Collections | Napkin Rings

I know we mentioned that we don't really "collect" anything, but I realized while I was home over Thanksgiving that we do have a collection.  When I was little, my great-grandmother gifted me and Heath a sterling napkin ring for Christmas or special occasions every year.  They always were different, one of a kind napkin rings that she picked up in different places over the years.  After she passed away, my grandmother continued on with the tradition.

We have home videos of me as a three or four year old excitingly opening my napkin ring, and J.D. thinks they're so hilarious.  All of these years later, this collection of napkin rings is one of my favorite things.  They all sit stacked in one bowl at my parent's house.  I love setting the table at my parent's house for holidays every year looking through them.  Some of the napkin rings are thick, some are thin with tiny patterns, some are rounded, others more rectangular, and they're all engraved with our initials and the year that she gifted them.  She found a few of them at estate sales and they technically belonged to someone else before belonging to us.  Those are some of my favorites - they have a strangers initials and date "SVR 1931" on one side, and then my initials and year "MKW 1985" on the other side of the napkin ring.  It's really cool to see. 

Sure enough, when Virginia was born, her great grandmother had a beautiful silver napkin ring for her on her first Christmas and her baptism and I know she'll treasure these when she's older.  I think it's kind of cool.  Very random but really super special to us.  What about you guys?  Do you have everything you collect or a gift you receive annually?  I'd love to come up with something different but clever like this to put in Virginia's stocking every year.  Any ideas??!

~Mary Keller