Happy Place: Touches of Whimsy

I look in my sewing room and all I see are problem areas.  My cutting table is improved, but the rest of the room is quite a disaster.

One month into my "Great Sewing Room Clean Out of 2017," I want to feel happier when I am in my hopefully soon-to-be Happy Place.

I decided to add a few touches of whimsy to make me smile.  If you don't know that I have a slight Hello Kitty problem, you will soon understand.

I hung a couple of my quilts above my desk:

The fabulous Hello Kitty hook is courtesy of my dear friend Maddie.  Thanks, Maddie!  If you look closely, you'll see that my headset is held together with Hello Kitty tape.  I'm hard core.

I have a gas fireplace in my sewing room.  It is pretty but is also the main heat source for this room.  One nice feature of a fireplace is a mantle.  It's been a catch-all area for years, but I decided to place some treasured items on it:

The dolls are from Russia.  I know this because I got them when I was in Russia.  My husband bought me the tea set when he was working in Taiwan.  The painting is the one and only thing I have ever painted.  It doesn't completely suck.

I added a few pieces from my Hello Kitty collection to the mantle:

I have so much more work to do in my sewing room before it truly becomes my Happy Place, but I now have a few bright spots that make me smile.

Have you intentionally added some fun to your work area?  Do you collect something that isn't Hello Kitty?