This summer when we visited my sister Andrea in Seattle, she took us to the Punk Rock Flea Market, held in a former post office. The place was crammed with booths where people were selling art, vintage clothes, records, comics, t-shirts, etc. You name it, somebody was probably selling it. But my favorite booth by far was a lady selling rocks. When I was a kid, I collected cool rocks and shells I came across, so my fascination with minerals goes back a long way. I thought I was over that phase when I left home and didn’t bring my treasures, and my parents got rid of them during the years I was moving from place to place. But now that I’m an adult, settled in a real house, my rock collecting has begun anew. It’s just taken on slightly more sophisticated (and sometimes useful) forms, like geode-topped boxes, crystal curtain tiebacks, an agate vase, and a crystal necklace.

But back to the flea market. I looked at all the rocks on the lady’s table, many of which she had dug up herself in far-flung locations, and I kept coming back to this one. It was one of the few that wasn’t labeled, and when I asked her about it, she said she didn’t know what it was. So the black crystal studded with gold chunks is a mystery rock, but I decided to buy it and turn it into wall decor.

First I had to find a frame. When I was initially looking for one, I forgot about the depth of the stone, and just bought a regular frame. But I wouldn’t have been able to use the glass, so when I saw this deep Ikea Ribba picture frame, I decided to use it instead. It even came with a perfectly-sized mat. All I had to do was glue the rock onto some thick cardstock that I cut to fit, and then slip it into the frame.
Done and hung!

I like the glam, moody vibe it adds to the room. If you’re a weirdo who likes rocks as much as I do, this is a great way to display a bit of your collection (or start a new one). I bet it would work well for fossils and shells, too!