I have been adding to a collection of white pitchers for years. I’ve carefully packed them up at each residence I left and took them to the new one.
I opened each box with a bit of trepidation, worrying one might of gotten broken. So far, so good.
I can’t recall where I got them all. But some stand out in my mind.
My Target Pitcher:
The tall one in the middle I recall finding at Target years ago. It was $14.99. I don’t know why that particular figure stuck in my mind, but somehow it did.
I think someone was kind enough to send me the one with the raised vines and birds on it.
Maybe it was one of you. It’s certainly one of my favorites if I had to choose!
The one at the far right end was the last pitcher I purchased. I found it at Tuesday Morning before the ankle surgery in June 2022.
I don’t recall where I found the big one in the middle with the lines going vertically down it.
It was one I got years ago, so my memory is shady. The same goes with the others in the above photo.
My Canton, Texas White Pitcher:
The one at the far left was one I found at a shop in Canton, Texas. I believe the shop was called Laurie Anna’s Vintage Home.
She is on Instagram, but I can’t tell if she still has a brick and mortar shop, or even an online store any longer.
I loved going there. She had the most wonderful vintage and cottage style finds.
I was just in heaven walking through her store, finding one treasure right after another. There was another white pitcher I found there that got broken somewhere along the line.
After all, that was probably 12-13 years ago.
My Estate Sale White Pitcher:
The tall one with the lid I found right after I moved to Tulsa. Kendra and I were at an estate sale and there it was. Of course I zoned right in on it.
Kendra doe not frequent estate and garage sales, I don’t think. So that may have been one of the few she went to. And certainly it was the only one she went to with me.
I seem to remember that we were both flailing a bit in term of finances. We had talked about opening an online shop with vintage finds.
If my memory serves me correctly, she could tell how much I loved it. She told me that that white pitcher was not for me to keep, because we were selling it.
I knew in my heart that it would be hard to part with it. But that was an argument for another day.
And obviously I kept it!
I’ve tried my hardest not to break that white pitcher with the lid, because the two of us at an estate sale is a lovely memory for me.
I seldom see her nowadays because she is always busy. The same goes with Kasi. I miss them. And I can’t go out to see or meet them anywhere.
Kendra refinished a few pieces of furniture back then and sold them. She was quite good at it.
But then real estate started making her a lot more money. And flipping houses makes even more money than selling houses.
So that’s where she is today. Selling houses and flipping them. I think one of the ones she’s currently working on may be an Airbnb.
The Reflection In The Mirror:
I immediately noticed that the reflection in the mirror looks like frost. I’m thinking maybe it is the light and the popcorn ceiling.
So I’ve shown you my second and last collection. My first was the vintage jars and bottles I had in this same spot on the mantel.
What do you like to collect? And please share with us why it is dear to your heart.
Your pitcher collection might be my favorite of everything you’ve displayed on your mantel. And the memories that are attached, especially the estate sale purchase, makes them more special. I collect shoes – does that count?!?! (wink, wink!)
Getting to this late. I had 3 foot high snow drifts from a storm that blew through Thursday night and I’m still cleaning up the driveway and patio with my trusty shovel (no snowblower for this woman). I think your white pitcher collection is beautiful. The display across your fireplace mantel is gorgeous and perfect for this time of year between winter and spring. I’ve got collections, the largest is my pink elephant collection that was started after my paternal grandmother passed away back in the early 1960s and I inherited a small “Made in Japan” pink elephant from her. I’ve got about 30 pink elephants now, collected over the years, but none as precious as that first one.
Your pitchers are beautiful indeed!! After all our moves and discarding, I guess the main thing I seem to have collected is books and fabrics. Heh, both take of plenty of room… Sorry your daughters are too busy to see you much…we don’t see a great lot of our kids either…one of the bad parts of life these days. It keeps people too busy to have time for relationships.
I collect Lladro, but I only will buy pieces that remind me of a memory. For instance, I have a ballerina that reminds me of my daughter, and a golfer that reminds me of my husband, and a football player that reminds me of my son. That sort of thing. That rule has kept me from buying them just because I think they are pretty and spending way too much money. So it’s a small collection, but meaningful.
I love your collection of white pitchers. I have a few large ones and a bunch (maybe 10?) of small ones. Most made in England and Germany. So I guess that’s one of my collections. I also collect books, cookbooks, owl figurines, vintage pottery (especially McCoy), washi tape, pretty notebooks and journals, large vintage bowls, plants…that’s it off the top of my head. I’m done collecting pottery, owls and bowls unless I come across something on one of my outings that absolutely speaks to me!
I don’t collect anything, unless you count all the crafts I make. And the things to make them.
It is so bad that everyone is so busy! This is such a hurry up world!
I love collecting and reading about other’s collections. I started collecting when I was a teenager and the first thing I collected was pictures of suns with faces. I think I fell in love with them because we went to a restaurant in NYC that Alexander Girard designed that included a series of sun faces. I started with those and then began cutting them out of magazines and newspapers. I pinned them to cork boards with map tacks. They used to hang in my dining room. Now they are all in a file folder but I still have lots of suns hanging on my walls because everyone started giving them to me as gifts. I also collect mermaids, woven musical instruments, things (including musical instruments) made from gourds and other natural materials, blue and orange or yellow ceramics, and more (including many holiday collections) and each of those have stories too but this is long enough!
Well, you certainly love to collect!
Sadly, Laurie Anna’s is no longer open at Canton. I, too, loved to walk through her store but it was always so crowded.
Aw, that’s a shame.
Brenda, I collect golden apples. They are very hard to find, so my collection is quite small. Probably a good thing. It began when my dearest heart friend (who was 14 years older than me) told me how her mother used to gather her eight children around her on the bed at night for a bedtime story. The first to fall asleep was to get a golden apple. Her mother was always the first to fall asleep and it became a sweet joke. After she told me that, I happened on a tiny golden apple at a small shop at the mall. When you opened it, it was a music box that played “Memory”, a beautiful song. After that my eyes would instantly find a golden apple at garage sales or gift shops or even jewelry stores. I only have nine of them, as they are very hard to find. One is a bell and one is an old Avon cream sachet bottle. One is a Christmas ornament and one is actually brass. One was on the wall at an Apple Peddler Restaurant that was going out of business. My husband talked them into prying it off the wall. I don’t actually search for them. I wait for them to find me. Sandra
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one like you describe. I love golden anything though!
Hi Brenda, your collection of white pitchers looks lovely on the mantle. I am drawn to clear glass candy dishes with lids. I also like lamps and decorate with mirrors. I have a stack of books to read & pass them on to others. I get them at library book sales or other people pass theirs on to me. I used to collect butter dishes but gave most away & kept the ones I really like. Have a great weekend!
I remember we had a clear glass candy dish with a lid when I was a kid.
I love your white pitchers Brenda! They are so pretty. I collect fabric which is out of hand at this point! Fabric I used up north is different than I use now that I live down south and I need to just get rid of what I don’t use. I need to find a place to donate it to. I hope your ankle is getting better. I just left my orthopedic Dr and I have to have another shoulder replacement. I had my left one done a little over a year ago. Unfortunately, this time it is my dominant side.
Hope yu have a wonderful weekend.
Oh no! I’m sorry. I hate that my bad ankle is on my right side because that’s of course which side I have to drive on.
I have way too many collections…guess my favorite is on top of our kitchen cupboards we have all kinds of kitchen ware from teapots to coffee grinders…rolling pins…mixing bowl etc…fun to look at and family pieces are meaningful…people always ask…where did you get all that…I just smile…I love pitchers too…my favorite is a small turquoise blue one that belonged to my mom…I love your collection💕
Collections are so much fun. I have to watch myself because I don’t have a lot of room to display them.
Love them all!
Thanks, Susan! Hope you’re doing well.
I’m a magpie at heart. I’ve had many collections over the years. Santas, pressed penny’s, handmade pottery, charms/nature items (rocks/driftwood etc) from my travels, and I’m sure there are others I’ve left out. Collecting for me isn’t really about the item, it’s about the memories attached to them.
That’s a good way to think about a collection. The memories that come with them.
I love your collection of white pitchers . There simply beautiful, and I love that there all white.
Years ago I collected tea pots . Not so much any more . My Mom used to give them to me as gifts . She passed away many years ago .
I used to have a small collection of teapots. Don’t know what happened to them.
Your collection of white pitchers is lovely, Brenda! I’ve collected a variety of things over the years but it’s been quite a while since I’ve collected one specific thing. Well, maybe, fabric.
Have a great day!
I’ve sure collected fabric in my day!
These days I collect nothing at all. Difficult to take care of “things” and just too old.
Always loved cookbooks.
Wish someone would take all these (175 +) away to help me clean out my library of them.
Your pitcher with lid, I have the same one!
Belonged to my aunt.
I’ve never used it.
For some reason, other family members also collected other white pottery I have.
Pretty yes ,,,,, but hard to care for.
Hopefully soon you can get together ❤️ with the girls and grand kids.
Everyone is always so busy. No time for each other.
They’re all always so busy, busy, busy!
Marcee, you can donate your cookbooks to a local library for their book sales. The Friends of the Library runs these sales and the profits go right back to the library.
I like the rhythm of the arrangement. Individually they are excellent soloists and collectively they make a lovely choir.
Oh, your words are beautiful!
I love all the different shades of white! I guess if I collect anything it’s Brownie cameras. The last one I bought was at a big junk market in Scottsdale, Arizona a few years again. It was the final day, and it was marked half off. A photographer saw me buy it and then asked to look at it. She told me it was in great condition, and it would still take photos, if I could find the film. I now have five, and it’s fine if I never buy another.
I’ve looked and looked for vintage cameras when at antique malls. Never found one that I thought the price was right.
My favorites are the two pitchers in the middle on the front row.
I can’t think that I have collected anything in particular except for sea shells. I still have a large box full of them from some years ago now. I used to stick shells on quite a few things which I sold on Etsy, I liked doing that so much I had to buy shells from a company in Florida until I realized that these were not picked up from the beach (of course) but gathered from the ocean floor and so most of them were not just shells but someone lived in them! How clueless of me not to realize that.
I used to craft things with seashells too. I remember a simple terra cotta pot that I painted white and covered with seashells. Wonder what happened to that???
I collect books! I always have a ‘to be read pile’ and I do donate some and pass some along to friends. I am determined to have my in home library with books to reference and enjoy rereading the good ones. Kind of amazing where I have added bookshelves to display them. The latest were shelves above the windows in my sunroom. For me, it is comforting to have them around and I love seeing them. Now I am working on painting two, tall , wood, free standing book shelves to put a mix of books and plants on. Guess I am going straight to H—- as I am breaking one of the Ten Commandments since I am coveting your pitcher collection! The are just beautiful on display. They are cohesive in color and theme yet each is unique in it’s own design and so lovely to look at.
I can’t find good wood shelves. Not for a price I can afford anyway.
Brenda, the Billy bookcases from IKEA are wonderful. Those are the ones we have and I have hundreds of books on them. They’re very sturdy. And IKEA delivers. You’d just have to have someone put them together for you.
I look for sewing themed nic naks when I vintage shop. I don’t need anymore dishes which I use to love collecting stuff at thrift stores. Yesterday I saw a young girl using a small hand sander as she was refinishing a long bench in her driveway. I thought good for her to repurpose and do something creative.
I guess I’m collecting those too! I love anything related to sewing, especially something old.
At first you might just think there are a lot of nice white pitchers. But then of course, you look closer and see the individual design and style of each one and it’s quite fun.
And you start looking for your favorites. I have several favorites in your group. I seem to have purchased a lot of bunnies over the years. The home design stores around here tend to carry a lot in their staging. Good for spring decorating, or any time actually.
I wish I had bunnies to display for Easter. I might have one or two somewhere.