Skip to main content

Pure Decorative Value

So, I saw a cute wire birdcage at a resale shop the other day and have been thinking about it since then.  Christmas is coming up and I broached the subject with my husband today about getting it and having it in our home as decoration.  His response was less than enthusiastic.
I realize that he likes to visualize things, so I pulled up some photos of ones that I've seen before and thought that would help.  I think it may have hindered, because the word he came out with was "tacky."  To which I asked him to replace with the word whimsical.
As I sit here and drink my coffee, I started thinking about all the decorations in our home and to be honest, I can't think of a single thing in our house that serves the sole purpose of being decorative.  Which is exactly what a big wire birdcage is, pure decoration.  The majority of our decorations are functional or multipurpose.  We  don't even have a coffee table, because let's be honest, who puts coffee on them any more?  They are just there to hold books and junk that no one ever looks at.  We have bowls and antique coffee grinders and pictures with scripture on them.  We have memories captured on film within our photo frames, we have canisters that should hold kitchen wares.  Everything has a purpose beyond creating beauty in our home.
I guess it's got me wondering if I really do want to enter into the realm of accumulating things for pure decorative value.  I'm not EVER planning on getting a bird.  I find them quite disgusting, but I love the old cages with their craftsmanship and the whimsy of discovering what's inside.  But is that enough of a reason to bring something as big as I was thinking into our home?  Maybe I should start small and go from there.
I blame all of this on the influence of my daughter who collects things based purely on the fact that she wants to display them in her room.  Rocks, stuffies, you name it, she wants it to be beautiful just for the sake of beauty.  She needs no function in her beauty.  I think Joel and I could both learn something from that attitude, if we didn't have to deal with organizing and tidying it on a daily basis :)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KAF No-Fuss Focaccia

I really like making bread.  It's fun to get your hands dirty, but I understand that yeast is a scary thing for people who don't have experience with it.  Somehow, I started using it when I was young and too immature to understand the fear that comes along with wasting time, money and energy.  I had time and energy in abundance.  My first real forte into baking was in the 7 th grade.  I must have cooked before then because I choose to see which flour rose the highest using a cinnamon roll recipe.  I made a lot of cinnamon rolls that year and when I turned in my report, there were questions asked of me that I had no idea what she meant.  Questions about the weather and the heat of the oven.  Things that I didn't know could make a difference in the baking of bread.  Lots has happened since that first memorable baking.  Today, I invited a friend over to make bread.  I was kind of concerned about the strength of the yeast, because we bought a huge stash of it last year someti
5 comments
Read more

Tasty Tuesday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

  I've had loaded baked potato soup on the menu most of the month of November, not really knowing when I was going to make it. Last night was the night. I started with this recipe from Betty Crocker as an idea but as I saw that it served 15 and looked at the various quantities while I cooked, some things changed, and wanted to share the final recipe here so you can enjoy it and I won't forget it.  Loaded Baked Potato Soup serves 3 with seconds and a serving left over 1/2 package of bacon 1 small onion chopped 3 cups chicken broth (I use Better Than Boullion) 2 large baking potatoes, peeled, cubed 2 tbsp butter 2 heaping tbsp all-purpose flour 2 cups milk divided 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2teaspoon freshly ground pepper A generous helping of sour cream 4 oz sharp Cheddar cheese shredded (half a block) separated 2 sliced green onions separated In skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 6 to 7 minutes or until crisp; drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon; set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons d
Post a Comment
Read more

Project 52 Crossword Puzzle

Hannah and I had the car on Thursday and since it was officially my turn to plan date night, she and I hit the store.  We went to Target which has those great dollar bins right when you enter the store.  I found a cross word puzzle and some water balloons.  My thoughts were to make some chocolate bowls with the water balloons and do a crossword while we waited for them to harden.  Well, I got the idea of orange truffles while I was sitting around that afternoon and went to see if we had any of the stuff that would make it and I kind of had it.  So, I made up some truffles and then we covered them with chocolate that night and they were so tasty.  We made it through one crossword puzzle and cheated very little :-D  It was fun working on it together and some of the clues and words were a little ludicrous.  All in all not a bad date for a buck and some pantry raiding. In case you are interested in the dessert, I took the McCormick Eggnog Truffle recipe and modified it by omitting the n
6 comments
Read more