I first became interested in snowbabies as a child.  There were two of them in my grandmother's china cabinet which Dad had bought while on his senior class trip to Gettysburg.  I just loved to look at the things in that cabinet and the snowbabies were my favorites.  They are now yellowed with age and live in another beautiful cabinet at Mary Ellen's.  There are many varieties of the babies available now; the ones I collect are by Department 56 (SnowBabies) and look quite different from Dad's.

The picture above shows most of my SnowBabies collection.  It looks like more than there actually are because of the mirror behind them.  I also have a SnowBabies bank, several of the "hinged box" SnowBabies and some SnowBunnies, which are on a lower shelf than is pictured.  While I have bought a few of these for myself (from e-bay!), most of them have been gifts from Paul and others.  To see more about SnowBabies, click here.
 

This is a picture of "My Girls."  The first one I got was Megan Marie, who is wearing a brown dress with a white pinafore.  She reminded me so much of my kids, with her brown hair and eyes, her freckles, and her gold-framed glasses, that I just had to have her.  I think it was the first thing I ever bought for myself that I didn't really need, but I made her a Christmas gift to myself.  The next to come along was Colleen Catherine, then (not sure of the order) Amanda Anne, Erin Eileen,  Noreen Noelle (she's dressed for Christmas), Mary Margaret (!), Maureen Maeve, and Angela Rose.  Of course, I also have Karen and Lori, my real girls.
 
 

This is a not-so-good picture of most of my birdhouses.  The first one I bought is the one in the back corner; it has red and white striped walls and white stars on the blue roof.  I bought it shortly before Paul's 60th birthday party, whose theme was patriotic red, white and blue.  I got the pink flamingo on e-bay, and the round burgundy one was a gift last Christmas from Ryan, who painted the other colors on it.  The others I picked up at craft shows or super sales.  I have a few more which I received since this picture was taken, and two birdhouse chimes as well.
 
 
 

Here are two not-so-good shots of Nathan's little dog collection.  We started on this when he was a toddler and we got him a tiny clear glass puppy in Corning NY.  We lost that one a long time ago due, I think, to a broken leg.  You shouldn't buy glass dogs for toddlers.  Most of these were gifts from Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Mom & Dad.  Some Nathan bought for himself when we'd be at a flea market or yard sale.  He usually just bought one at a time since we felt a collection is better if it is made up of specially collected items.  Nothing has been added to the collection in the past few years, so this may be a done deal.
 
 
 

I also have other accidental collections.  I have pitchers (some with wash bowls) which have been stored away for several years.   Don't know if I'll ever get them out again.  I have several decorative plates, mostly with flowers (roses) on them and some of them antiques, and a bunch of pretty teapots I've gotten over the years.