In the late 80s, I began collecting silver charms as a fashion statement. Wearing silver was becoming all the rage and went so great with acid-washed denim. I came across my charm bracelet last night and realized that I can easily be a collector of quantity vs. quality. Very few of my charms hold any significant meaning, for example, why a semi-truck?But there are a couple that are special (quality) and happen to require a bit of movement to appreciate. And now that, at the very most amateur level, I can create animated gif files, I thought that would be the best way to show them.
My most cherished is a little locket
that holds our wedding day photos.
that holds our wedding day photos.
I found this vintage toaster
in an antique shop on our honeymoon.
Not sure why, but I scraped off the
brown enamel on the toast years ago.
And then there’s the
silver shopping cart,
more of a pendant than charm,
but it carries around
my little bottle of
vintage wine.
What do you collect? And what about quantity vs. quality?
in an antique shop on our honeymoon.
Not sure why, but I scraped off the
brown enamel on the toast years ago.
And then there’s the
silver shopping cart,
more of a pendant than charm,
but it carries around
my little bottle of
vintage wine.
What do you collect? And what about quantity vs. quality?
47 comments:
Okay, the fact that these are moving is cracking me up.
The semi-truck surely represents your deep desire to hit the road.
Ooh, good observation, Beki! LOL
I have a charm bracelet that I have been adding charms to for 20 years and luckily each one does have special meaning.
Maybe yours do have meaning, deeply disguised like Beki said, or if not you could always make the charms fit your memories.
That charm bracelet ROCKS! I've never seen one so full. It must weigh your arm down if you wear it!
I collect white pitchers and classy dragonflies (of course).
My most valuable collection, however, is my collection of friends. Cannot be replaced!
Great Post!. I have a necklace that I have put many of my gold charms from the 60's and 70's on. I love it. What fun to look back at each charm. I am going to share it on my blog sometime.
Have a great day.
Charla
I still have my charm bracelet too! It is vintage (somewhat ) and to me they are memories of our vacations. I bought charms when we were vacationing in Thailand, England, Canada, living is Australia and 2 years ago vacationing in the USA . I still need to add the USA ones but am gonna do that and start wearing it again.
LOVE angels, collect them too, lol. Not have many but the ones I do have are full of memories to me.
And a lot of other (mostly PINK) things but the Angels (and USA decorating mags) are my 2 best collections.
I too love the fact that your pics move lol. HOW in the world do you do that???
I, too, have a charm bracelet. It was given to me years ago by my dad. I've added charms along the way that are meaningful (places we travel, etc.). If/when you are willing to part with your semi charm, I'd buy it. Really! (Unless, of course, you want to make a little action out of it : ) My dad was a trucker and it would be meaningful to me. I rode on the 'dog house' when I was very young and have great memories. He's been gone for a dozen years now, and I miss him. Have YOU ever been dropped off at college in a semi?!
eli-online@comcast.net
troutdalites, it's yours! Email me with your address : )
I never had a charm bracelet when I was young and just LUSTED after them like crazy. I started collecting them with my first son Gerber had a charm of the month club.That got me into charm collecting. That got me too many charms !Destashing on ebay and I made an awesome friend from Australia who also collects charms.We spoke back and fourth for 2 years. We met when they came to tour the US. We still talk almost everyday ! Crazy what a little charm can do ! It never fails when I wear it someone stops to take a look . All because of little charms !!! : )
I seem to just collect things that make me feel good. I don't need an entire collection, doesn't but me if I only have 1 pink depression glass dish or a couple of something else. My husband on the other hand can't stand it if his collections are missing something! Drives me crazy! He's a driven man when on the hunt for that elusive 1800s book. BUT, I have a QUANTITY of comfort collections and I'm trying to thin those out lol.
Cathe,
Love the toaster!
Paul (DudeCraft.com)
I had a charm bracelet given to me by my Grandmother for my first communion. I only had a hand full of charms, but I decided I would add to it for my daughter. I buy a charm each year for her birthday, somthing that represents the year. This year she was really into scraves. I thought for each special occasion in her life I would buy her a charm and maybe just because once an awhile too. She is turning 6 soon, but I haven't give it to her yet. Maybe at her first communion. Even if she never wears it, it will have special memories.
Whow, I just pop by to say that I think it's awesome those moving photos, of course the bracelets are great too. I collect everything but base ball cards and guns.
How did you get those moving pics, please tell us!
Have a great day!
Awww, Cathe.
Now you're just showing off! lol
Love your post today. I have a charm bracelet that my mum started for me for my 16th birthday. I've since added charms from faraway places I've visited, charms that represent my interests, and charms that just make me smile. (I'm in my 50s now and that's quite a few charms!) I don't always wear it, but I love to look at it. Perhaps I should find a place of honor in my studio...hmmmmm.
Thanks for the post. It gave me a giggle, too!
Blessings,
Donna
I collect Pez dispensers... odd but true. We even had a little bride and groom pez couple on top of our wedding cake :) I have about 200 or so.
Awesome!
I collect small pieces of art when I travel. And, I try to narrow my selection to places I love, or vendors who are especially interesting in some way. It's nice because they pack easily, and I hang them on the wall at home to remind me of my travels.
I also collect Rhinos. But sometimes people mix them up with Hippos, which aren't as cute. I find that when someone finds out you "collect" something, sometimes they think it's special to add to that collection. I try to spread the Rhinos around so the collection is not overwhelming.
LOL! PamperingBeki said "The semi-truck surely represents your deep desire to hit the road."
AND bring home a semi-truck full of odds and ends that you collect on the way! I love the little 'movies'. :)
I have a charm bracelet also, but not from my childhood, one from my adulthood. It has only meaningful charms on it. I wear it only very occasionally. Quality is not necessarily in the cost of the materials, but in the value to the heart. This sentiment is particularly heightened in me now since my mother recently died and I have been going through her things. It has been interesting to see what I and my children value most.
The moving gif files are very fun!
What a darling bracelet. I especially like the charms that are dear to you. :o)
Pictures ... old family pictures is probably my very favorite collection. I have so many stashed away and wishing I knew of a creative way to display them. Some of the much larger ones I have out, but even the sweet little ones would be fun to see from time to time. :o)
I hope to collect quilts. I am working on a few right now to start off my collection. :o)
Sincerely ~ Tricia Anne
Oh, I love the GIFs! I collect blue and white teapots -- not exactly something you can wear on your wrist!
I have about 65 Blue and white ones and another 15-20 that aren't. Like my first one, it was a little tiny brown Japanese dot decorated pot with a chipped spout -- it has sentemintal meaning because it was from my grandfather given to my mother when she was a little girl, then to me when I got married. Mom and I had little tea parties when I was young.
Please tell us how you do the gifs -- they are soooo cute!
Emanda
http://www.ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com/
I LOVE watching the shopping cart move....
I love vintage charms...here are a few of mine!
http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/search/label/Collecting
Oh my goodness. Those GIFs are so adorable. I could watch that little toast pop up all day long.
Oh, I love those charms and the fact that they move. I only have one with a moving part - a carousel and the horse spins inside. I haven't collected charms in years but see now they're coming back again. I've been collecting flower frogs to put my scissors in.
My quantity-over-quality collection is floaty pens... you know, the pens you pick up on vacation with floating plastic icons and diorama-type scenes of landmarks and destinations. I think I have about sixty. I should learn how to animate them gif-style and put them on my blog... or wait for you to do it! You probably have a few of those silly things hanging around with all your other cool stuff.
I collect only enameled state charms and only of the states I've visited.
The search is lots of fun and the bracelet is very colorful.
I collect too many things and it's definitely a quantity things ~ thanks for sharing. I need to do some serious re-evaluating!
Love your moving picture show!
I have 3 charm bracelets. 1 for me, one for my daughter, one was my great grandmas. It's so fun! You should check out silverconfetti.com; most of their charms are made locally by a husband/wife business.
I think I just collect pretty things-I have so many "collections"--milkglass, baskets, crocks--I love them all!
i have a charm bracelet as well; not nearly so full, but certainly meaningful. i don't remember when I stopped collecting charms for it, but this post makes me want to start again. i do collect vintage jewelry boxes, namely the Lady Buxtons and Meles. The more colors, drawers, and music, the better!!! Thanks for a lovely post, as always.
I love charm bracelets! I have one myself, then I also have two that were my mom's back in the late 1960s! They are very cool!
I seem to collect vintage stained glass windows. I don't know what it is about them, but I love them. I hang them in my "regular" windows. I bought one recently because the price was too good to pass up and my hubs said "don't we have enough of those? almost every window in the house has one hanging in it." haha
I also love c-mas ornaments. I have so many that I have lots of c-mas trees...I think I'm up to 13 trees. Plus an Easter tree and a Halloween tree. I know, I'm nuts.
those are so cute! I have a mini shopping cart too, about desk size that I put papers and such in!
How fun to browse through your charm collection ;)
I started collecting ATCs about 2 years ago and when I look back into my collection now I can see some themes that really don't fit anymore - I don't know what I was thinking when I joined the frog/lizard/dinosaur swap ;) I've learned to be more selective nowadays.
While going through my late Momma's collections I found my "Ten Commandment" bracelet! It was all discolored and rusty in spots but I cried when I found it. blessings for reminding me of Sunday School teachers and the lessons I learned way back then.
Sharon
Oh my... you are having fun with those animated gifs! Cute:-)
I also have a silver charm bracelet. I have some neat ones that were my moms when she was in High School. My husband buys me charms to represent special occasions. I'm starting one for my little girl now.
I have a charm bracelet that I bought myself a few years ago along with one charm. I tell my family to buy me one for birthdays or Christmas so they all have meaning.
Love the charm bracelet, I have one my mother gave me that was hers when she was growing up. There are some very cool charms on it, for instance a whistle that actually works, a car for when she started driving, a 16 when she turned 16..very cool. She always gave me charms and my daughter and I have YET to do anything with them.
I need to have them added to a new bracelet!
I love charms, I love charm bracelets and necklaces, I have done many for myself and for others...
It is a pity that we do not have those awesome charms in Spain...
Can I go to your house and pick your the bracelet? XDDD
I had a gold charm bracelet that I gave to my daughter now that she's grown. I have another of vintage silver hearts that I keep and a third that has charms that tell the story of Christ's life according to PJ (my design) that I wear a couple of times a year. My favorite collection of all times, by far, is my collection of memories....QUALITY, baby!
When I was younger I used to collect Keychains. The silly thing was that I never had any keys... just keychains. I had nearly one hundred keychains, and maybe a third of them were all some form of smiley-face, because those were my favourite ones. :)
Over the years I've somehow managed to lose a lot of them, save for the TWO that are now on my house keys. Never really got back into it... but I have thought about it! haha :)
This makes me want to go shopping! How cute!!
I had a charm necklace that I truly loved. All the charms were hearts. And I lost it. I definitely fall into the quantity over quality category if we're talking value ($) but the things I collect are of emotional value to me. Flags (patriotism), Potato Heads (fun) and hearts (love).
Wow, lookie all the comments ! You struck a chord with all of us who ever kept a charm bracelet.
I love yours, and the moving pics.... must learn how to do that, it's so cool.
Anyway, you have inspired me to go find my old charm bracelet and revive it. Thanks .
Absolutely quantity over quality!! I have a LARGE collection of vintage aluminum coffee pots. I love them and they look awesome on the shelf high above my kitchen cupboards. Paid $.25 to $17 each. Almost all under $1. All of my collections are like this--lesser desired or broken but once placed en masse--doesn't matter.
I believe I have shared my collection of bird figurines on my blog. I have my mothers charm bracelet it is all western charms but I do not wear it. I like quality, which doesn't necessarily mean high priced items. The birds I collect are not expensive but they do have to be in pristine condition. I prefer not repairs, cracks, or chips. With that said I however must admit to having a couple less that perfect items. They are help for sentimental reasons.
Definitely quantity over quality... what else would explain my huge Star Wars collection? Or my thermos collectoin... or my iron figurines (trust me, this list can go on and on)
I love the little shopping cart. How cute!
I have a similar locket that my mother gave me as a teenager. Mine is gold though.
I've never been a charm bracelet kind of girl, but yours if really cool looking.
These days I mostly collect vintage photographs for use in my artwork, and I have a few vintage cameras on display. Most other collections I've long parted with.
Hi Cathe! I have a charm bracelet that was given to me by my Mom when I was 13. On it I have a charm for special occasions or anything that means something to me. It's like a little reminder of what makes me, me. I've started one for my daughter as well. We have charms that represent her birth, christening, first tooth, etc. I plan on giving it to her when she is 13 too.
I try to buy quality ones when I can because I'm hoping that the bracelet will last a lifetime- and then some.
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