The trip to McKinney was successful; I found something I had been looking for for a long time.

Specifically, this:



And here it is put to use:



That's my collection of miniature teddy bears (and other animals; you might be able to see a cat or two and a Snoopy clone in there). Most of them are made from kits by Emily Farmer; I used to order them direct from her but lately, I've seen them for sale from Edinburgh Imports. (Direct link to kit-shopping is here; you select by the size of the animal you'd like to make or by its name, if you know it.) Anyway, the shelf is just the sort of thing I wanted for my little collection.

I hadn't had a good place to keep them; they lived in a box lid on my dresser except for Christmastime when I put them on my tree. This is more satisfactory, even though the shelf is already packed and I have a few more kits I've not done...

I found the shelf at a shop called The Antique Collection; I've had extremely good antiquing mojo at that particular shop (Also, it is Shabby Chic Central in the way the good are displayed, and I love Shabby Chic. It's bright and light and not overly crowded, which I think helps a lot - I find it really hard to focus on "treasures" in your typical dark and crowded antiques emporium. The Antique Collection is my favorite antique shop in the whole wide world).

Woke up in a Cleaning Mood this morning; instead of going in for a half-day of work today, I will go in for a full day tomorrow. I spent the day cleaning - sweeping and washing walls and putting things away, everything. The house looks much better now. I also cleaned up and hung the moon shelf; it's on my bedroom wall right over my night table.