Charm Bracelets - What does yours say about you? - YouLookFab Forum

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Charm Bracelets - What does yours say about you?

Debora

Veteran

I was rummaging through my jewelry this morning and found my old charm bracelet. I haven't worn it in years! My children started one for me on Mother's Day years ago and added to it on special occasions and holidays. I also came across Kindrex's bracelet and thought how nice it was to follow the major milestones in her life by the charms on it.

Photo #1: My bracelet with its very first MOM charm. Next came the little boy and girl charm to represent my children. Then came a teacup, and a flower pot with a tulip (my favorite flower) followed. A sand dollar for my love of the beach. A sand castle which I'm pretty sure they bought to represent my love of the castles on the Rhine and the grape cluster for the Rhine vineyards (from our years in Germany). A bird house for our cockatiel (long gone now).

Photo #2: DD's bracelet with her two major loves over the years - horses and kittens. Also, an armadillo and Texas charm for the years we spent there. A musical note and a marching band trumpet player. A bunny charm (Easter) and a gingerbread man from a long ago Christmas. A graduation cap and a charm with her school initials. A diamond ring from when she was a bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding. Plus a unicorn, rose and seahorse to name a few.

How about you? Do you have a charm bracelet and what does yours say about you? I would love to see photos.

I think I will wear mine today!

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22 replies

Latest reply was from Debora

Kari

Veteran

No photos to share of mine, but yes, I do have a charm bracelet.

When I was little, relatives often gave me a new charm for a Christmas or birthday present. I don't remember all of them, but the first two charms were pretty major milestones - a heart given to me when my little sister was born, and a house celebrating our move (when I was 5) to a new house. (It was a little tough on me because we were moving away from my then-best friend who had lived across the street.) Among other things, the charm bracelet has a flute (I played pretty seriously from middle school through college), a book (I am a very prolific reader and also used to write fiction for fun when I was younger), and an artist's palette (I am not terribly artistic myself, but many of my female family members are. Grandma did printmaking/etchings from when she was in her 50's until she passed away; the framed artwork behind most of my WIW photos is hers. One of my aunts does gorgeous jewelry/beadwork, and has given or made me many of the pieces I wear. My mom is quite talented at drawing and is incredibly crafty, and my little sister is making her living as a graphic designer. Also, the charm is a reference to my last name.)

I am not a huge bracelet girl, so I'm not sure if I would wear mine often, but I will absolutely hang on to it with my keepsake jewelry.

Debora

Veteran

Kari, thanks so much for sharing! I learned something new about you today. I love that yours celebrated the major milestones of a new baby sister and a new home. I had no idea that you played the flute or that you came from such an artistic family. I just clicked on your most recent WIW and am awed by your Grandmother's artwork. Yes, I agree that charm bracelets most definitely fall into the category of keepsake jewelry.

Queen Mum

Veteran

mine says that I have no sentimentality, because I don't have mine anymore I had one while growing up, but I got rid of it years ago during a purge.
I do have one of those Italian Charm bracelets that has one or two charms, but I never added to it or asked others to, so it is sitting in my jewelry box I think... That would say about me that I'm not a collector.

ha- just went and dug out my Italian charm bracelet.. yep, it has two charms.. a cross and one that say's "sis" But I'm not as unsentimental as I might appear because I found my broken wedding day earrings.

Debora

Veteran

LOL Kim! It's amazing that I still have mine. We've moved so many times and I purge relentlessly with every move.

What's an Italian charm bracelet?

Awww. love that you still have your wedding day earrings!

Marley

Veteran

Oh - thank you for posting these! I LOVE charm bracelets and had one as a young girl and woman - and I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT - and am so sad about that.
Here's some of the charms that I remember having on it:
a piano - I started playing when I was 3 and majored in music in undergraduate school
a cat - (of course)
a dog - (of course)
a track shoe - I was a runner
a whistle - I was a lifeguard
a cross - when I was confirmed
a graduation cap - when I graduated from H.S.
a book - not enough hours in the day to do all the reading that I want to do
a megaphone - I was a cheerleader
a seashell - for my love of the ocean
a shoe - Yes, I've had an affair with shoes for a loooooong time
a dumb-bell - I used to seriously lift weights
a volleyball - when I made All-State
the number "16" - when I had my 16th B-Day
a handbag - no explanation needed
a rose - at one point in my life I was an avid flower gardener and had 43 different varieties of rose bushes in my backyard
a peace sign
a hummingbird
a tractor - from my Grandpa who was a farmer and always let me ride on his tractor with him
a canoe - to remind me of my days going to summer camp
a sun - to remind me of my Dad (he used to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to me and my siblings and his grandchildren)
a tulip - to remind me of my Mom

I could go on and on - but, can you see why I am just sick that it has disappeared?

Debora

Veteran

Wow, Marley! I think this helps to explain your killer figure! I had no idea that you were so athletic. We share a love of reading, the ocean, and cats. I just love hearing about the significance of all your charms, especially your tulip one. I'm making a wish that it will turn up one day for you!

rachylou

Veteran

marley!! wow!! very cool!

among my random assortment:

cake & cupcake - because baking is a rather serious hobby of mine... however, should note, i bake bread

blow dryer and shoe - because i believe if you book-end with good hair and good shoes, you can probably get away with it. also, love love going to the salon

butterfly - a gift

owl - my high school mascot

... actually, have a difficult time finding charms where I live.

Kari

Veteran

Debora, that is so sweet.

What a neat idea for a thread that allows us to learn more about each other!

If I can, next time I'm at my parents' house I'll try to dig out my charm bracelet and snap a quick photo.

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

How lovely to read all of this!

ETA don't have one myself, but I can see now what a wonderful part of a life they could become.

Debora

Veteran

Thanks Kari! I would love to see a picture!

Thanks Polly!

Racylou - yours sounds lovely! There are a lot of owl fans on the forum. We got most of our charms from this Texas-based jewelry company. DebbieK and the Austin gals are probably familiar with it.

http://search.jamesavery.com/?.....nav=Charms

rachylou

Veteran

Debora - That is a great link! That's what I'm talking about, real charms! I might go on a spree. (and go owls!)

MsMary

Veteran

Here's mine! I actually wore it the other day for the first time in probably 30-plus years! I was an avid charm collector in high school. Starting on the right, they are:

Small bust of Shakespeare
A band from my orthodontic braces LOL
Small souvenir shield from Hawaii
Circle with my astrological sign -- Libra
Small Statue of Liberty
Treble clef with musical notes
Circle engraved with my best friend's and my nicknames on one side and "Bosom Buddies" on the other
Circle with the Liberty Bell and "1776-1976"
Oblong with "Pax" (Latin for "peace")
Small souvenir shield from England
Sweet 16
Small comedy and tragedy masks
Small bell (I was in the handbell choir at church)
Four leaf clover
Small souvenir shielf from Austria
Mustard seed
Circle engraved with "Edna," the name of my character in the senior play
Grand piano
Circle engraved with my name on one side and "Jan" on the other, for being my high school's "Girl of the Month" in January 1976
Circle engraved with "A Midsummer Night's Dream/Director/1976"
Souvenir "key" from my (first) university
Liberty-bell shaped senior charm commemorating the class of 1976
Small Eiffel Tower
Sewing machine

I guess it says I'm a fairly well-traveled yet domestic drama queen who was true to my school and had straight teeth!

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MsMary

Veteran

Anybody have any ideas for cleaning a charm bracelet with a mixture of sterling silver and "silver tone" charms?

Kari

Veteran

MaryK, the addition of one of your braces bands cracked me up. Hehe!

I was in braces/headgear for 4 years total. Unfortunately, my orthodontist did not do a perma-retainer on me or my sister (as he did on my mom), so both of our lower teeth have shifted around a lot. She is thinking of getting braces again on her lowers. I probably won't unless it ends up becoming a potential health/hygeine issue. They aren't terrible, and my top teeth are straight and are far better than the gap-toothed, buck-toothed, overbite that I originally had.

I think I have an Eiffel Tower on my charm bracelet, too, after our big family trip to France when I was in high school. I'd have to check. There are many more charms on there that I just cannot remember off the top of my head.

I have NOT tried this myself, but understand that baking soda is a good way to remove tarnish from sterling silver jewelry. Here's a tutorial that I found on the subject: http://www.ehow.com/how_216616.....-soda.html

taylor

Veteran

I wear lots of bracelets, but don't have any charm bracelets...however I do have a large gold heart that I hang off one of my bracelets my dad brought back from Florence, and I do have a bracelet that has all different heart charms hanging from it.

I think charms that individualize a person are super fun and interesting. I wonder why i never invested the time gathering such charms:(

MsMary

Veteran

Kari, I went through a second round of braces a few years ago, after my teeth shifted due to a night guard I was wearing to keep me from grinding my teeth. Grrr. It was awful but it was worth it. And the technology has certainly improved from the full-metal-jacket days of my first go-round!

Jjsloane

Veteran

How fun, thanks for sharing. I still have mine and it's not nearly as full as some (or as I'd like it to be ). I have:
Musical note (played piano)
Moon
Horseshoe
"78" (I think this was when I got it from a dear Uncle)
Lobster
Shamrock
Mickey Mouse and Cinderella's Castle (Big DisneyWorld Fan)
Goofy (my Dad's favorite character from Disney)

Is it too late to start adding to it again? I have stamped charms on a necklace of my children's names. I started to purchase and put aside a charm for my daughter for each birthday and Christmas. I plan to put it all together on a bracelet when she's 12 so she can add her own. So far her initial, birthstone, a pacifier (she was hooked until 2), sand pail and a crab.

For cleaning the mixed metal try a jewelry cleaning glove (labor intensive, but should work on all things) I used to use windex on all kinds of metals and it worked well (mainly eliminates the oils)

bella

(website)

Veteran

This is a concept that I had never seen or heard of before I came to the US, so no I don't have one. I wonder what other internationals will say.

Queen Mum

Veteran

Debora- these are Italian Charm bracelets. they seemed to be big about 5 or so years ago.

http://www.theitstyles.com/Italian-Charm-Bracelet/

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

That I'm cheap and need to buy charms.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I have one from childhood. I think they were all the rage back in the 70s. It's gold, so I kept it, but some of the charms have fallen off and it's only got four left: a little gold pair of boots, a shield with St. George's cross and some lions, a carved jade elephant (which I LOVED when I was a kid), and a little gold bible that has a hinge and opens, and has the lord's prayer printed in it so small you need a magnifying glass to read anything beyond "Our Father...". I used to like that one too, mainly because it could be opened. I might even have learned the prayer, had the printing been bigger. As it was I had to embarrass my grandma in her church a couple of times a year by not knowing it.

Debora

Veteran

Rachylou and Lyn - permission granted to shop away!

MaryK, I love the photo of your bracelet! That's an impressive collection and your description of yourself cracks me up!

Kari, thanks for the tutorial link!

Taylor, your bracelet from your dad sounds beautiful!

Jjsloane. your bracelet sounds delightful! What a wonderful idea to start one for your daughter

Bella, that's interesting. I'd be curious to hear from the other international members, too.

Kim, thanks for the link. I don't recall seeing these before, but what a clever idea!

Elisabeth, thanks for sharing and I loved hearing the story about your grandmother and chuch - so cute!

I store my bracelet in a bag designed to prevent tarnish. Each charm and the bracelet came with one and it seems to do the job.

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