Written By: Caddy C. Dingus

Okay, okay. I know what you’re thinking. Toenail clippings? And yes, you might think this is weird but I think it’s completely normal. I mean we all have our guilty pleasures and collecting toenail clippings is mine. Ya gotta problem, bub? 

When I’m meeting someone new, obviously I don’t tell them about my guilty pleasure, just so I can get to know them and know if we would be close or not before I show them. If I think that someone will judge me for this, then I cut them off. 

I love my toenail clipping collection more than anything, and I don’t think I would ever get rid of it. I have my toenail clippings, my friends, and even dogs. I think the variety in my collection is really cool, and I want to keep collecting so that I can have the best toenail clipping collection ever. 

You’re probably wondering why I collect toenail clippings; well the answer to that is that I just do. One day I was trimming my toenails, and I decided to put the clippings in a jar. Ever since then, every single time I trim my toenails, I put the clippings in that jar. Well, not that jar. I have multiple jars full of toenail clippings because I’ve been collecting them for so long. 

When we trim my dog’s nails, I keep them because they look cool and add some variety to my collection. 

My friends are actually really supportive with my collection and give me all of their toenail clippings so I can grow my collection. 

My family gives me all of their toenail clippings, too. No one who I’m friends with or who I’m related to has a problem with my collection because if someone does have a problem with then I simply won’t be friends with ‘em. That’s something I’ve always believed in. If they don’t like something you do or if they have a problem with something you like, don’t be friends with ‘em. 

These toenail clippings bring me so much joy because whenever I look at them it reminds me of who I am. 

The whole process of becoming friends with people who can understand why I collect them and who don’t judge me for it was an insanely hard process because I had to drop a lot of my old friends because they didn’t support me, but now I have amazing friends who support me, and I really appreciate them.  

At first my family was concerned, and they actually made me go see someone about it because they thought it was weird. The person they made me go see realized that this is who I am and that this is what makes me happy, so they told my family to just let me do it and that it isn’t hurting anyone. So now my family is very supportive and they contribute to my collection all the time. 

Over these past years since I started collecting the toenail clippings, my life has changed a lot, and it’s crazy to think about what it was like before. I feel like this is what I’m meant to be doing and that this is how my life was meant to end up like. If you have what some people would think is a strange guilty pleasure or collection, just keep with it and everything will end up how it’s supposed to.

 For instance, I remember really wanting to organize them by shape and size, and I thought it would be impossible. But nothing’s impossible. All it took was a couple dozen Bell jars, some careful handling of the nails, and a keen eye, and–whammo–there ya’ have it.