What do you all do with tumbled rocks?? Need ideas

For the most part ours just go in glass dishes we get from re-sale shops or thrift stores. We do sell them too and last weekend we were asked to do a rock tumbling demonstration at a rock and gem show and we were not even planning on selling but ended up getting rid of over 1,000 tumbled stones and my kids walked away with pockets full of cash. We are always priced very low but it was good to thin the rocks out and make room for more. any stones smaller then a quarter we sell at 10 for a dollar. We took almost 50 pounds of tumbled stones with us and brought 40 pounds home so we figure we averaged $12 a pound for them.

Other things we do include gluing on bell caps to make key chains and pendants and we also grind a flat spot on the backs of some to glue on magnets for the fridge.



Chuck

We have a plate of stones on our coffee table. The rest are in plastic containers under my son's bed. That's not a good idea, it's just what happens.

I've seen some great cabinet knobs done with tumbled stones of the right size. Some were partly drilled to take a bolt, others were just epoxied onto cheap flat knobs. I suppose the same thing could be done to fashion some knobs for box or jar lids. Mosaics for a floor, wall or tabletop is something else that comes to mind.

If you've been to the tile departments at Lowes or Home Depot, you may have noticed that they sell tumbled stone floor and wall tile border strips at ungodly prices per foot, and I bet your tumbled gems are many times more attractive than those. I've fantasized about shower walls made entirely out of polished gem rocks, too, but I'd also need a valet to keep it shiny.

Another attractive mosaic idea I've seen involved gluing polished rocks onto the outside of a plain, glazed pot for a planter. The unglazed kind wicks water, so wouldn't work very well. I think you could do the same with a plastic or metal pot. Or how about using them to dress up plain picture frames? You might have to upgrade your wall hanging nail or other hardware to handle the extra weight for big frames, but it would be a way to display both your pictures and your nicest pieces.

There are some really good ideas above
I need to try
I did make a soap dish pad once
basically glued the tumble stones on a rubber mat
it was really cool

but I have a bad habit...mostly

I re-purpose tumbled stones
cut them in half and make rock'n hearts
some would call it sacrilege :nono:
but I get to the heart of the stone

Ed
the heart below is one such example

I saw something cool the other day, someone had taken the drain stop out of their bathroom sink and put in larger pieces of basalt to create a stone layer in the bottom of the sink. It was pretty cool I thought.

Any rejects would look nice in a pathway, too. I remember the gravel paths at the Elkins Gems shop were scattered with crystals and polished pieces that were too small or flawed to sell. Kids loved going through those and were allowed to keep a couple. I also worked on a contractor's house where the large entryway was an inch or so of tinted concrete onto which they scattered buckets of mixed tumbled small stones (none were bigger than an inch) that were tamped in. Before it had fully set, the concrete guys sponged off the top to expose the polished tops. A coat of silica sealer (to keep the concrete between the stones from staining) and it made for a very attractive floor.

Thanks for all the ideas! I've hunted down a couple glass bottles (Beer Growlers that I've collected, actually) that should take a while to fill. I also found a post on gemstone trees that looks really cool. I like the magnets, as well. I have two teenage boys that can help with some ideas.

Also, thought of one...I do geocaching every once in a while and keep a bag of trinkets for that purpose. I'll add some rocks around the area in geocaches for kids to find.

Amy

Candy bowls and wine glasses, and a wooden box. I have tumbled stones everywhere, they're cool! I've made the keychains and necklace pendants as well, you can shape rocks with a tile saw before tumbling. Here's what the pendants look like.... forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=trtphoto&action=display&thread=47833

I put some of my tumbles into glass bowls or ornate shaped glass containers with glass lids on them so we don't have to dust the polished rocks.