Bowls of Treasures

The other day I had a friend over to my house and as we were moving from room to room she noticed that I have bowls of stuff, little collections of treasures throughout my home. I hadn't really thought about it before but I do tend to find little cool things and give them a home inside vessels made of wood, iron, enamel, ceramic and glass. I don't think of myself as a knick-knack person because I don't like clutter. But I do LOVE my bowls of stuff. They make me happy. Some people scrapbook to preserve their memories. I keep my memories in bowls. Here's what I have . . .

I love this natural, irregularly shaped wood bowl that sits on a table in my family room. It holds some tumbled glass, pieces of abalone, a seashell I bought in a yard sale in Pacific Grove that was actually found in Florida, a sterling silver shell, a cedar egg, a message in a bottle, an opal egg, driftwood from Bass Lake, a glass heart from my husband, and a red heart from Cost Plus.
This large iron leaf was a gift I gave to my mother. When she passed away I got it back. I keep my antique wood block stamps in this. These old blocks from India are like little pieces of art. I buy them whenever I come across them at estate sales and yard sales. I keep this on my large square coffee table in my living room.This wood bowl holds my hand painted Christmas stars that I purchased from a local artist, Bebe Long , a couple of years ago. They are so artsy I keep them out all year. I picked up the various orbs at Pier I, my favorite is the recycled paper ball. And I love the big blue iridescent glass star. There's a heart that I bought from artist Stephanie Lee that I gave to my husband for Valentine's day. It says, You are here...X. Very romantic!

These iron hands are fabulous. I am really intrigued by hands. These hands came from Urban Outfitters and they hold a silver wishbone given to us on our wedding day, along with a beautiful piece of abalone and a glass egg I bought when I was back in Austin, Texas, a couple years ago. These hands sit next to my stove so I can enjoy them everyday when I am cooking a yummy dinner.

My husband bought this ceramic bowl for me. Do you see the gold crown on the side of the dish? Inside this whimsical bowl are my beaded beads. My friend and I took a bead making class to learn to do this. I made two beads and she made many more. Every now and then she gives me a couple of hers because she knows I love them but have no patience for making them. Not to mention you can go blind trying to string the seed beads to make these. These beads are so colorful and tactile. The bright blue one reminds me of a sea urchin. This bowl is in the family room, too.

This is just one section of a long wood vessel that has about five sections to it. I tend to toss my jewelry into this when I am done wearing it for the day. I think I have an obsession with wood bowls! This is in my bedroom.Here's a wood bowl that I keep in the bathroom that holds some of the seashells that we've collected when we go to the coast. Treasures from the sea are one of my favorite things.

In my kitchen this tiny vintage enamel dish rest on the hands of three iron angels and hold various hearts. The pewter hearts came from a museum in Sacramento. The iron angels and the dish are yard sale finds. Hmmm.......yard sales. Now that's another blog entry altogether!