# Cabinet of Curiosities



## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

So last year I turned our front office into a Victorian parlor but I wanted to switch it up this year without having to replace all the decorations. So I'm doing a Cabinet of Curiosities / gypsy / Tia Dalma theme. So here are a few pictures I'm using for inspiration:


















And the pictures below show the start of my collection. I plan on spending the next 3 months gathering bottles, apothecary jars, wall/spice cabinets, tabletop curios, and other oddities for my collection. I've been hitting up Goodwill, antique stores, and Freecycle so far. I plan on going to my parents house in the country to hike and keep my eye out for birds nest, snake skin, turtle shells, etc. 

The jars with water in them are just test runs. I plan on putting coffee grounds in them come time for the party to dirty them up. I've not really put anything together yet, it's all just kind of piled up there. But I think it's already looking fairly cool!

Any opinions or input would be great!


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Rikki those are great finds and a fantastic start. I noticed one of the origional pics had a birds wing in the back, maybe you can find one on a fake bird of course 
I love the all the jars and that pic with the skull is F A B U L O U S!!!*

*Oh and the bird cages I love the bird cages, I would love to see a skull in one of those. Oh and how about some large dark dripping candles???*


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

I've been looking for taxidermy birds or other small animals but they are OUTRAGEOUS! I found a little wren for $60 and a small fox for $110.  But I like the wing idea, maybe I can fashion one out of feathers...

I have a lot of other relevant stuff but it's all put away with the Halloween decorations right now so I'll just have to wait until decorating time to dig it out. I have a very large list (32 items, some of which I need multiples) of all the stuff I'll be looking for. 

The bird cages came from a guy on Freecycle. Nice score huh?


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## MHooch (Jun 15, 2007)

Great start, Rikki...my favorite thing is the oval picture of the skull sitting on top of the book, that is _SERIOUSLY_ cool. I have that very same black cake stand with the bell jar top, got it at Cracker Barrel (of all places) last year. You have such an excellent eye, I wish I could take a pile of junk and make it look good, but mine all just look like.....a pile of junk!! LOL!


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

Great finds Rikki!
I'm kind of like hooch though. A pile of jumk is a pile of junk when I try to arrange it. My mother had a really good eye like you....too bad I didnt inherit it!

MsM


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## HallowSkeen (Jul 25, 2006)

What a fabulous idea Rikki! I can't wait to see how this turns out.


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Oh and butterflies, y ou need to have a butterfly in there somewhere*


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## Haunty (May 31, 2006)

Just watched the latest Harry Potter film....
& they had a room much like this full of collections.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks guys! Yeah Spooki, I've been keeping my eye out for a butterfly (or a good looking fake). I've got a few of those really cool Martha Stewart gothicy specimen boxes that will fit right in.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Haunty, I've not seen the movie yet. Now I want to even more!


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## B Scary (Sep 8, 2007)

Rikki -- you off to an amazing start. I is already amazing. Can't wait to see the end result. I have a hallway in my house with shelves on each side that I usually cover with creepy cloth because I could never figure out what to put on them. You've inspired me!


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## Skulkin (Jul 27, 2005)

Rikki, what a great idea. I like the skeleton keys, I have some from my Grandpa's house. The birdcage was a great find. Were those real parakeets, maybe former pets? (I knew somebody who had their pet pirahna taxidermied.)


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Rikki I was in Homegoods last night and on clearance they had these little boxes of scented flowers and in the middle was one great sea urchin. They were marked from 20 bucks to 5. Check your Homegoods out. I was thinking if you bought or I bought sea urchins not sure they would be cheaper than 5 bucks. anyway check your home goods out they also had coral pieces too.*


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

B Scary, glad to be of service! 
Skulkin, not sure about the parakeets. I saw a stuffed wren at the antique store and it was priced at something like $80!
Spooki, I was just in Home Goods on Wednesday and I didn't see anything like that.  They had a section of nautical stuff but nothing I could use. Thanks though!


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Let me know if you want me to pick them up for you. I will keep an eye on them Ihave a feeling they will go even cheaper If so I can get them for you*


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## absintheminded (Jul 20, 2009)

You could always put a prop crow in a cage or a vulture if you can find a decently made one...Thrift stores are the best for finding odds and ends, especially glassware.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

I have a few large crows, a bunch of the Dollar Tree crows, and a big latex owl. There's a little crow in the smaller cage in the pictures...not sure if I'll leave it that way or not. 

Spooki, that would be great! If you're in there regularly just watch for them to get marked down more if that's okay. You're so helpful!


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## ELH(Erin Loves Halloween) (Nov 5, 2008)

Hey I have seen fairly decent craft butterflies at Walmart in the flower section and also in Hobby Lobby. Great collections btw! Love them


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## TheEighthPlague (Jun 4, 2009)

You should be able to find a wing on ebay, they were popular on womens hats in the prewar years. 1920s - 1940s or so.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks for all the input guys! It's much appreciated.

Here's my (long) list of the natural items I'm keeping an eye out for:
coral, odd rocks, bones, antlers, dried plants/flowers, frog specimen, bugs, moss, bird eggs, snake skin, chicken foot, sea horse, wasps nest, teeth (human or animal), hair, sea urchin, birds nest, butterfly.

And here's my (again, long) list of other items I need:
antique looking globe, hourglass, hand (preferably wood but ceramic would do), old leather books, specimen jars, old photos, tarot cards, terrariums, scrolls, mortar & pestle, curios, wall cabinets, spice cabinets, scarves, vials, apothecary jars, odd/morbid pictures.

I figure I can come by most of this with a little effort. I've got another three months to gather it all. My budget is very small compared to previous years so this will be all the new decorations I'll be getting (unless I find extrememly cheap to free items!). I think it will make an impact though.


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

your stuff looks great. I love it. I think maybe you need a little more color perhaps the water in the bottles could be red instead of blue though the blue is nice red would make it pop more. I have some tarot cards around here that aren't a set anymore (my son got them and played with them) I could mail them to you if you'd like a few not sure how many I have but I know I have enough for you to add in here and there  Just pop me your address in a pm and I'll send them out this week. Perhaps you can find a robin's egg so distinctive and colorful would look great. As always I'm in awe of your decor.
-Ren


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

That would be great, Gothikren! I certainly don't need a full deck for this.

With the water, I plan on putting used coffee grounds in the ones that are clear right now to make them murky. I was just doing a test run with the "grow your own" things. I'm going to dump out the blue water (it came that way) but I'm not sure what I'll replace it with yet. Oh, and one of those bottles is actually blue so there's not changing that one!


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

Oh I was also thinking today it'd be kewl if you could find some naturally poisonous plants or that looks threatning to put in perhaps bellshade and even venus fly traps or something like that. Just a few ideas of some different nature ideas to add.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

That's a great idea Ren! I had thought about a venus fly trap (I know that sometimes Walmart has small ones) but it hadn't even crossed my mind to get poisonous plants!


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## Addicted2Boo (Jul 19, 2009)

I love the idea of adding the live plants like the venus fly trap to your display. Then you have some live stuff among the dead stuff. If you have some other poisonous plants it would be neat to have little tags showing the names and what happens if you injest them or some interesting historical cases where they are used ie hemlock etc.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Oh, I like that idea too! Thanks guys!


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

hey Rikki not sure if you've seen this online or not but it has down on the right hand side of the page after the section with the months some links of different things that have (1) (5) etc things like that click on those and you can get some great ideas some are not so great but it's an interesting site.

Morbid Anatomy


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks for the link Ren!

I got a jawbone from a large animal (not sure what exactly), a deer skull, antlers, and some other assorted stuff this weekend!  Hopefully I'll have pictures in a few days!


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Pictures at last! I'm going to wrap twine around the spice jars and the mason jars and hopefully dirty them up a bit too, but I think I'm going to skip labels. The jar with the green liquid in it also contains a squid and an angelfish - I got it from someone on Freecycle! Anyway, it was already green and they said not to open it because it reeks somehting awful soooooo....it's going to stay green!  Anyway, here's the latest update to my collection:


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## AmFatallyYours (Apr 8, 2009)

Looks wonderful! Every time i look at a picture i find something new and interesting.


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## BadTableManor (Sep 8, 2007)

Your display looks awesome!
I have a bunch of shadowboxes of orb weaver spiders and centipedes back from when I had my website. They're from the Bone Room. Scroll down to Arachnids and you'll see 'em:
The Bone Room - Shadow Boxed Framed Insects
If you'd like any, just pm me, and I'll send some to you for just the cost of shipping.


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## cinders (Oct 12, 2003)

I've been watching your collection grow. Wow, you really do have oddities there. This is such a great idea. I can't wait to see what's coming next! I'm amazed that you were able to find some of the weird things you've got there.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

BadTableManor, PM sent! Thanks so much. What a generous offer! The people on this forum never cease to amaze me.


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## B Scary (Sep 8, 2007)

Rikki -- the collection is so cool. I would leave it out all year!


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## mysterymaiden (Aug 11, 2008)

I like the birdcage! Why does birdcage say "creepy" to me?! How about a little doll, and you can tear the seams a bit and sloppily (is that a word? LOL!) sew it back together with thick black string.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Ohhh, I do want a creepy doll for the display. I saw one at an antique store with it's eyes missing so there was just a hollow head and it was F-R-E-A-K-Y!!! Of course, they wanted something like $40 for it so that was a no go. But I'm thinking about attempting that with a yard sale baby with the eyes that open and close....shouldn't be too hard to poke out right?


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

Great idea Rikki! You have such a knack for arranging things! I also can compile only piles of ... junk.


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

this page after scrolling down a bit has a kewl abominable snowman tooth (bumble tooth from the christmas special) looks really kewl and sounds really easy and fast to make.  thought of you and your cabinet.

DAVE LOWE DESIGN the blog


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

That is really cool Ren! Wonder if I can manage to make one that looks that good? Hmmmm....


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

haha I've seen your stuff I have no doubt you can make one look that good if not better


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Awww, thanks!


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

Fantastic idea, this is an awsome display and gives me an idea for the curio cabinet in my living room. Thank you


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks Newbie! I'm glad it inspired you!

Here are my latest pictures:


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## BadTableManor (Sep 8, 2007)

Lookin' good Rikki!


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

I was just thinking of how you might bring some vibrant color into your display and still use unusual items. I think something like 
these hedge balls would work great.  I think there are some around our school, but not positive I'll look and see so I can mail them to you  If you don't have some near you already.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Oh that would be cool! I don't think I've ever seen those before Ren. I wonder how the color holds up once you take it off the branch? Color in the display would be good. Right now I'm planning on hanging colorful scarves all around the room to tie in the gypsy theme. I think I'm going to make one of those tent-like thing with a hula hoop and scarves as well. Other than that, most of the stuff I have and still need are kind of earthy.


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## mysterymaiden (Aug 11, 2008)

I know you're probably all set, but I saw this the other day and though of you. It was a miniature masquerade mask that covered the whole face and had a really long, curved nose, like this here:

http://ljplus.ru/img/g/r/grigorygryaznov/2.jpg

or this:

http://www.masqueradevenetianmasks.com/images/plague_doctor_plain.jpg

Apparently they are really easy to make with paper mache too.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks Leigh! That would look good in the collection - I'll have to keep my eye out for something similar!


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

I know I often find those hedge balls on the ground and they are still that same bright green color for a long time it seems and I'm almost betting you can put them in the fridge and help the color last longer not sure though. I'll look around campus and find some to send to you 

Oh and I meant to ask I noticed you have several feathers. Do you have any peacock feather's those would look great with the display and the colored sashes and gypsy theme


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

Rikki....the collection of stuff looks really good! I also wanted to add a bit on the hedge balls. They will keep their color just don't let them get to hot. My Aunt sends them to me from Chicago & we have always had them in the house to keep spiders out, something about their smell so I put a few in each room.


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Great, thanks! Those will certainly look good mixed in the collection! But no, Ren, I don't have any peacock feathers. I wanted some and some quail feathers too but they were too expensive.


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## HalloweenHouseParty (Sep 14, 2010)

These are great picture too. 

Any new pics for this year?


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks! No new pictures yet. I'll have some after my party on the 30th.


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