decorative items I own.
3. A malachite globe I love the color and composition; and bought the globe from a rock shop up in Canada. I keep meaning to find a nicer way to display it than the inexpensive, cheap plastic display stand. Also purely decorative.
4. A carved wooden cat I think I may have gotten this from a street vendor at some festival. Either that or an import shop. I honestly don't recall. But I remember getting it years before I first brought Monkey home. It, and my dragon, served as Monkey's first “guardians”.
5. A perfume bottle from the 1920s The stopper won't seal, allowing any perfume to evaporate or go rancid fairly quickly, so this lovely item is purely decorative. This came from a grandmother. I didn't much like the grandmother in question; but the perfume bottle is lovely. And, hey, it matches the dragons! (Same colorscheme. Totally unintentional...but neat nonetheless.)
6. A honey-quartz candleholder and diffuser Bought at the same rock shop that sold me the malachite globe. When I put a tealight inside, and face the opening to a wall, it looks like the rock is glowing from inside.
7. A grey-granite mortar and pestle Bought from le Tarzhey; but very nice-looking. I've actually used it to grind up dried spice leaves. (Note: do not try and mash garlic cloves in a pestle. Curved surfaces mean that instead of smashing the clove, you're more likely to send it shooting across the kitchen.)
8. A crystal vase I bought it because of the shape and the size: graceful curves, but not overly rococco and only about 4 inches high. Instead of using this to hold flowers, I use it to store my laundry money.
9. A gold- and silver-leafed boxMom did this in one of her art classes, learning different ways of working with liquid-metal paints. The box is simple cardboard, and not very large. I use it to hold change (other than the quarters, which go into the above-mentioned item.)
10. A handpainted, aged mirror (no photo because I'm not a good enough photographer to figure out how to photograph a mirror.) Mom did this in one of her art classes. It's not really all that good as a mirror, because of the faux aged quality; but it looks attractive.
11. A slab of lava My mom's friend brought it back from Hawai'i. Mom faux-finished it with aged-copper patina finish because she's not overly fond of solid black. I'm not nearly as fond of that finish as she is; but it's a candle holder. And it's small. And it's cat-proof.
12. Candles LOTS of candles. All over the place. Small tealights; 1/4-inch thick “overgrown birthday candles”, tapers, pillars of all sizes. The only thing I don't like about summer is that I can't keep candles lit: it's too hot for open flame; and the fans might extinguish the candles.
13. A handcarved soapstone diffuser The store stopped carrying these soon after I bought the last one on its shelf, so even though it was a bit of an extravagant purchase at the time, I'm really glad I bought it.

Other Participants

• One Gal's Musings with choices of favorite things
• This Eclectic Life with “don't you hate it when...” moments
• Di's Book Blog with ways people found her blog (search terms)
• Gabriella Hewitt with places in America she'd like to visit
• Whiskey Talking with random thoughts
• Coffee with Ms. Jackson with signs you have teenagers in your house
• Amy Ruttan with things that went through her head when she found out that she had sold her first book (congratulations!!)
• Eve of a New Day with diets she's not -=about=- to try
• Colloquium with movie recommendations
• Observations from Missy's Window with movies recommendations...to miss (or, at least, movies she didn't like)
• Soliloquy with facts about the summer solstice
• Amy's Random Thoughts with facts and trivia about her husband
• cat is my copilot with things she does at midnight

Keywords: | home | candles |
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