THE WEEKEND COLLECTOR: Happy Easter from the Copycat Collector!

For my weekend feature this week, I'm sharing my entire Easter display for your viewing pleasure. I hope you have a lovely holiday weekend... whether you celebrate the Christian Easter, the Jewish Passover, or just Spring.... there's something so fun about bunnies, chicks, ducks, lambs, spring flowers, eggs, baskets, and all the accoutrements of the season.

COLLECTION #202: Vintage Easter Cards

I wish I had as many Easter cards as I do Christmas cards, but the ones I have are so sweet, it doesn't really matter that there are so few of them.

The postcard is from 1916, and the other cards are from the 1930s.

I hope you enjoy looking at my little collection of Easter greetings, and may you have a wonderful holiday weekend- Easter, Passover, or whatever your family celebrates!

COLLECTION #201: Vintage Easter Photos

This cute photo of li'l me was taken by a photographer from the Malheur (Oregon) Enterprise, and it was published in 1954, shortly before we moved from Oregon to California.

Don't you just love old Easter photos? Seeing sweet little innocent faces with their Easter baskets, shiny Sunday shoes, Easter bonnets? I have a variety of vintage Easter photos. Most are of my own family, but some are of strangers. I hope you enjoy them!

This photo looks like it was taken in the 1920s or 30s, if you look closely you can see some of the bunnies and eggs in the baskets!

Easter, 1955. This is my older sister Lynne and me. As I recall, that dress was white with red trim, so I must have had on a red petticoat and red socks! Los Angeles, CA

Easter, 1955, in our front yard in Los Angeles, CA. Present were my siblings, Lynne, Leslie and Gene, and my three cousins Kay, Jeff and Don. And of course, me!

In front of our new house in South Pasadena, taken Easter 1957. Mom made my Easter dress.

This is my husband Bruce, taken in front of HIS house in South Pasadena, likely the same year!

A group of unknown California school kids, with their cute paper Easter bonnets, and giant egg artwork

Me, Easter 1963, when I was 12. This would have been my last Easter basket, as my parents didn't carry the Easter toy & basket tradition on into our teen years.

Easter, 1963. South Pasadena, CA

COLLECTION #200: Ceramic Bunny Couple

Woo hoo! Today marks my 200th collection! I really wasn't sure I would reach this milestone, and what cuter collection to feature & add to my Easter treasures, is this adorable bunny couple? Wednesdays are 'orphan Wednesdays'...days where I feature the odd or singular object that don't fit with my more extensive collections... but since I have two of these sweet bunnies, we'll just call them orphans, ok?

I have no idea of the manufacturer or designer of our little love bunnies, there is felt on the bottoms and no other markings. I'll just take a wild guess and say they look like late '40s, early '50s to me. They have a matte finish, and fun brown stippling on their finish, probably from a sea sponge. I love the coy look of the li'l gal, she's definitely playing hard to get for our wide-eyed bunny boy.

I went out into our garden this morning, and picked some little pansies to put in their little baskets. I hope you like them!

COLLECTION #199: Vintage Easter Toys

And not just any vintage Easter toys, but my own from my childhood. The two large Mr. and Mrs. Bunny banks by Knickerbocker Toys, were given to me for Easter in 1957 or 1958. I loved them, and kept them safe all these years (except for the unfortunate demise of Mrs. Bunny's stylish cat-eye glasses, which broke somewhere along the line. I still have one of the eyepiece sides, but the other side is long gone).

The two adorable small yellow bunnies were not from my childhood, but I've had them for a very long time. They are made out of brittle plastic, and date from the early '50s. The one on the left is also Knickerbocker, and the one on the right is from Rosbro Plastics, Pawtucket, RI. (Now home to Hasbro!)

I love my sweet vintage Easter toys,  I even created a layout about them a couple of years ago. Enjoy!

Here is me and my brother Gene and dog Sandy, with all my toys lined up, watching TV. Notice the bunny banks on the window sill!  (1957 or 1958).

COLLECTION #198: Stuffed Easter Bunnies

I love Easter! I love everything about it, especially the true meaning of Easter: the celebration of the Resurrection of the Savior and our promise of eternal life. I have happy memories of my own Easters past: wearing Easter bonnets and gloves to church when I was a little girl, coloring Easter eggs- both as a child, and with my own children, Easter egg hunts, eating all of those Easter goodies from my Easter basket, and playing with the little fuzzy chicks that were often found hiding in the Easter grass. I was baptized into my Church two days before Easter in 1959, and confirmed on Easter Sunday that year. I remember it so well, including the beautiful Easter dress I wore with the brown velvet sash.

So, this week, in honor of Easter coming up on Sunday, I'll be sharing my various Easter collections. Not so big as my Christmas or Valentine's stuff, but still, some fun things both vintage and newer.

Tiny little faux stuffed bunny, and a small Steiff bunny from the 1970s or '80s.

This is my cute Easter Bunny collection. I should say 'stuffed bunnies', because I have other Easter Bunnies, which I'll share with you during the week. These bunnies do not include the boxes full of old Easter Bunnies we've given our kids through the years. These are just my own bunnies, old and new, that I love.

I love Mitchell with a Twitchell, and Cousin Ben. So cute!

As a toy designer, I'm always looking for new materials, interesting styles, and fun characters to inspire me. Some of these bunnies were purchased for that very reason- they looked cute in my studio!

I love the plush on the bunny on the right... with it's fine, stringy surface.

This cute li'l guy above is my own creation. I made him long before I became a toy designer, I believe he was made even before we were married in 1978. I was into making little 2D felt characters in those days: Christmas decorations, even a couple of dolls. This bunny used to be snowy white, but the felt has turned the color of tea stain, and he's looking a little worn. But I still love him, and keep him up year 'round.

Don't the bunnies look fabulous in the vintage basket?

THE WEEKEND COLLECTOR: Silver Bookmarks

Finding new collectors is one of my favorite online activities. This weekend's collector is Howie Schecter, who collects silver bookmarks.  Howie started his collection by 'accident'. In 1995, he mentioned to his cousin that he was attending the many weekend flea markets in Southern California, and she said that she collected silver bookmarks, and if he found any, would he pick them up for her? Well, he did find several, and decided to start his own collection. I'll let you read his story for yourself, on his website Silver Bookmarks.

I have one single silver bookmark. Now that I have read about Howie's collections and interest, I can tell, that's one category I think I'm going to start working on!