Tumblestones are many people’s favourite kind of crystal due to their smooth, rounded and pebble-like appearance, which allows them to be employed in a wide variety of imaginative ways. They’re created inside a tumbler machine which constantly turns them while various grades of sand and grit are introduced to slowly work away the rough edges until you have a perfectly smooth and rounded crystal.
Marrying a crystal’s natural beauty with this tumbling process creates a crystal whose purpose stretches far beyond being used simply as a healing crystal. Of course, tumblestones with particularly flat sides are especially useful for the laying on stones method of crystal healing as they will remain in place more easily, but the tumbled smoothness also lends itself to crystal massage for example, as you can use smaller tumblestones to knead and relax the muscles throughout your body.
The main purpose of the crystal tumbling process though is to accentuate their aesthetic appeal. Smoothing out the rough edges that form naturally in most rocks, crystals and minerals creates a beautiful ornamental object the uses of which are only limited by our imaginations.
Tumblestones In The Home
One popular use for tumblestones is as vase fillers and many people use them to fill flower vases not only to enhance the decorative effect of the vase but to help hold the flowers at a particular angle by securing their stems between the stones. Similarly, this method can be utilised for items other than flowers, such as a pen or pencil holder as filling a jar or glass with smaller tumblestones lets you insert thin items to keep them in place. It’s hard to deny the value of a beautiful ornament that also serves a useful function. Create a jar filled with tumblestones that match the colours of your bathroom and use it to hold your toothbrushes in place. It’s a much better looking way of storing them when they’re not being used, which is roughly 23 hours and 50 or so minutes of every day, and it can also be cleaner as the brushes won’t rattle around in the glass spattering bits of toothpastey water drops everywhere for a moment after they’re hurriedly replaced.
You can also secure candles within a jar using a small layer of tumblestones around the base of the candle. The smooth surface of the stones means any wax residue that collects on them is easily removed with no damage to the stone, while you can rest assured that the candle is secure and won’t topple over in the wind or after a nudge from a stray elbow. Talking of bases, why not decorate the bottom of your fish bowl with a few tumblestones which will transform a previously bland fish bowl into an interesting and magical-looking underwater realm for your pet fish to explore.
Have Fun with Tumblestones!
Have fun with the kids using tumblestones as well by getting hold of some googly eyes and attaching them to the stones to create lots of cute little creatures. Using hot glue, you can also attach antennae, some little feet or anything you can think of and make a whole bunch of different characters to play with which the kids will have loads of fun helping to make as well as imagining all sorts of adventures for the tumblestone critters to have afterwards.
Create photo or card holders by attaching one end of some thick but bendable wire to a large tumblestone and twisting the wire at the other end into a paper clip effect which will hold the picture in place. It’s a simple but very effective ornamental device which can be used for all sorts of things from permanent photo displays of your loved ones to temporary reminders, perhaps to hold a wedding invitation or flyer for that show you’ve always wanted to see.
More Tumblestone Ideas
Wire can also be used to make a ‘crystal cage’ which can then be attached to a necklace so you can wear the tumblestones around your neck or smaller ones as bracelets. They glue quite easily and so can be attached to other types of jewellery such as brooches and barrettes, as well as being attached to magnets so you can benefit from the beauty of tumblestones as you’re fetching food from the fridge. You can make all sorts of cool fridge magnets by cutting out shapes like stars or half moons from card and gluing the card to the magnet. Then just glue several small stones to the card in whatever fashion pleases you and voila.
As I said before, the only limits are those set by our own imaginations, so it’s up to us to get creative while experimenting and exploring all the different uses of tumblestones.
