Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends!
If you don’t have something yummy planned for today, let this be my encouragement to maybe have a TACO today…or an EASY MARGARITA…or my COCONUT TRES LECHES CAKE.
Life’s too short not to celebrate all the things 😉 .
Alrighty, this week’s TRAVEL TUESDAY is also a SHAY’S WAYS!
On my “to blog” list, I have this topic written down as it’s been highly requested over the years…SHOW US THE THINGS YOU HAVE AROUND THE HOUSE YOU BOUGHT WHEN YOU WERE TRAVELING.
As I’ve returned home from trips and shared the pics and details with you guys and/or shared my seasonal home tours, I’ve often included items we bought while traveling.
I thought this post would be pretty easy (ie; just walk around the house and take a few pics), but I was wrong. As I was snapping pictures, I realized there was a lot I wanted to say about the process of bringing items home from travel. I had tips/keys/thoughts about everything and thus today’s Shay’s Ways.
So, the first part is a little tour with photos of items sprinkled around my house that came home from trips and the second part are some of my “keys”.
I have been collecting items for my home from my travels since I was 20 years old. I even have two photos below of the first two things I bought to add to my home from that first (without parents) trip where I bought things with my own money for my own space. I did not take pictures of every single item we have from our travels because…we would have been here all day. I took photos of a lot, but the truth is, I’ve been collecting these things now for 24 years, so I have quite the assortment.
If you like this idea, the good news is that it’s never too late to start incorporating items into your home from your travels. It’s never too late.
Okay, pour yourself some coffee and settle in.
Here’s a little look at some of the items around our home we picked up while traveling (I will link the actual trips as often as I can below too!)…
These little Dutch homes are quite popular in The Netherlands.
Over two different trips to Amsterdam, I visited the same shop and brought a few back home with me.
They’re each different, and I find them so charming, cozy, and adorable. THE NETHERLANDS POSTS
I brought back this windmill (that also sits in my office) in Demark.
And in this photo, I have a little house that I’m *pretty sure* I bought in Belgium sitting on top of three coffee table books that I purchased in…Croatia, London, and Italy!
We bought this painting when we went to Greece with Tab and Erika! The artist rolled the canvas and placed it in a tube for traveling. We had it framed when we arrived back home.
These three pieces are from our favorite artist on Nantucket. We bought this triplet set before we had a home there. Pete’s art is sprinkled throughout both the McKinney and Nantucket homes. Each piece is special.
Speaking of Nantucket…
…we also bought this clock there from Freeman’s of Nantucket many years ago.
Upstairs, we have…
…this framed piece of art from a photographer we met at the market in Sydney, Australia.
It’s colorful and bright and happy and reminds me of that wonderful trip every time I walk past it. We paid the photographer for the art and the shipping. About a month after we returned home from Australia, it arrived at our front door 🙂 .
Over the years, we have brought home multiple clocks…
…this cuckoo clock came from Austria…
…and this one came from Switzerland. You guys, look at this precious picture…
…stop it! Look at sweet Smith!
This was the shop where we bought the clock in Lucerne, Switzerland.
I love every single thing about this photo. The clock hangs today in our library.
On a trip to London one time…
…we found this old doorknob that says…
…on the front. Kensington must have been little when I brought it home. Maybe two or three? It sits on her shelf in her bedroom to this day. I took it off to snap this pic 🙂 .
Speaking of London…
…it’s very hard to tell what this is in Smith’s room, but it’s a scull (the boat used in rowing).
We found this in an antique store on Portobello Road in London when we went for fall break in 2022 and since Smith rows crew, he wanted it for his room…
…it’s a funny little piece of art sticking out into his room, but he loves it.
This rug here in the hallway is one I’ve shown a million times in Halloween and/or Christmas decor posts (as I always love to jazz up that little area). Well, Andrew brought it home from Turkey many years ago when he was there on a mission trip.
I love my Turkish rug 🙂 .
I have purchased many, many, many seasonal decorations while traveling. One that stands out is…
…this little Advent calendar that Andrew and I brought back for the kids from Belgium in 2012. We use it every single holiday season.
We also love to pull out…
…this guy at Christmas too. He came from…
This guy comes out every holiday season…
…see him up there on the top left side? It’s my Santa nesting dolls that I purchased in Prague!
Alrighty, I did an entire post ALL ABOUT OUR LIBRARY recently where you can get the deets on all those old books, but spoiler alert: so so so many are from our travels.
Other travel finds from this room include…
…this magnifying glass. I’m *pretty sure* it’s from England.
This though…
…is the most special because I bought this tassel in Venice, Italy when I was 20 years old. This and a painting (I’ll show it below in just a bit) were the two items I bought on that trip to add to my home. I went to Italy that trip with just my friend. The two of us spent two weeks traveling, exploring, eating, and loving our way through that beautiful country. I brought home a tassel and a painting and have them both in my home still to this day 🙂 .
I keep the tassel on this bookshelf in the library where I keep many of the old books I’ve purchased on my travels as well as that old placard (it came from London).
On the other side of the room…
…I have the Dutch people (came from The Netherlands) along with the iron dog (came from England)…
…and this little door sign which came from…Portobello Road in London.
I found…
…this guy in London too…
…there it is all together.
And there’s the clock from Switzerland again 🙂 .
There is a lot of art in here from our travels…
…the painting on the very top left side is the painting I brought home from Italy when I was 19. For the most part, these paintings were bought with the frames from antique stores when we travel (not from the artists themselves). That being said…
…this one we brought home from Russia and had framed…
…and this one from Salzburg we brought home and had framed. Look at the back…
…from that time we took two babies to Europe. Ha!
Andrew brought this painting home from Haiti after going there on a mission trip. Again, he brought home the canvas, and I had it framed.
These hand painted pieces of fruit are very popular in Italy. I have purchased several over the course of many trips to Italy. They’re sprinkled about too…
…here is some more Italian fruit…
…and do you see the apple there on the shelf?
Speaking of that shelf…
Back before I was married (I’m an old soul), I started collecting these Aynsley china pieces that originate in England. I’ve just always been drawn to this set, but the pieces are very hard to come by (I’m always looking for more). When I do find a piece…
…I often mark them with the place and date. Now that I’ve pointed this collection out, I bet you start to spot it in more of my photos.
This very very old kettle came from a brocante in Paris (flea market!). Isn’t it gorgeous?!
I love this gin bottle clock because it reminds me of the day that Andrew, Erika and I spent in London before watching Tab officiate an NFL game. We bought the clock on Portobello Road that morning and then watched the game that afternoon. It was a great, great day!
Andrew and I brought this elephant home from Bali, Indonesia…
…and it sits beneath two more pieces of art we brought back from Russia (and do you spy more Aynsley china?!).
These three pieces are from China! We bought these figurines the day we went to visit the Terracotta Warriors while we were in Xi’an getting Miss Ashby!
This painting here came from our trip to Ireland back in 2018. We were out and about in Ennis, Ireland with the kids and found this great antique shop that had this painting. We purchased it, and they shipped it back to the States for us.
The painting and frame are both antiques.
I bought this painting for Andrew on Nantucket for Father’s Day…
…I can’t remember the exact year (maybe 2019?). The artist has since passed and his shop closed, so it’s an extra extra special piece to us now.
Picked up this spoon rest in Italy once. It still makes me happy!
And back in 2009, Andrew bought his first bottle of alcohol to bring back as a souvenir from a trip. It is whiskey bottle that’s second from the right. We now collect bottles from all of our travels. These five here would be our most valuable/treasured ones.
From left to right:
Jameson from when we went to the Jameson distillery in Ireland and Andrew actually bottled this one himself.
We also visited this distillery in Scotland and brought home this now 29 year old bottle of scotch.
This middle bottle is from the Bushmills distillery in Northern Ireland.
This bottle from our trip to Bern, Switzerland in 2009 (I was pregnant with Smith!).
We brought this bottle back in 2015 from China when we were there getting our sweet Ashby.
We always bring back a bottle…
…this one just came home with us from Japan.
I have little signs or door knockers on so many of our interior and exterior doors. If you’ll start paying attention, I bet you end up seeing quite a few…
…this one came from Ireland (it means a hundred thousand welcomes).
And then this one has moved around three times with us…
…it came home with us from England and now it indicates where the pool bath is located 😉 .
Whew!
That was a lot of photos, friends!
Okay, here are my tips and tricks should you want to start bringing items home with you too…
#1: LOOK FOR BOTH OLD AND NEW
Don’t get stuck just looking for “old” things or just looking for “new” things. Bring home what speaks to you. What you love. I think it’s fun to have a mix of both the old and the new.
#2: BUY UNFRAMED ART
If you can, purchase your art without the frame. It’s so much easier to bring a rolled up print or canvas home and then have it framed than to travel or ship a framed piece of art. When you can, roll it and go. It just simplifies everything.
#3: COLLECT BOOKS
Buy coffee table books from the destination or buy old antique books…just buy books. Books are great because you can use them in a variety of places at home. You can stack them, display them, read them…books are great souvenirs for the home. So many of my books are not in English which, in my opinion, makes them even more unique and special. I always write a note in my book of the place, date and people I was with when I purchased it. It’s a wonderful way to preserve the memory of a trip.
#4: FIND ITEMS THAT REPRESENT THAT LOCATION
If you’re in Venice, you’ll see a ton of masks or if you’re in Provence, you’ll see baskets and woven hats…it’s fun to purchase items that really represent that specific location.
#5: BRING BACK BOTTLES & DELICATES IN THE LAUNDRY
Even if you never open the bottle (like us!), collecting bottles of alcohol from locations is a great way to bring something home without spending too much (of course, you can buy expensive varietals too). How do we bring them home without the bottles breaking? We place them in our checked baggage (because it’s too much liquid to carry on) and pack our dirty laundry around it. We always have a bag of dirty laundry on the way home, so we use that as our “bubble wrap” for breakables such as bottles of alcohol. We have used this method for years and never come home to a broken bottle (or anything else fragile!).
#6: BRING AN EMPTY SUITCASE
If we are going somewhere to specifically find treasures, we will bring an empty suitcase with us. We have been to France a few times knowing we would visit the brocantes, so we checked an empty suitcase just to have the space to bring items home with us.
That being said…
#7: SHIP
It’s actually pretty easy to ship items back to the States. It’s also pretty affordable if you’re not in a hurry. You can ship back small items or large items…even crates of furniture…from other countries and voila, it will be delivered to your door a few weeks (or month-ish) later. If you’re buying from a shop and/or antiques seller, they will help you with this process. They want you to make that purchase, so they will help you get it shipped home.
#8: JEWELRY
A wonderful treasure to bring home that takes up practically no space is jewelry. Whether you buy vintage or brand new, that is an easy little find to bring home from your travels.
#9: CAREFUL WITH THINGS THAT NEED POWER
My mom and I have both purchased items that plug in from foreign countries (lamps and such). Keep in mind that if you buy these items, you will need to take them and have them rewired once you arrive back home (or else you can’t plug them into your US outlets). My father-in-law is an electrical engineer and has generously rewired several things for me over the years.
#10: BUY FABRIC
If you see beautiful fabric while you’re traveling (either vintage or new), buy it and bring it home. Once you’re in the States, it’s easy to have someone turn that gorgeous fabric into a pillow for your bedding or sofa.
#11:WRITE ON THE ITEMS
When you get home, make sure you either write on the item/photograph the item/do something to mark the item so that you always remember the date and place. It’s always so special to open a book or flip over a painting and see the date and place where I purchased it.
Whew! And that’s the post you wanted from me about THINGS YOU HAVE AROUND THE HOUSE YOU BOUGHT WHEN YOU WERE TRAVELING.
I’m exhausted now. Ha!
Alrighty, don’t forget, I have so many other SHAY’S WAYS you can check out as well.
Just look:
25 Keys to a Peaceful Morning
22 Keys to making Fall Cozy
19 Key Fall Kitchen Essentials
18 Keys to Prepping for a Trip
14 Keys to Simplify BACK TO SCHOOL
21 Keys to Savoring Summer
21 Keys for Working at Home {Summer Edition}
25 Keys to Outdoor Summer Entertaining
25 Keys to Maintaining our Yard
17 Keys to my Holiday Prep
11 Keys to a Cozy Winter
9 Keys to Returning from a Trip
12 Keys to Leaving Your Kiddos When You Travel
13 Keys to Meal Planning
8 Keys to Creating Daily Routines You Love
21 Keys to Elevating the Everyday
13 Keys to Managing Jet Lag
9 Keys to a Cozy Halloween Night
19 Keys to Hosting Festive & Easy Holiday Parties
12 Keys to Adding Activity into the Everyday
17 Keys to Working From Home
9 Easy Afternoon Energizers
14 Simple Luxuries
8 Keys to Finding a Gym
21 Ways I Hygge
12 Ways for a Happier Day
7 Keys to Reducing/Avoiding Motion Sickness
8 Ways to Add “Vacation” to the Everyday
10 Keys to Getting Ready to Workout
8 Ways I Stay Healthy When I Travel
7 Ways to Make the Holidays Fun for Teens
9 THINGS NOT TO DO AT THE GYM
7 Ways to Find Community
Now spill the beans please! Do you bring home treasures when you travel? If so, I’d love to know which items are the most special to YOU! Please comment and share!
I have one yummy (and easy!) recipe to share today for Cinco de Mayo! Even if you don’t celebrate this holiday, if you love coconut, you must try my COCONUT TRES LECHES CAKE!
Happy Cinco! I’ll see you tomorrow. xx
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