"Charmed" Bracelet Part Two

Sometimes the best charms are one's that can't be bought. Here are some we found that weren't sold as charms that we will use as charms. The Tweety bird bead was bought in an orphanage for girls in Peru where we donated items. The pottery was picked up on the ground while walking in Peru. The coins were from Peru. The game token was from a party we attended, the plastic was cut out of the glow sticks they sold at the Jessie McCartney concert we attended, the Chinese coin was from our visit to China town and the llama was from a petting zoo where we fed the llamas in Peru. The raw copper was when we visited Kennecott Copper Mines on a trip. None of those items cost more than a few pennies but still made the memory.

When I am at a store and the have a good price on charms, sometimes I buy them ahead of time for special events like going to drill camp, first date, piano recitals, plays etc. Other times, finding and buying the charm is part of the enjoyment of the day. Here are some charms I bought ahead at a dollar store. They are real silver so I paid the $1 for each charm figuring it was an investment.

Sometimes, I can only find a few charms and need a few more. I keep my eyes open so that when I see and earring or another similar charm, I can get enough for all the girls. Here you can see that I had to buy two different charms to get enough for all the girls. The little elephant earrings were hard to find. My grandma on her deathbed said she regretted not riding an elephant. She was joking of course but I have taken my older girls to ride one and these charms are saved for the day when the younger girls get their ride.


One time we were in line at Disney land waiting for the Mad Hatter ride. I looked down and there was a little acorn lying on the ground. So, I kept my eyes open for more. When I got home, I made a charm out of them. There are fixtures you can buy that you can glue items in or you can use a dremel or a drill and make a hole in some items like the coins and token in the photo above.

Growing up, my grandfather had some land and we would find Indian pottery on his land. I have a bowl full of pieces that the girls and I picked up before they developed that land. Using a masonry bit on a drill, you can drill a hole in pottery and then you can shellac it with several coats of shellac to keep it from cracking, chipping or breaking on the other charms. Use soft cord or string around the pottery through the hole and then attach a ring that way to keep the pottery from wearing down where the chain would attach.

Shells can be attached by drilling a little hole. We scout beaches for the smallest shells when we go. You can attach marbles, crystals, or rounded glass by winding wire around it securely. You can buy that wire and any fixings at any craft store. There are many online sites you can buy jewelry beads, tool and fixings and now there are stores around just for that as well.

When we went to the Titanic exhibit a few years ago, they actually had little boat silver charms but they were about $20 each or more. However, they did have coal you could buy that they actually brought up from the titanic for sale. That was more like what I was looking for. How many people can say they have actual coal from the titanic on their wrist? I bought little silver holders and put a small piece in each for the girls bracelets. I don't think I spent more than $20 on them all and I still have some coal to do something with if I ever get creative!

You don't need many tools to make or attach charms. A drill or dremel and a pair of needle nose pliers. I keep this pair in the box with all the charms I have the I haven't given the girls yet. I will buy bracelets sometimes with several charms on them and let each girl pick one starting with whichever girl picks the closest number to the one I pick. Then, I use the links from that bracelet to attach other charms.

Here are some bracelets I picked up at yard sales or second hand stores. I only paid a few dollars for them all together and each charm is worth at least $1. One dollar is the cheapest I have ever gotten a store bought charm, so, I made money on the deal. Many of the charms are real silver and now I have many charms in reserve to choose from for those special days.

There are many types of chains on bracelets. Pick one with strong links. If they are real silver, I wouldn't make it too crowded, (mine have too many on them) as you could lose a charm. If the charm is silver, I make sure that I use a very strong link to attach it to the bracelet. It would be a shame to lose one.

It is amazing how one little bracelet can have all those memories. I think I am going to try to figure out a cute way to make a necklace and earrings along with the bracelet as the girls have two large bracelets now and are awkward to wear with so many charms so taking some off to put on a necklace would be good.