Don't apologize for the rock posting!!!! I saw your post abt your rocks and I was really entertained! Do you have any tips on starting a rock collection? I've always wanted one
Oh man, OH MAN, let’s talk about how to start collecting rocks.
The great thing about rocks is that they are free. They are EVERYWHERE. You can just pick them up off the ground, and most of them are going to be quartz. Do you see this beautiful druzy?? I found this in my gravel driveway as a kid.
This sedimentary rock with the amazing layers? It is shaped like a pie. It was lying in the dirt, and nobody had even noticed how amazing it was!
If you have access to a beach, scour that beach for rocks! You might find a rock with a hole worn through it by countless years of waves and friction with other rocks. If your beach is in Michigan, you might find a Petoskey stone!
The first step to collecting Cool Rocks is realizing that Cool Rocks are all over the place, and just keeping an eye out for them. Never miss an opportunity to pick up a rock and brush it off and admire it, and if it is a cool color or a cool shape or it sparkles a little or maybe it even has a fossil in it, take it home!
The early days of your collection are probably not going to include huge, beautiful specimens of rock like my last post. That’s okay! Curating a rock collection means continually swapping in new, cooler rocks.
So maybe you want to buy some rocks? If you’re not ready to spend a lot of money, check it out: museum gift shops.
Museums always have a huge variety of tumbled rocks, which they usually sell by the bagful. They’ve also got those bags of sand you’re meant to sift through like a prospector, and those are great because they’re usually full of pyrite! That’s also where I got this colorful trio, though I don’t remember what type of rocks they are. Maybe one of you knows?
Know what else museums have? Those break-your-own geodes!
Want some prettier geodes? They sell polished agate geodes too! Though mine are still their natural color, agate is a rock that is often sold dyed.
Here are some agate bookends I got as a gift, which have been dyed blue! You can get agates in all sorts of cool colors.
Speaking of gifts, that’s a great way to grow your collection! Here’s some lapis lazuli that was given to me by a friend!
And this beautiful little guy was a birthday present!
Ask for Cool Rocks for your birthday. Put them on your Christmas list. I’m super serious about this, guys. Tell your friends you love rocks. Tell your family. If you’re in school, by all means tell your teachers, because if they’re Good Teachers then chances are they’ll be eager to help you grow your collection.
Every single one of these fossils was given to me by a science teacher. Listen, science teachers also love Cool Rocks. Science teachers love that you love cool rocks. Science teachers have been collecting Cool Rocks for way longer than you have, and have more Cool Rocks than they know what to do with, and are super eager to give away some of their Cool Rocks to someone who will love and cherish them, because they just don’t have the shelf space anymore.
But listen. I get it. At some point you’re going to look at your collection and you’re going to realize that what you REALLY WANT are some…
Hold on, let me set up the dramatic lighting…
You’re ready for some bigger, cooler rocks. You’re ready to start spending some money. You’re ready for ROCK SHOPS.
Pictured: literal, actual heaven.
Rock shops like to cluster in tourist traps. If a place has a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum or a million little T-shirt shops or especially a place that sells fudge, you’re in prime rock shop territory.
Some tips for shopping at rock shops:
- There will usually be multiple shops around, so visit them all and see what they’ve got before picking out a rock. That malachite you found might be cheaper somewhere else.
- Ask the staff questions! People who work at rock shops know a lot about rocks! They can explain how to handle and take care of your rocks, and tell you cool stuff about where your specific rock was found and why it looks the way it does.
- Every rock shop is like, 80% amethyst. This is great if you like amethyst, but not so great if you already have a nice piece of amethyst and would like literally anything else, please. NO TUMBLR I WILL NOT LET THIS DIE.
- Look for weird rocks. Look for rocks you have never seen before. Rock shops are GREAT because they are almost certainly going to have at least one rock you have never even heard of, and you are going to Learn something about a New Cool Rock.
- Rocks are Expensive. You’re going to need to decide if you want one large rock, or lots of smaller rocks, because chances are you’re not going to have the budget for both. The trick is to shop not by size, but by color, shape, and How Cool It Looks. This is why you should endeavor to never purchase rocks online. Not every rock is perfect, and picking up and handling a Cool Rock is the best way to determine if this is a rock worth spending a lot of money on.
So you’ve got some rocks, and now it’s time to display your collection. My collection is Very Big, and I tend to keep only my Best and Coolest Rocks on display. It is up to you which Cool Rocks to store and which to display. You’re a curator now. Whatever you’re showing off, here’s a tip to make your collection look a hundred times cooler and more professional: acrylic stands.
These are super cheap. You can buy these in pretty much any size and shape, and Amazon sells them in bulk. Some rocks may need a special shape of stand. Some rocks may stand up fine on their own. It is up to you to determine how to most flatteringly display your rocks.
Which brings us to the best part of owning a rock collection, and that is pointing to your rock collection and telling everyone, “Here are my Cool Rocks!!!”
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