Dirty Little Secret

So, what is my "dirty little secret?" Well, for over 25 years I have been collecting hotel bathroom amenities: soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, shower caps, sewing kits, etc. . . I could go on, but I bet you get the idea.

Here are a few of the containers filled with my collection

It all started when my husband became and airline pilot and began flying all over the world. He would bring back the cute little bottles of shampoo for me - and I took it from there. I began bringing them home from my travels and he continued to bring them home - and before you knew it, I had a big collection that still grows to this day. Lately, I have been thinking that my obsession collection is out-of-control and I need to do something about it.

A casualty with a broken top - this makes me sad because it
one of my favorite hotel stays. The Lowe's Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

At least on my recent trip to Europe I did not bring home even one bottle of shampoo or little soap - nothing was worth it - the shampoo/conditioner came in little packets and I used the tiny soaps. And, not one hotel I stayed in even offered lotion (although one did offer toothbrushes!) After 9/11 and the new travel rules it really became difficult to bring home as many as I once did. One time I had packed a ziplock with as-many-as-would-fit of cute shampoos and conditioners and the TSA guy picked up the bag, looked at it in amazement, rolled his eyes, and threw it back in the bin and let it go through. Haha, I felt so proud of getting them through that time.

Another favorite was Disney's Grand Californian Hotel - now so expensive I doubt I will stay there again.

So, what am I to do with all of these little goodies? 

An idea would be to display my collection in the county fair next year - just for fun. . . then

1) Save the best ones - with the most memories.

2) Give a lot of them to a women's shelter (or two or three.)

3) Keep some for Olive and Lulu to play "store."

4) Use the shower caps as food covers for outdoor serving or picnics.

5) All of the above!

The Container Store had this nifty soap saver that you can put your little bits of bar soap in -  it works great. I really should never have to buy soap again if I didn't want to. I can load it up with the small bars.

Luxury items from THEhotel at Mandalay Bay

Sometimes it is the name of the product that I find appealing and sometimes it is the packaging.  I am a sucker for creative ways to wrap stuff up and some of the soaps were very nicely wrapped.  Some of the bottles are creative too. Oh, I could go on and on about this . . .

A great memory of staying at the Hotel Edgewater in Seattle, WA.

Soap patchwork - I unwrapped bars to display (and use) in a couple of glass containers

 Here I put a few of the soaps in a wide-mouth vase and used a cheese-board glass dome
 to keep them clean and display in the bathroom.

BEFORE:  just a mish-mash of little bottles.  AFTER: bars of soap ready to use.