The Accidental Collection

Ours started out innocently enough.  I was out of town helping to care for my mom after surgery, and Bruce was home with the kids.  His sister was coming for a visit the day after I was due back, and he was worried about our "eclectic" furniture looking shabby.  What is so wrong with a burnt orange couch from the 70's anyway?  So... he went shopping without me.  Big mistake.  Huge.  If you live with someone else, don't buy furniture without them.  Especially if you know they might have an opinion about it.  He wasn't going to tell me before I got home, but one of the kids spilled the news over the phone.  He bought a matching couch and love seat.

"Oh Jan, you are going to love them."

Yeah.  This is pretty close to what I came home to (we didn't take any pictures):

They were blue, which is my favorite color.  They also had a trellis pattern with tiny pink rosebuds, ruffled skirts, and oak trim.  They were also a very shiny velour that shed all over our clothes.  And just to top the whole thing off, he bought an afghan to drape over the back of the couch that he said matched perfectly.  An American flag afghan that he paid $50 for at a small boutique.  I was speechless when I walked through the door.  We ended up trading the furniture out for another set that we BOTH agreed on.  We kept the afghan because he loved it.  This is what we ended up with:

Bran with his rat tail circa 1997

You can see the afghan folded on the back corner of the couch.  It was normally draped all the way across the back.  My dad said he didn't know if he should salute our couch or sit on it.  My entire family thought this whole thing was so funny that for every single birthday, anniversary and Christmas from there on out, we were gifted with patriotic items.  Bruce loved it.  It grew on me over time.

After Bruce died and we moved out of base housing, I packed most of the Americana away, but it slowly started creeping back out again.  Especially anything with the Statue of Liberty on it.  Our first piece had been a Hallmark Christmas ornament that was given to Bruce one year:

The ornament is in the middle behind the yellow butterfly.

It plays the National Anthem when the tree lights are first turned on.  It cracks me up every single time.  Other items we have with Liberty on it include a bottle opener, tin sign, nesting doll set, glass ornaments, magnets, and even a small tomato cage.  My all time favorite is this one though:

A Statue of Liberty ice bucket.  I suppose it could be useful for a 4th of July party, but I keep it out year round.  I can't help myself.  It makes me smile.  

What kind of accidental collections do you have?