He Came Bearing Gifts of Painted Rocks

With the holidays approaching, small painted stones make great gifts and travel well.

My husband took a trip back East to visit family and friends after a 10-year absence. I did not accompany him but wanted to let everyone know I missed them and was thinking of them. A variety of painted stone gifts transported in an egg carton was the perfect solution.

Getting through airline security can be problematic, however, the stones were light enough and the egg carton compact enough to fit in a carry-on bag and go through security with no problem. I wrote "painted stones" on the carton in case questions arose as to the contents.

A plain egg carton transported small painted rocks

At the family get-together, my husband placed the egg carton on a table and surprised the group by opening the lid to expose a painted rock menagerie smiling up at them.

A collection of painted gift rocks

The egg carton was passed around and each family member chose the painted stone they liked best. Some comments about the painted stone gifts sent in my absence were:

• Thank YOU Cindy for the wonderful gift of stones!
• Thanks for sending so many NICE SAMPLES !!!!!
• Thank you so much for my cute gift.

A great gift idea for kids, especially at Halloween or Easter, is painted mystery rocks in an egg carton. Imagine their surprise as they open the carton expecting eggs and see this instead.

Surprise - it's not eggs in that carton

As Cathy A. Malchiodi states in The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers: "It would be indeed revolutionary if each of us could offer one small act of art to another person...a single act that eventually "pays it forward" in ways that often cannot be predicted or planned."


My painted rock gifts were a small act of art kindness which, similar to a stone skipped into a lake, created ever-widening circles of smiles.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks