by The Funky Olive

Created on: April 04, 2007   Last Updated: April 05, 2007

I love charm bracelets, and I love how the sparkle and jingle while wearing them! I have made a couple for myself that not only do I love wearing, but I also love piquing the interest of others to admire them and ask all about them.

One of them is actually serves double duty for me, as I created the bracelet to hold a watch face. So not only do I have the convenience of a watch to see what time it is, I also have a nice piece of jewelry to wear as well. I created beaded dangles on sterling silver head pins in sterling and pinks, which I wear a lot of. I purchased several sterling silver charms online denoting different interests to me. For example, I have a couple different shoes, because I love shoes! (what woman doesn't?) As well as a couple of different handbags for another fashion passion. I have an Eiffel Tower, for my love of Paris, an awareness ribbon for my charity work I do for breast cancer research, two dogs and a cat charm for my pets, and a few other charms that I liked.

My other charm bracelet also has the beaded dangles. I like using Swarovski crystals for my beads to give my bracelets extra sparkle. This one I did in greens and topaz colors. I didn't use any purchased charms for this bracelet, but made my own with some shrink plastic. I picked out a few different pictures of my parents, some solo pictures and some of them together. I also made up some different words and phrases on the computer that reminded me of my parents. I then printed them on the shrink plastic and before I shrank them, I punched a hole at the top of each picture. Once shrunk, I had instant charms. This bracelet is very special to me, as whenever I wear it, I always have my parents who have both passed on with me and can share them with with my bracelet admirers.

My picture charm bracelet would be a wonderful gift to make for grandma with pictures of all her grandchildren. And they are so simple to make. When you think of all the different pictures you have, the possibilities are endless for making a nice gift for someone special or for your special self.

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