I dropped some little Skooma bottles, intending to place them on a shelf, but I forgot about them for at least 2 or 3 game days. Would the steward or another npc in my household pick them up? They are nowhere to be found.

I doubt they would be interested in skooma bottles, they can kick them around as the walk through them though. I have left stuff on the floor for a while and no one picked them up, I arrange weapons and armour on the floor and no one claims them. Most of my houses do not have a bard though.

No bard here. I dropped them in the cellar on the rug in front of the mead barrels. Oh well, another mystery, but no big deal. It's not like there's a skooma shortage, I just liked the way those little bottles look.

So you are setting up an opium den in your basemant?

Sure, come join the party! lol

Skooma bottles seem to be pretty stable, but I've had issues with unique/stolen items I've found in places nowhere near where I dropped them. I dropped the Emerald Dragon Claw in my trophy room and found it later in the armory on the far end. The Nightshade Extract I pickpocketed from someone ended up under the tall shelves in the main hall back room. I chalked those up to some items just not being stable enough to leave out of a container and stopped trying to display them (that Emerald Claw and Nightshade Extract, Dragon's Breath Mead, Stallion Potion, Gold Dragon Claw).

I've never seen NPCs pick up items without asking, but they do kick them around.

If you adopted, maybe a kid kicked the bottles practicing on the dummy.

None of the claws seem to stay put, I gave up trying. It's a shame too, they made a good display.

I have all but the gold claw in two kettles in Hjerim, they have been happy there for ages. Unfortunately if I pick them up to try and move house at least one will insist it is a quest item again, I think it was the sapphire one. Twice now I have got caught with the thing, Braggen is on strike and has just decided to put up with carrying it around, he has plenty of quest items he got stuck with, one more is not going to be a problem.

I had no luck super gluing the Nightshade Extract, Dragon's Breath Mead, Stallion Potion or White Phial anywhere, the gold claw has always stayed at Riverwood. The Honningbrew decanter is currently trapped in a washstand, but it is still very lively.

Aussie has one claw sitting on the Breezehome table, it has not moved, she is a long way from getting all of them, if she ever does.

I kicked a pot by accident once and it went rolling across the floor.My steward picked it up and said "You dropped this" or something like that.

My first character got all of them, but gave the gold one back to Lucien in Riverwood. But I got tired of picking them up after displaying them so many times, so put them all in a safe. Don't know if I will go through all that again to get the whole set.

LOL, it would have been nice if he'd just put it back.....

Men........

Yeah, really. Expecting your spouse to clean up your messes? What's next, VACUUMING?!!

Well the broom is right by the door.