Cleaning Up & Showing Off

I had a small domestic disaster last week. In the process of cleaning up, I realized that while I've written about my collection of little boxes several times, I've never taken the opportunity to show them off. Now's the time.
Double Happiness--a gift from T.

©2005

A written explanation of Double Happiness.

©2005

Inside Double Happiness, one would find...

©2005

...and...

©2005

And this is the box that Double Happiness came in.

©2005

I think that this cast iron box has the Japanese character for "happiness" on it, but it was unclear when I bought it. It's pretty cool, regardless.

©2005

Burgundy, hinged, and very small:

©2005

I think this was the first of the collection, a gift from my mom:

©2005

It holds a practical item:

©2005

I got this one in Santa Fe:

©2005

This shows the top a little bit better:

©2005

Small, tin, and surprisingly quaint:

©2005

It holds a very tiny shell from my trip w/T to Miami:

©2005

This is a bit 'exuberant' for my taste, but I do like it:

©2005

It holds the detritus of a dwindling (eh, dwindled) love affair:

©2005

A very cool brass thing that my mom acquired for me last year:

©2005

Top of the brass thing:

©2005

I keep keys to my parents' house, my valet key, and my spare apt. keys in it.

©2005

A tiny version of the big blue one, also a bit too damned perky:

©2005

It holds a little clip that you can put in a videotape so you can record over whatever's on it. Fascinating, eh?

©2005

Made of paper. Cool scrollwork:

©2005

Photographed previously:

©2005

What the pink one holds; extra foam for my phone headset, and a fortune.

©2005

The cat & fish (doomed love affair), photographed previously:

©2005

And inside the cat & fish...

©2005

I think that the pink one from 3 above came in this cloth box.

©2005

Made of wood. Just got it.

©2005

It holds my "tips".

©2005

Acquired through the library white elephant gift exchange.

©2005