ANTHROPOMORPHIC LOVE

an.thro.po.mor.phic [an-truh-puh-mawr-fik]
adjective
1.
ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human, especially to a deity.
2.
resembling or made to resemble a human form:  an  anthropomorphic carving.

Growing up, I lived in a very austere home.  My mother didn't like chachkis.  No bric a brac, wall art, collectibles, nothing that collects dust.  Just the basic furnishings.  Whenever I tried to express my self in home decor, my mother would yell at me (nooooooooo!!!!!) and tell me that one day when I lived in my own home, I could paint my walls whatever colour I liked, but until then the walls in her home would remain builders off white, and nothing else!  This outbreak and quashing of any type of creative expression wasn't caused by my painting the walls a 'c' word (COLOUR!!! Get your minds out of the gutter!!!).  It was when I stencilled a SINGLE bow approx. 2" x 4" on a little bulk wall in a corner of my room!

Fast forward 20 years and I've gone buck wild!!!!  Even my mother has started using colour (after seeing MY walls)!  Anyway, once I started to discover my own inner interior designer (talk about pompous!  More realistically my inner junk horder), I realized I had a sick sick sick love of cute things (thats a kinder term for Kitch)!  The particular things I like were, I discovered, called anthropomorphic figures.  You know what they are, you just might not use that sterile word!  Its so unvintage, unglamorous, so very clinical!  So I thought that I would share my collection of cuteness with you all.  Well, my decision to share wasn't just a pouf of inspiration, it was instigated by a few factors:

1. My friend Silvina from the blog Tazas y Cuentos left me a comment telling me that she saw a blog posting which reminded her of me.  This blog posting was about the Baileys Irish Cream giftware which was released in the late '90's with Baileys.  As my comment icon is one of these teacups filled with Gimbals jelly beans, she thought of me.  So I visited this great blog called...
2. Savannah Granny and Ginger shares her addiction collection of Baileys collectibles!  Well I can relate with her addiction collection because I also suffer from this affliction collect these!  Since Ginger shared her collection, and did a rather fetching job of it, I thought well maybe I should share my collection of CUTE including my Baileys, but definately not limited to my Baileys!!!
3. The third reason for this post...I havent had time to do anything since I've been back from my vackay!  I can hardly wait for school to start!!!  These kids require constant parenting!!!!  My craving/painting/junking is seriously suffering!  

So, here is a photo heavy blog post, full of my anthro kitchen collections along with Fire King Peach Lustre (VERY underrated in my opinion)...

Right Cupboard

Left Cupboard

I have two glass fronted kitchen cabinets on either side of my kitchen sink and window.  They are crammed full of my cuties.  Don't I sound like an old lady?!?  Well my 9 year old daughter uses 'cuties' all the time and I've picked up this word from her...  I have a very strict decorating code, anything that doesnt fit in these cupboards...just gets placed on any available surface!  

I've tried to restrict these cupboards to my anthro collections and some china. 

My Fire King Peach Lustre collectin works perfectly with some vintage PY Apple collectibles.

Wall pocket by Py

I've always had a difficult time decorating/displaying my peach lustre.  I love this stuff but don't really like the colour peach...does that make sense?  Anyway, I feel like its a difficult colour to use, especially with my colour preferences.  However, it seemed to go perfectly with the Py apple collections.

Py apple cookie jar

This was the cookie jar which started off this whole sickness...   

Py dual sugar bowl

Most of my anthro collections are made in Japan.

Japanese lustre tea set

Isn't this a lovely tea set?  Its made in Japan, which makes it much more affordable.  Japanese china can be lovely and very delicate, yet its usually quite inexpensive.  A very underrated collectible in my opinion.

Ridgeway England Vintage face tea cups

These are really lovely vintage English tea cups.  I'm pretty sure these are what inspired the Baileys 'wink' cups.  If anyone knows more about it, I'd love to hear from you.

My Baileys collection...

I have the coffee pot, milk jug, sugar bowls, and girl and boy tea cups (in the back).  I also have 3 of the more unusual male and female coffee mugs (??).  I dont love these as much as the extremely adorable chubby cherub faced originals, but they are unusual.

Baileys girl coffee mug

Her pony tail is the mug handle.  She is so '50s Americana with her tight pony tail, and her scarf around her neck.  Please check out Gingers  blog Savannah Granny to see a more extensive and beautifully displayed Baileys.  These are not old, late '90s, but collectible none the less.

Please ignore the top two shelves.  The top two shelves of this cupboard are full of some of my 'mature' self china.  They are from my mother (didn't every ones mother have Old Country Rose china????) so they are sentimental even if not nurturing to my inner child!

ESD Japan Kitty cat cookie jar

ESD Kitty cat milk jug

The kitty cat cookie jar, milk jug, girl milk and sugar and Birdie jars are all from ESD Japan.  I don't know anything about this line, except thats its dang expensive!!!  I love them, but can rarely afford the cookie jars at antique shows.  

ESD Girl cream and sugar

I had the cookie jar to these girl cream and sugars, but I had it in my daughters bedroom on a shelf, and one day she and a friend knocked it down...into a million pieces...sniff sniff.  I have never been able to spend the money required to replace it.  I'm sorry but a cookie jar that costs $140 is not for me, and I don't care how cute she is!

Py Lemon salt shaker

This little guy is from Py, and you can see the similar eye shape/style to the apples.  Both Py and ESD have very distinct styles.  Although I'm not a snob to this stuff.  If I like it (and the price is right...) I buy it, regardless of who its made by.

small ESD bluebird jar (sugar bowl?)

ESD bluebird cookie jar

These things are just crazy sweet!!! 

This is a small sugar bowl given to me by a friend.  It was in her mothers house growing up. 

These final photos are just miscellaneous parts of my collection which just make me smile...

Holt Howard salt and pepper

These salt and pepper shakers by Holt Howard have sound boxes at the bottoms and they used to meow.  This set no longer works, but the set I gave my oldest daughter still makes the sounds!

Japanese bumble bee salt and peppers.  

Japanese bumble bee measuring cups...sorry for the blurry photo : (

I really just use these for display, not for measuring.  

This relish dish just says 'Japan' on the underside, but doesn't it look like a Campbells soup kid?

These are quite old celluloid Fitz and Floyd salt and pepper shakers.  The last antique show I attended a guy was asking $35 for the pair (eeeek)!

These are quite old cork stoppers.  I LOVE THEM!!!  

Last but not least, is my absolute favourite kitchen accessory, My Kit-Cat clock!  When I was 8 years old my family went to Beirut Lebanon to visit my grandparents, aunts and uncles.  In my grandmothers apartment, there was one of these beauties, but in black.  It was fully outfitted in rhinestone bow tie and tail!  The eight year old me would stand in front of this clock thinking it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen!!!  Surely my grandmother must be loaded to have a diamond clock!  I remember many things about that trip to Beirut...listening to my 'hip' uncles 45's including a song called 'Get Down' by Gilbert O'Sullivan, getting red leather clogs, wondering with awe at how the Lebanese women could walk in such high healed wedge shoes,and that gorgeous Kit-Cat clock!  Fast forward 30 years, I was in Restoration Hardware one day, and I saw my beloved Kit-Cat clock!  They only had the simple black ones, but I didn't care!  I had to own it!!!  With great glee I bought it and hung it on my wall!  The next time my Grandmother came to my house (she used to live in Canada for 6 months a year at this point in her life), with great pride, I walked her over to my Kit-Cat clock and proudly 'tahdahed' it.  I expected some kind of loud gasp of wonderment or SOMETHING!!!!   She didn't even remember it!  I told her that she had a similar one with rhinestones in 1973!!!!  She said Oh yes...your aunt brought that back for me from Canada when she visited your family!!!!   W-H-A-T?????  Anyway, this cat always takes me back to a really magical summer for me.  As you can see I've upgraded my simple black one for a fancy shmancy red rhinestone one...oh yeah...

So...while my anthro collection doesn't have any monetary value, its so sweet and it make me smile whenever I look at any of the pieces.  Who ever enters my kitchen always comments on them.  They are just happy reminders.  

What kind of crazy collections do you have?  Please share!  Have a great day :)

Sharing with these great blogs!!!
Common Ground
Shabby Art Boutique
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Lavender Garden Cottages' Cottage Style Linky Party

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME...

Well it was a great trip, and my kids have made seen so many things that they never dreampt they'd ever see!  Also, our second week was my husbands 'BIG FAT IRISH FAMILY REUNION'!!!  It was a blast!  However it didnt start off so wonderfully...

We drove 10 hours from Toronto to JFK airport to get a direct Aer Lingus flight to Dublin.  Air Canada flies directly to Ireland but they are a very allergy unfriendly air line.  We ask that the airline not serve nuts during the flight (in a meal is okay, as we dont eat the meals) because when you open a package of nuts, the dust gets into the airlines sealed cabin.  People with severe peanut/treenut allergies are usually affected by airborn allergens.  So, simply the act of a few people opening nuts in a plane can trigger a deadly reaction.  Aer Lingus has always been gracious enough to announce to the passengers that there is a child with severe anaphylaxis on the plane and asks them to refrain from opening nuts during the flight.  While some people resent this, most people understand and dont want to be the cause of a childs death. Aer Lingus accomodates the allergic.  LOVE AER LINGUS!!! Air Canada, not so much!  

Driving 10 hours and hanging around the airport for 6 hours was easy peasy!!  The hard part was when we arrived...

We had rented a self catering cottage from a company we'd used before.  We booked our cottage 7 months ago but two months ago they contacted us to inform us that the house we had booked was removed from the market.  So two months prior to our trip, we had to find a new cottage. As you can imagine, only the yucky ones left. To make a long story short, our cottage was YUCKY DIRTY GRIMY ILL EQUIPPED! Wont say anymore as I'm ticked at loosing all that money.  After drinking myself to sleep the first night, we packed up and left, knowing that we were throwing that money away. We called around, made reservations at a hotel we stayed at in Doolin (County Claire) 13 years ago for the next 5 days. We didnt call the rental company, as we didnt want to ruin our vackay further.  Their website said to speak to the owner to rectify any problems...short of a wrecking ball, no help for this place!

Anyway, next morning we packed up and went to the Aran View Hotel in Doolin.  I LOVE this hotel!  We were there 13 years ago when we were still without children.  Its a lovely building, with nice furniture, and family owned and operated for FOUR GENERATIONS! Not too fancy, but nice, clean, and friendly. 

Thats Wally!

While here, we went to the Cliffs of Moher (Cliffs of Insanity from Princess Bride), The Burren, Inisheer (the smallest of the Aran Islands), Doolin cave (third largest stalictite in the world), Allwee cave, on and on...Each place we went, my kids were awestruck! Anyway, once at the Aran View (5 nights cost less than 5 nights at that dump!) we relaxed and had the best time.  The 7th night was full so we went to visit Sister Magdalene at the convent in Longford (Johns Aunt).  We found a wonderful hotel which was four star and was very close to the town centre.  It was the Viewmount Hotel.  Okay, if you are EVER in Longford you MUST MUST MUST go to the Viewmount!!!  Four star hotel, which costs less than a two star in Toronto, and looks like this (interior of our room and the grounds):

We did so much more, like kissing the Blarney stone, Cahir castle (Braveheart), etc...but we loved going to Cobh (formerly Queenstown).  This was the last docking port of the Titanic before it sank.  We went to the Titanic Experience, which is really quite powerful.  Your ticket has the name of one of the 123 passengers who boarded in Queenstown.  At the end, you see if your passenger lived or died, along with family history, photos.  Very moving.  

White Star Line office, where the last 123 passengers boarded the Titanic

Anyway, I'm sure I bored you to tears.  I'm drowning in laundry (and more and more laundry).  I've got to get some projects started to blog about!  Take care!  Hope you are all having great summers!