My Natural Knickknacks

When I told my husband Larry that I was going to write about this subject, he said, "Oh, you can call it 'Natural Knickknacks'!" Well, since I had to look it up to make sure it was the right word, I'll tell you the definition. Knickknacks are all those "small trivial articles" we all have around the house, whose primary purpose is ornament. My husband was right (he usually is right about words). This is about my knickknacks.

It may seem insignificant to consider the health and environmental effects of knickknacks, but they can have quite an impact. If something is made from a toxic material, it can pollute the whole room. Also, it's not ususual to have so many knickknacks that they turn into clutter.

I have a few personal guidelines about knickknacks that I would like to share with you.

First, the fewer knickknacks the better. One of the basic things I have learned about life is to keep things simple. To me, simplicity is having what you need but nothing superfluous. Extra stuff just gets in the way and can slow down whatever you are trying to do.

This doesn't mean that I don't have decorative items around the house. I do. In fact, I believe that beauty is a very important part of life. Which leads me to the second guideline: decorative things should have a purpose and useful things should also be decorative. I agree with the old Shaker rule-of-thumb "Don't make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful." And so I make a point of choosing necessary and useful things that are also decorative, and very few items that are solely for decoration.

William Morris--an important designer from the Arts & Crafts period--said, "Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." To me, something that one "believes to be beautiful" does have a use and a purpose: it uplifts the spirit. So I do have things in my home whose sole purpose and function is beauty, and that give me joy every time I use or look at them.

For some of my knickknacks, the purpose is history. Some of my things belong to people I love or have loved or they are souveniers of special times.

And last, but not least, my knickknacks are made of sustainable materials of one sort or another. To me, that's part of what makes them special.

With these guidelines, I'm reconsidering whether or not knickknacks is the right word, after all. None are trivial, and none have a primary purpose of being ornament--even artworks have a primary purpose of lifting spirits, not decoration. But I do have beautiful useful things that decorate my home...

Here are some of my favorite decorative items I have around my home.

	Star Paper Lanterns I collected these paper lanterns for several years before finally hanging them. The first one (white) I purchased in California, the second (purple) in Santa Fe, New Mexico on a trip I took alone for personal growth, and the third (lavender) in St. Petersburg, Florida. Though there was no rhyme or reason for purchasing them at the time beyond the fact that they appealed to me, after I purchased the third one, I realized that they symbolized my husband (white), me (purple), and our union (lavender), each illuminated by an "inner light". Two of them are folded from handmade recycled paper containing bits of flowers.
	Little Red Riding Hood Cookie Jar This cookie jar came from my maternal grandmother's house. It is at least as old as I am because it is present in my earliest memories. My mother never baked, but my grandmother always baked homemade cookies for me when I came to visit. The first thing I would do when I entered her house was run for this cookie jar to see if she had baked oatmeal or almond cookies. I keep this because it reminds me of my grandmother.
	Duck Watering Pitcher I often will buy things when they strike me immediately on first impression. This was one of those things. It just delighted me the moment I saw it, and still does every time I see it. I love the fact that the shape of this watering pitcher is an animal that lives on the water. And it's made of ceramic, which is more earth-friendly than the metal or plastic that watering cans are generally made of.
	Recycled Aluminum Squirrel Nutcracker Now what could be more charming than a nutcracker that does it's job by placing the nut in a squirel's mouth, right where it would be cracked in Nature? I have this placed high on top of my dining room hutch, at "tree branch" height.
	Sugar & Cream Set I had to bring these home with me because they made me laugh! Don't these look like they have personality? I love whimsy.
	Green Crane Teacup I couldn't resist the beauty of design of this ceramic teacup. It has it's own saucer, ceramic strainer, and lid to keep the tea warm between sips. I bought one about ten years ago, but it broke when we were packing to move to Florida. Just a few months ago, my friend Sara--who hadn't seen mine and didn't know it had broken--found this one in a museum shop and thought "This would be perfect for Debra's birthday present!" And so it was.
	Tile Coasters I keep these two tiles on my desk to act as drink coasters and protect the wood of the desktop. I have two because I generally have a glass with a cold beverage and a vase of flowers on my desk, each of which needs a coaster. The leaf coaster I purchased as a coaster at Crate & Barrel. The deer coaster I purchased as a tile in an Arts & Crafts store, then added the little felt circles on the back to make it into a coaster. These are infinately reusable and protect my nice desk.
	Cherry Wood Rolodex I bought this many years ago from the Levenger catalog as an alternative to a plastic Rolodex. This is something I use all day long every day and will probably use it for many years to come. Though it cost much more than any card holder from an office supply store, the value of its beauty to me every day is priceless.
	Brass Bell Collection Most of these bells I inherited from my great aunt Louise, who had inherited them from her Hindu spiritual teacher. I think many of them came from Tibet. They sit in a row on my living room window sill--a reminder of my aunt and her courageous, independent spirit. They are also a conversation piece. Virtually everyone who comes in the room picks them up and rings them.
	Oak Leaf Mug Pen Holder This started out as a mug, which I purchased for the oak leaf pattern. In California, we lived in an area with a lot of oaks, though they weren't directly around our house. But I love oaks, so when the mug chipped and I could no longer use it to drink from, I "recycled" it into a pen holder that I still have on my desk. Interestingly, I now live in a whole grove of oak trees.
	Pigasus, The Door Stop This was my husband's choice for this collection. He thought its name should be Pigasus, The Flying Pig. It's actually a very heavy iron piggy bank, but we use it to hold the doors open on winter days when we let the breezes blow through the house (if that sounds strange, remember, a typical winter day here in Florida is sixty degrees). Again, I chose it because it was just too funny!
	Victorian House Cachepots These I have had and loved for many years. They have broken and I have reglued them together. I don't know why I can't part with them--maybe it's because they remind me of the San Francisco Victorian houses I've always admired. I've had them since I was about sixteen years old. They were intended to be cachepots, but after I found they didn't work very well to hold plants (perhaps because I didn't understand then that a cachepot is intended to hold potted plants, and not as planters themselves), I used them for many years as pencil and pen holders. Now they are retired and just sit on a shelf, but they still bring me joy.