Create Your Own Goblin Hoard
Do you love trinkets, doodads, whatchamacallits and thingamabobs? What about shiny bits and river rocks? Can’t get rid of that old rice necklace from grade school, but don’t want it in your carefully curated jewelry box anymore? Well, I’ve got the project for you!!
If you’d like a full walkthrough if my items, where I got them, and what they mean to me, check out my YouTube video below!!
So, what is a hoard?
A hoard is a stock or store of money or valued objects. Typically in fantasy this term is used for creatures such as dragons and goblins. Specifically, a “goblin hoard” is one of old (sometimes broken) jewelry, rusty stuff, rocks, old board game pieces and found objects from places like your grandmas cookie (sewing) tin, the junk drawer in the kitchen or from outside (more on finding your hoard later) because first, you must secure a vessel.
When you amass these items into one location, they are no longer useless junk. They are now treasure. You must protect it at all cost, so you are now in need of a treasure box.
STEP #1:
Get a vessel. It can be anything!
The one pictured is mine. I found it while thrift shopping, but I assume its from one of ye old typical craft stores.
Yours could be:
A beautifully crafted, hand carved wooden trinket box
A shoebox
An old tin
A jar
A hollowed out book
An old crown royal bag
STEP #2:
Fill it with stuff!!
Ok, that’s a little vague, but generally you get the idea. But where do you find it? What kind of stuff should you collect?
In order to know where to look, you need to know what you are looking for.
What do you want to collect? I decided I wanted my collection to look like an I Spy book threw up all over the place haha. So I collected everything I could find that was small or miniature. I’ve got everything from a rusty old key that I found at a thrift store to mini dice and even one of those plastic naked babies they put in king cakes. Feel free to buy, swap for, find, or even make your treasures! You can have a perfectly curated collection or a hodgepodge. Here are some theme ideas:
Nature inspired
A specific color aesthetic
metal pieces only
used toy and game pieces
STEP #3
Look for treasure!
I started by just going through my stuff at home first.
Check your junk drawers, or any drawers
bedside tables
garage shelves
craft room (this is where the bulk of my stuff came from)
look through old boxes
When you run out of things at home, move on to work. Now, I don’t mean take things from work, but maybe you have items they can part with when you talk to your management, but specifically ask your coworkers. Especially those with children!
Show them examples of what you want
Ask for specific items ( the random plastic army man that still illudes me)
See what you can take off their hands
have them check their desk, purses and backpacks if they are willing!
Next, see if neighbors, friends and family want in on the game. I asked over Facebook and received so many items I would have never come across otherwise! They really loved seeing me post about it as I received them in the mail too. So many of my pieces have special stories behind them now which make them that much more treasured.
When you feel you’ve tapped that market, the real fun begins. Found objects.
Sure you can go buy stuff to add to the hoard (I’ll address this last), but the real fun is finding your pieces, or letting them find you. Here are some of my favorite places to look:
Parks
Parking lots
Hiking
Urban exploring
Digging in an old garden
Playgrounds
If you want specialty items, or you prefer to shop for your pieces, my favorite places to go are:
Thrift shops
Craft stores or craft sections in stores
Toy isles (so many tiny toys these days)
Gumball and gashapon machines
Touristy gift shops
So that’s it! Put it all together and you’ve got your very own hoard!! Mine is an ever changing, ever evolving collection. Sometimes I use my items as decorations and props in my product photography, or in a product itself. As much as it is something pretty to look at, it can still be useful!
