by Linda L Kinyon

Created on: May 18, 2009

For many of us those "lost marbles" soon become a collection. My fascination with marbles started when I was but a child and found a fascination with the round orbs of glass that glittered when held in the sunlight streaming through the windows. It seemed so cruel to shoot them across the room to shatter other innocent orbs of glass composing my marble collection.

As I grew older so did my marble collection. Once I reached an age where playing marbles was no longer interesting, I was loathe to part with my long time friends and thus I began a search for the perfect way to display my collection of "lost marbles". Leaving them in a drawstring bag no longer seemed appropriate. I had to find a way to have them ever present in my life without having to pack them away. Determined to find the perfect display container, I set out for my ideal.

I first tried one of those fancy glass bowls one finds at an import shop. My marble collection graced a shiny glass bowl and resided on my desk in a very prominent spot. This worked for several years until I inherited more "lost marbles" from an in law that had passed away. Apparently, my in law had also been a true marble collector. Outgrowing my shiny glass bowl brought forth another problem, how to display my newly expanding marble collection.

By this time, I was married with children of my own. Children that shook their heads at my marble collecting hobby, joked behind my back that "these are our moms lost marbles...she really has found them" and interestingly enough, even brought me home more homeless marbles.

I had to become creative to house my newly expanded collection. Wandering through the aisles of a local department store (I can no longer afford my favorite import store, I am a mom now), I saw a vase filled with little pebbles of cut glass. Glittering in the artificial store light I had an inspiration. First I glanced at the price (ouch!) then I went straight home.

Unearthing two of my favorite large vases, I poured over my marble collection. I sorted by color and by size. I carefully stacked my marbles into my beautiful cut glass clear vases according to color and size. The cool part is, I can change the look simply by resorting and re stacking my marble collection. Now, my marble collection (it will always be "moms lost marbles" to my kids) graces a stand in our living room. Occasionally, we will insert some pretty dried flowers into the top of the vase, the rest of the time, it stands alone, a statement of beauty. "Moms lost marbles".

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