Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian: Tell us about your winter holiday collection

One of the many things I love about my quirky 14-year-old nephew Brent is his collection of collections.

His bedroom is bursting with them. The last time I visited he had at least six assemblages scattered around his room: There were Peanuts characters, Pez dispensers and Muppets, bobbleheads, St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia and elaborate Lego constructions, all artfully displayed on a desk, shelf, table and cabinet in his bedroom in Illinois. Did I mention he also collects furniture?

I make a point each time I visit to drop in and see what’s new, though it can be a little hard to discern since there’s so much of it.

I, too, have collections: handmade plates from my travels, brass candlesticks, vintage aluminum dishware, vintage tea kettles, vintage shoe molds and anything that looks like a lady’s head (a chair, Argentinian vase, pin cushion). Then there are the Christmas collections that include more than 30 whimsical angels, about 20 Santa Clauses and four large reindeer … two of which hold candles on their antlers.

I haven’t put up a tree in years because I’m exhausted after unpacking and arranging it all with greenery, lights and ornaments. My husband thinks it’s all a bit much and really didn’t care for the year when I attached a naughty sign to a Santa Claus hand, directed at the angels across the room.

What about you? Do you have a holiday collection that you display each year? If so, we’d like to know. And by holiday, we mean Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s.

Email photographs along with how and when you started collecting, your favorite piece in the collection and your phone number to cgregorian@kcstar.com. Please use subject line: Holiday collections. I might share some of the stories in a future H&H section.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian: Tell us about your winter holiday collection."