Charming

 Have any of you ever had a charm bracelet? The kind that you add a new charm to for different places you visit or for an important event in your life? I have two of them. 

My dad is an antique dealer and when I was a little girl he gave me a vintage sterling silver charm bracelet from the 1940's. It had about five or six charms and plenty of room for more. I loved the history that was explained to me about charm bracelets. My original charms all have moving parts and such tiny detail. Through the decades I have added charms to commemorate different events, remember travel or pay tribute to family history. By the time I was 25 I had filled up that charm bracelet from my dad and started a new bracelet. I always knew that these would become a family heirloom and I would pass it down to a future daughter or daughter in law. My second bracelet is not nearly as beautiful as the first, but it holds the charms that celebrate my husband and I when we met, our wedding, and of course our children. I have to say I am a bit behind in collecting charms for my second bracelet. I still need a charm for both Luca and Vinny. The charm I have for Rocco is a tiny pacifier (he never used one) with a small disc to be engraved with his birth date. I also have a few charms that haven't been attached that are from family vacations (Santa Barbara and Kentucky). 

It used to be difficult to find new charms but with the internet I can find anything I'm looking for.

 One of my favorite charms is the cuckoo clock with moving chains

 ...or the mailbox that has a moving mail slot. The wishing well has a teeny handle that you can lift the bucket with

 The whistle actually whistles! The square up at the top of the picture is a carnelian stone from my grandfathers tie tack. Oh and the "fire extinguisher" is so totally vintage with a working pump!

I won't list all the charms but some of the highlights are...

sewing machine (duh)

An ice skate and a wooden shoe (a tribute to my Dutch heritage)
lucky horseshoe from Vegas

sombrero from Mexico

note pad with turning pages

charm in the shape of Ohio (where Rocco was born)

San Francisco trolley car (we lived there before marriage and children)

beer stein from Germany

Of course a few from Italy including Vatican City

I want to get a helicopter in honor of my sister (a pilot) and something that has to do with Braille. The possibilities are endless. Luca loves to hold the bracelets and dream about the places the charms came from. I am sure she will continue the tradition of charm collecting and not only add to these bracelets but start her own.

p.s. I wore the original bracelet for years! What a lovely sound it made.