Collections from my ‘weird travels’ displayed in fun ways

I’ve been thinking it would be fun to show you some of the weird things I’ve collected in my travels across the country (mostly, the South, yes, but other areas, as well). Sweetums and I began collecting magnets when we met nine years ago but we also have some fun objects we’ve picked up along the way. (I’ll tell you the story of my bricks from two haunted insane asylums in the next post.)

For this post, I wanted to share our fridge magnets. When we built a new home and moved in December 2019 (right before the pandemic kicked in), we decided we did not want the magnets to be on our actual refrigerator, mainly because they took up too much space. So we found some great frames to match our kitchen island (peacock blue) and Sweetums modified them to hold magnets. Add our metal Route 66 sign from our Route 66 honeymoon in 2016 and you have our collection of magnets. I’ll show pics below so you can feel free to peruse our magnets and ask questions via email or comment (kellykazek@kellykazek.com).

A few magnets come from individual travels; for instance, Sweetums went to the Jelly Belly Factory without me (we’re still not okay with that), but mostly we went together. The fun, distressed “window frame” we added last year has a ledge where we keep collectibles from our trips, in this case, two bobbleheads and a set of keys. The bobbleheads are of the Florence Y’all water tower in Kentucky, a gift from the mayor, and the Golden Driller in Tulsa, Okla., which Sweetums bought on our 2020 trip and gave me for Christmas. The keys are souvenirs from the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark., “America’s Most Haunted Hotel.”

Fridge magnets make great collectibles because of their small size and low expense. From time to time, we’ve made magnets from our own photos when no others are available. Check out my Zazzle shop for more fridge magnets I’ve designed (as well as Bigfoot merch, of course).