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! 

Carboot Sale Treasures

I got home from the carboot sale I went to the other day, when I realised that I never posted about the last one that I went too! I got some wonderful bits of jewelery that I've been wearing quite a lot. So I thought I would do some kind of bumper post, especially after being inspired by Zoe's post about what jewellery you can find at carboot's & in charity shops! Which is pretty fantastic. 

I can't really tell you how much these were individually, because I just got from a stall where I collected a giant handful of everything I liked, and they charged me about £2-3 for the whole lot, which you've got to admit, is fairly excellent. 

The green triangles I call my Quality Street earrings, 'cause I'm a dork. 

The rings I wear on a daily basis, and the bracelet needs a few links replacing, so when I get on that, I'll be wearing it!

Just quick shots of me wearing some of them. The white enamel earrings are my absolute favourite, I wear them so much. They look really excellent with a slightly more dressy outfit, or to dress up a t-shirt and leggings. They're really good quality, too. 

The giant 'pearl' and gold ones are clip on's, and although they make me look a bit Pat Butcher, they make me laugh. I haven't really worn them much cause they hurt a little bit, just around the house to keep me amused. 

This is what I bought on Sunday! I didn't really find as many earrings, which upset me, but hey, I can cope. I can remember what some of this cost:

The silver ring on the far left: £4. For real silver, it's not too bad! 

The silver owl brooch: £2. So gorgeous.

The colourful owl: I think about £3-4? There was an entire stall selling just owl-related stuff! It was amazing.

And the choker at the bottom cost me £2. 

The other things I just picked up because they looked cute. The other silver ring with adjustable band is a mood ring! I didn't realise at the time because my hands were so cold, so it didn't change colour, but I'm fascinated by them! Haha. The earrings were just sort of cute, and the sovereign ring, although tacky, looks pretty cool. 

I picked up the choker because it looked so similar to the bracelet I bought before!

The bracelet is on the left, the necklace on the right. Like I said, the bracelet is missing a few links, and the choker missing a clasp, but I'm gonna pick them up next time I go to Hobby Craft or somewhere, and wear them together!

This was the silver ring, it's absolutely gorgeous. It's actually too big for me, but it doesn't stop me from wearing it. I am in love with the shiny blue glass stone. Along with the white earrings, they're the best thing I've managed to find!

Also realised the best way to store my jewellery is in bowls and plates, so I picked up this little gold enamel bowl for 50p to keep my rings in!

I also picked up a cheeky Polaroid camera for a fiver, so I'm hoping it works! Need to hunt down some film on eBay. (:  I hope that was interesting! Do you guys go to charity shops or carboot sales? Let me know if you pick up any bargains. (:

Also I was thinking of having a little blog-sale, would anyone be interested?