amethyst crystals at the rock store www.trialbyinspiration.com

I grew up visiting rock stores with my dad; we would walk the aisles, hands clasped behind our backs, peering into each box of polished stones. I don’t remember any of the rocks we brought home, the pleasure was in the collection itself and seeing all of those saturated colors and varied textures en masse. That said, I’d never been to our local shop, Richardson’s the Rock Barrell, so Saturday I made the trek. Read on for inspiration to visit your local rock shop-

Upon entering, with husband and toddler in tow (side note, a rock store is a terrible place to bring a toddler, low hanging strands of delicate beads, boxes of marble size precious stones, humorless bead enthusiasts), our eyes fall on store spanning, industrial metal drawers laden with crystals, geodes, and minerals.  There are some serious stunners, classic rock shop loot, but my interest is peaked as I round the corner to find $2 strands of wooden beads. I know wood is not comparable to a one of a kind, semi-precious stone, but this is a pretty tasty price for inspirational supplies and opens my eyes to my next DIY- stay tuned this week for Iris Apfel eat your heart out moment and the other treasures I found.

Thank you, Rock Barrell for the nostalgia and the refresher course in Dallas’s hidden gems!

stone, crystal and geode collection stone and geode collection

shell drawers at the rockstore www.trialbyinspiration.com

stone pyramids at the rock barrel www.trialbyinspiration.com

citrine pendants at the rock barrel www.trialbyinspiration.com

rose quartz collection at the stone store www.trialbyinspiration.com

cherry quartz beads at the rock barrel www.trialbyinspiration.com

Then, after some bead and baby wrangling, it was off to Afrah for gyros and gelato.

grapefruit gelato at afrah www.trialbyinspiration.com

Hello, grapefruit and cardamom!

cardamom gelato www.trialbyinspiration.com