Ahh, rock painting. A hobby I accidentally fell into thanks to a little nudge from my snister, and it’s completely transformed my life because of the amazing people it’s brought into it. Nearly all the friends we met up with in Europe last April were rock painting friends, and that’s how I met Tiff & Val as well. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s make this rock painting history quick (???).

During the pandemic, I kept stumbling across painted rocks – and so did my mom and snis, who were painting their own and hiding them. Snis kept encouraging me to give it a shot, but I was like, “Nah, I’m not artistic.”

Then I discovered paint pens and have been painting (and hiding) rocks since the end of November 2020. And guess what? I am artistic!

Snis was also like, “you should start a rock instagram.” I was like, “hmm, should I?” then “why the hell not.” I started “Kim Hides the Rocks” December 27, 2020 and I still post almost daily. These days, I schedule my posts through Meta and don’t spend as much time on the app itself. I used to spend a lot of time on Instagram (thanks, pandemic), and through it, I’ve met some incredible people from all over the world, as mentioned. I’m so grateful for it.

And that’s my story! Oh! And what is the point of painting and hiding rocks? The idea is to spread positivity and brighten someone’s day with a simple, encouraging message or design. It’s a fun way to connect with others through small acts of kindness. All my rocks have a sticker on the back that says “You found me! Let me know, then keep or rehide!” with my social handles.

Well, now that we have that long arse intro, here are my top 4 favorite rocks I posted this year! It is VERY difficult to pick only 4! So I am going to cheat and do a few categories. It’s my blog, I make the rules!

4 Favorite Cat Rocks

1️⃣ Cat sleeping on a pile of love letters

This one is significant because I actually designed it myself and kept it. Those two things rarely happen. (If you click through on the links on these, I credit where I found the design – EDITED TO ADD – the titles are all links to the original post)

2️⃣ Pusheen and her mom, Sunflower

3️⃣ Super Cat

4️⃣ Chaotic Christmas Cat

4 Favorite Personalized Rocks

1️⃣ A Cessna 172 to commemorate Steven getting his private pilot license

The funny part is, I tried to be prepared and painted this long before Steven got his actual license – he had to wait to do his final oral exam and checkride. So it just sat there painted and ready to go and I hoped me painting it early didn’t jinx him or something (it didn’t!).

2️⃣ An Mario Bros. themed Ella rock for our niece’s second birthday

I made these for her brothers the year before (see them here) and had to make one for her!

3️⃣ Lila & Eloise

I mean, obvs. Stephany‘s cats are so cute! I gave this to her when she came for our Ameowzing Popcast Weekend.

4️⃣ RIP My Appendix

There is a very funny inside story about me painting this to surprise someone who had an appendectomy, then asking them to tell me which of the rocks I’d painted so far was their favorite and them not even noticing it and picking Super Cat above. You had to be there, but trust me, we were dying laughing.

4 Favorite Rocks with Words

1️⃣ Grow through what you go through

2️⃣ Duck around and find out

I mean, come on! I held on to this one for a loooooong time. Our nephew William chose it last week when I pawned my rocks off on everyone. My heart is happy it’s with family. Ha.

3️⃣ You happy up the world

4️⃣ Chaos Racoon

4 Rocks That Made Me Feel Talented

1️⃣ I’m fast as f*ck boiiiiiiiiiiiii!

2️⃣ Bluebells

3️⃣ Explore More

4️⃣ Don’t stress meowt

Most Liked Rock of the Year (by Instagram likes)

Well that took forever to find! But it was this kawaii windmill that I hid by a windmill in The Netherlands!