- Andrea Tomkins
- October 25, 2011 at 9:28 am
- 5 comments
A peek inside my collections: unlock my heart with a vintage key or two
I think the first key in my collection might have been one that belonged to my grandmother; tarnished brass with a rounded top and a tiny flourish:
And then I started collecting more of them. Perhaps I should rephrase that… the keys started finding me. The second one I bought was at an odd sort of yard sale, from a local order of nuns that was moving out of their convent. The key just sat there, unattached to anything that might be remotely lockable. I remember handing over my dollar to the nun behind the table.
“A key is such a mystery,” I said jokingly. “You’ll never know it belonged to.” I think she looked at me kind of funny. But I ended up carrying that key in my pocket for a long time, perhaps as sort of a talisman.
It feels rather Alice in Wonderland, doesn’t it? What did it lock? What did it hide? I love the mystery of homeless keys. There could be a treasure behind any one of these:
And once I’ve accumulated enough of them I hope to do something like this:
It’s going to take me awhile to get there. But that’s the thing about collections, right? They have to grow…
5 comments!
I was very excited to see this today. I have an old key collection and I used it to decorate my son’s nursery. I’ve attached them to the wall over his crib (safely and securely) and mixed them up with some lovely colourful god’s eyes my daughter made. Very pretty, whimsical combo.
Such a great idea to decorate a nursery with keys!
I love the wall of keys – what a unique way to decorate!
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[...] A peek inside my collections: unlock my heart with a vintage key or two [...]
[...] So those are just a few of the many beautiful things I found in my search. They may or may not be your cup of tea, but there was plenty of art out there that I passed over that might look perfect in your home. Go check it out! (Don’t forget to also look for alternative art: stained glass windows, vintage plates, or collections like Andrea’s beautiful antique keys!) [...]