<p>A friend started collecting pink Santa’s 30 years ago and still does. That’s a lot of pink Santa’s over the years!</p>
<p>Got me thinking…what hobbies/collections did you spend time on in your early (or earlier) adulthood that you don’t partake in anymore??? Do YOU have boxes of pink Santas collecting dust in the attic???</p>
<p>The first hobby that comes to mind that I did for a long, long time but don’t do anymore is cross stitch. I did SO many wall hangings, framed works, Christmas ornaments, bookmarks - I enjoyed it and stopped after child #2 came along (those free moments in the evenings became delegated for house cleaning and other undesirable tasks!!)</p>
<p>As far as collections, we used to spend a lot of time at auctions, estate sales, flea markets, etc. and I collected old baby dishes - the ceramic/porcelain ones, the ones that you used to warm up water and fill to keep baby’s food warm, ones with nursery rhyme characters and such on. Still have them and they are in a small cabinet (with no real purpose at all) in my living room but haven’t added to it (except for my own kids dishes) for years (and have no desire to)</p>
<p>How about you? Retired hobbies/collections???</p>
<p>We were at a neighbor’s house a few weeks ago. They collect black Santas: [Black</a> Santas, black Santa Claus figurines and figures](<a href=“http://www.blacksantas.com/]Black”>http://www.blacksantas.com/) It was really cool–they were EVERYWHERE! </p>
<p>I have a small collection of weird poodle things, including a poodle vase and a poodle tea pot.</p>
<p>When DD was little, I did a lot of smocking and sewing. I couldn’t even lay hands on my sewing machine today … it’s in the far end of the side attic. I used to collect ‘Christmas in the City’ pieces, but I’m over that. I don’t even get them out anymore at this time of year. When DD has well-established in her own permanent home, I’ll pass them on to her.</p>
<p>My dad is the king of collectors. Besides a fairly normal stamp collection (first issues), he collects shoe horns with hotel names, shot glasses, Budweiser Clydesdales Christmas mugs, and hockey cards of professional players, who once played for his alma mater, the University of North Dakota.</p>
<p>I know a woman in Texas who collects “Aunt Jemimas”. I don’t think that’s what she calls them, but that’s what they looked like to me. I couldn’t decide if that was racist.</p>
<p>There were the decoupage years. But I also collected playing cards for a while. I have round decks, square decks, big decks, tiny decks. I have a deck from Air Force One. I have a deck of translation cards from Northwest Airlines. I have a deck with five suits. And then I stopped.</p>
<p>When i was a kid I collected baseball cards. I still have all of them and I still pick up a team set each year of the local team to add to the collection.</p>
<p>As with most collections, mine started innocently and unintentionally. I loved owls and got a figure for a gift, remarked on it and the word spread. So I found myself with lots of owls, glass, wood, stuffed, etc. Years ago I weaned out all but the few most important ones. Funny seems they are coming back in vogue see them everywhere in decorating…guess I was ahead of the curve :)</p>
<p>Yes, never say you like something. I once got drowned in frogs. I had a stuffed one that I loved as a kid, next thing I knew frogs were all over the place. Now days the only frogs I have live outside. I still have a stamp album. I keep hoping some child/grandchild, nephew, cousin, etc. will want it.</p>
<p>I started collecting dachshund stuff when we got our first one in 1979. I had to cut back after the first thousand items or so. Now I “specialize” in brooches–140 and counting! All different–thank you Ebay! We refer to my junk as “Weiner Art”.</p>