hexagonal showcase: display ideas for collections

When I bought my new camera recently, I went about and snapped photographs of anything and everything to learn about the new settings on my camera - I took a few of some of the objects inside my display cabinet, because you know, I like to pretend my bedroom is a museum. I came across them the other day and thought I'd show you how I display and thought I'd show you. I bought this cabinet in a shop in Brighton a few years back and it's one of my favourite objects that I own. 

I collect little rocks and stones and crystals, I always have done since I was a child, and when I saw this little glass and brass cabinet with a hinged door and little round feet, and knew it would be perfect for the geologist dreams I had as a child. 

You can find similar ones on Etsy, but I'd recommend keeping an eye out at carboot sales, in charity shops or vintage shops, because you might find one, they're perfect for your collection of miniature items, from feathers and shells to crystals or acorns. 

Do you collect small treasures, like me? If you do, please tell me in the comments below or link me to it and how you display them! I'm always after new ideas..!

vintage tins

I have a thing for tins. I'm not sure why, but I like little tin cases I can squirrel away little bits in. Like who'd have thought an old Elastoplast tin was the perfect size for my business cards? It's werid how things you have lying around forever suddenly become the most perfect vehicle. 

I picked up these awesome little tins at a car boot sale about a year ago, and now they all have inhabitants. I used to have lots of little plastic pots of pins or needles or things like that lying around my room - but since I've put them in these I display them a lot more. In the sellotape tin I have a load of fine pins and drawing pins and such, the blackcurrant tins has big magnetic nails for hanging my artwork in, the cinnamon tablet tin holds post-it note highlighter things. I have an old Paprika tin that houses ink-pen nibs too. 

charity ears

If you know me, you know I love earrings.. Generally, the bigger the better! I think because I waited until I was almost 18 to get my ears pierced, I have such an obsession with earrings, and with me they just need to be big and heavy and shiny.
Most of the earrings you can buy in the shops these days are, frankly, crap! Overpriced and made of poor quality metal, I very rarely can justify buying them when I see such amazing ones in charity shops or at carboot sales all over the country, never costing me anything over £1. The earrings you see here are all 80's-90's costume jewellery (though my friend Alex found a pair of Christian Dior earrings once! keep your eyes peeled..), but they are made of a much better material, I find. For example, I wore a pair of Topshop earrings a couple of times and they turned green and brown and the back fell off - the white enamel pair in the second photo are my ultimate favourite earrings and I've worn them countless times and they're still flawless.
These are just some of my collection - a lot of the heavier/bigger ones are clip-on's, and they can take a little getting used too because they are so heavy! The crumpled-gold ones are the heaviest, and I can generally only wear these for a couple of hours before I lose all feeling in my earlobes, haha..The black 'diamond' drop pair are a bit more evening-wear ish, but they make me feel all glamourous, which is something a scabby green pair from H&M, Topshop or Accessorize never does! 

jewels

 I've found and bought a few gems recently, and I thought I would show you because they have become regular additions to my appearance..

1. I found these earrings in a charity shop with my friend Debbie the other day. They only cost me a £1! They're enamel and metal and costume jewellery, but I find that vintage costume jewellery doesn't really make me go green? 

2. I've wanted one of these crystal bullet necklaces for such a long time, and I finally found one from an English seller on Etsy - there are some much prettier colour ones - but I like quartz and this one was called 'Clare', which swayed me somewhat..! It's from the seller Rain by Rina and I do suggest you check her out - I will say that the chains aren't great - I wore it once and it went completely green, so I changed it for some cord I had at home.

3. I think this is the final ring I will add to my collection for a bit - I now where six of them on a regular basis and it just seems a bit overkill to wear many more! I found this one in a local charity shop, and I do have a soft spot for amethyst. I think it cost me about a £1, but it's hallmarked and I think that's a bargain!

4. I don't wear many bracelets, but I spotted this for 50p in a charity shop, and I thought it was really unusual, I've not seen anything like it. It reminds me of that whole fake-Celtic kind of jewellery I used to love getting on holiday, and I really like wearing it. I'm not sure what it's made from, but it's not turning me green, so that's always good!

I love my charity shop finds, I so rarely buy high-street jewellery these days, it doesn't come close in terms of quality or price! I highly recommend scouring flea markets, car boots, charity shops and the internet for nice jewellery.