Hello Kitty x Peko-Chan

I am absolutely a sucker for cute packaging and a cute mascot, with Peko-Chan being one of my very favorites.  I am also a sucker for all things Hello Kitty.  So imagine how excited I was to see the two come together for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty!  I found a seller on eBay that had celebration bags filled with goodies and I even found myself the cutest phone case featuring the kawaii collaboration.  Here are some of the goodies from my bags-

I think I'm going to figure out a way to frame these bags.

Peko with Kitty ears is the best!!

There were actually several other Fujiya brand candies and cookies, but the packaging wasn't really cute enough to share.  The cookies were tasty, though!  One bag also contained a cute fan featuring both characters too.

Of course now I'm left with lots of Japanese candy that I solely bought for the cute packaging.  Oops!  I think I will carefully open the packages, so I can save the cuter ones and display them with my Peko-Chan toys and I'll include any individually wrapped candies with shop orders.  Who are your favorite mascots or cartoon characters?

Collections - Hazel Atlas Bowls

This is just a very small collection, but one I would probably trade in all of my Pyrex to add to!  I just adore Hazel Atlas patterns.  I know that a lot of my glassware is Hazel Atlas, but the bowls seem harder to come by.  I have actually recently added one more bowl to this collection, but I forgot to add it to the photo.  It's been ages since I've done a post of thrift finds, so I'll try to remember to show it off later!

My Dear Deer

Collections ~ Vintage Toys

Collections ~ Salt & Pepper Shakers

So the funny thing about me having a salt & pepper shaker collection is that I don't even use either one!  Every one of my shakers is empty and the salt and pepper are banished to the spice cupboard in their boring old containers.  It's a cute collection, though, and one that is small enough to always find room for!

Bookworm

We are a house full of book lovers and it's no secret that vintage children's books are among my favorite things to collect and read to my boys.  I actually have pretty much all of the books from my childhood and quite a few that belonged to my mom or other family members.  I tend to look for cute ones anytime I go to a thrift or antique shop and am especially partial to Rand McNally Elf books.  They're typically pretty adorable from cover to cover and I seem to have a lot of luck finding them for less than $3, which is usually my price limit!  You can see a pretty good list of some of the Junior Elf books here and here is some of my collection-

Collections ~ Children's Records

There used to be a great little antique place in the town where we live, but sadly it closed a few years ago.  I don't think I ever left the store empty handed and this little case full of records was one of my many purchases.  Although most of the records inside are badly scratched, there is something so lovely about them.  I like to think that they're scratched and worn because someone really loved them and listened to them often. 

Collections ~ Owl Figurines

Are owls over now?  I feel like they were the totally "in" animal for awhile, but I'm okay with that.  I love owls!  Awhile ago, there was an entire owl collection at a thrift store a friend took me to.  I would have bought them all, but they were kind of pricey and it was right around the time that I exhausted my savings buying a new car.  I settled on the three little white ones below and have recently found a few more.  I don't think I'll ever tire of owls, so I'm sure this collection will grow!

Collections ~ Glassware

One can never have too many drinking glasses, right?  We don't get a lot of company these days and pretty much never throw any outrageous dinner parties, but we are so prepared if we ever change our minds!  I love vintage patterned glass and bar ware and have been collecting it since Donnie and I moved into our own place.  The silver polka dot glasses below are my very favorite, because they were an anniversary gift from one set of great grandparents to another.  Because of that sentimental connection, I rarely let anyone drink from them.  The dust settled in the bottom makes that pretty clear!  Now that I've outed myself as a less than super housekeeper, I should shut up and just get to my collection.  This isn't everything, but here are some of my favorites!

A New Collection

I was a Brownie, but I never got to officially be a Girl Scout.  That's such a shame, because I would have looked super cute in the uniform!  Maybe it's because of this that I have such a fascination with the Girl Scouts.  I bought the cookbook a few months ago and just bought the other three scout books recently.  I am such a nostalgic sap, so I love that the books have the original owners names and the purchase date in them.  The Cub Scout book has sections where the scout has to have a parent sign off after they've completed an activity and most of it's filled out.  All of the books are full of adorable illustrations, fun crafts, and good recipes!  As I am typing this post, I realize that I have a stack of the old American Girl magazines from the 1950s, so I suppose those were officially the start of this collection.  I can't wait to add to this fun collection!