Dazzle Your Guests with Personalized Game Piece Wine Charms

Letter and number wine charms are an inexpensive must-have for the hostess with the mostest. I've found that wine charms that can actually identify your wine glass come in handy. And during Flu season, it's probably a good idea to drink from your own cup. I've been to several parties where I can't remember whether my glass is the one with the pink flamingo or purple flip flop charm. When I host get-togethers, it's usually the same gang that shows up, so I've found that it's nice to have wine glass charms with the first letter of my guests' names. There's always a joke about whoever winds up with the blank Scrabble piece charm.

I keep cocktail umbrellas, swizzle sticks and my wine charms together, so I can easily display them in glass plates or a party serving tray alongside cherries or olives - depending on what drinks are being served. It's just an easy way to add a personal touch to your party. During this holiday party season, it's been great having these charms on-hand. They make an easy, yet impressive arrangement.

Another idea, which I stole form my family Christmas parties, is having guests grab numbered wine charms from a hat. Your chosen charm number determines your order in the white elephant gift exchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange). You could also put everyone's letter charm in a hat, to determine the winner in a raffle or the winner of a different game.

These can turn an ordinary bottle of wine into a unique, special gift. I like to tie a bow around the bottle with twine or ribbon, with a few wine charms and a personalized gift tag hanging from the twine. If you're really feeling crafty, you could even adhere a personalized wine label from a site like: http://wine.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Free_Printable_Wine_Labels.

Check out our wine charms at www.CharmsCityCompany.com. We just added the numbered charms to our site. We also have a limited selection of vintage letter charms, pictured above on the left. Email us at CharmsCityCompany@gmail.com to inquire about those.

December Happenings

November came and went!  Since our first show in October, we've been to 6 craft shows/fall festivals in October and November!  That's what happened to all our weekends:)  We are always taking notes on what to do differently and how to better prepare ourselves for the next shows.  Our products and displays continue to grow.  As we look forward to December, we're excited to have 2 shows scheduled and a few free weekends to enjoy the holidays with friends and family.  

Up next for Charms City Company is a Holiday Craft Show on Friday, December 10th at Liberty High School in Eldersburg, MD from 6-9pm.  We'll be venturing to a new county and hope to spot some cool vendors and meet a bunch of new faces!  

Our other December Holiday Craft Show will be on Saturday, December 18th at the TC Williams High School in Alexandria, VA from 10am-5pm.  Maybe we'll see a few familiar faces from the Craftermath event?!?

If you're looking for something to do and some great gift ideas, come out and visit us!  You can always check out our online etsy shop, too.   We're happy to celebrate our 10th etsy sale that occurred on December 1!  We have new items to list, but it's always a thrill to see where our etsy customers are located and how they find us!  

Thanks for reading!  

Next up - Craftermath 11/27!

First things first - our next show will be on Saturday, November 27 in Alexandria, VA at West Potomac High School for the 1st Annual Craftermath show!  We're super excited about this show.  So far, it's the furthest show from Baltimore that we're attending.  The vendors that are listed on the exhibitors page look amazing.  It looks like it's going to be a fantastic show!  I'm planning to sneak away from our booth and get some Christmas shopping done:)

It's been a busy few weeks!  We've attended the Ridgely Middle School craft show and the South River High School craft show.  Both shows had vendors spread between the gym and cafeteria.  We're constantly working on re-arranging and updating our display and products.  Our key tree continues to grow, as we make new necklaces.  We're just about ready to expand our setup to 2 tables!  We've been meeting so many awesome people at these shows - both vendors and customers.  Thanks to everyone that stopped by!

Weekend Show! Ridgely Middle School Craft Fair! 11/13

Our next show is on Saturday, November 13 at Ridgely Middle School from 10am-3pm.  The address is 121 Ridgely Road, Lutherville, MD 21093.  If you're near Timonium, come out and see our latest creations!  We've been working on more key necklaces and other pendant necklaces.  

The Great Halloween Lantern Parade was awesome!  It was a first not only for vending there, but also for attending!  It was so cool to see the unique lanterns, costumes, musical performances and of course, the parade. We met loads of great people that stopped by to check out our jewelry and accessories.  The key tree looked amazing in the spotlight at night!  As always, if anyone forgot cash and wanted to make a purchase, please email us (charmscitycompany@gmail.com) or check out our etsy site to purchase with a credit card (www.charmscitycompany.com).  We've been busy adding new listings to etsy.  We are always trying to update the pictures and pieces offered.  If you have any comments, we'd love to hear them.  

Reminder on upcoming shows:  Ridgely Middle School in Lutherville, MD 11/13 and Craftermath in Alexandria, VA 11/27

Remember the holidays are coming!  If you're looking for something vintage, unique and stylish, check out our site!

Hope to see you soon!  

New Postings & Updates

We signed up for Twitter.  It's a new thing for both of us, so if you have a Twitter account, follow us to get the latest updates and news!  www.twitter.com/charmscityco, our user name is charmscityco.

We've been working on assembling some new necklaces.  Another vintage key necklace with a rich chocolate and amber beads has been added.  This is a shorter, lighter vintage key necklace.  This is another necklace that is easily paired with most outfits and is certainly unique.

The latest beaded bar necklace was made with deep sapphire blue Czech glass beads.  Depending on the lighting, it might look like brighter or darker like a midnight sky.  This is another classic, simple necklace that adds a kick of color.

We have been busy digging around antique stores on the weekends looking for more props and inspiration.  It was certainly a packed Saturday.  We couldn't find the vintage wooden step ladder that we were seeking, but we came across a few new treasures!  Driving around the countryside with crisp, autumn air and hunting around small, quaint towns was a wonderful way to rejuvenate our creativity!

Remember, we'll be at the Great Halloween Lantern Parade THIS SATURDAY from 3pm to 9:30pm.  Stop by to see us before you celebrate Halloween!

Craftermath & New Necklaces

More exciting news!  Charms City Company is going to be attending the first annual Craftermath's event on November 27, 2010 from 10am to 3 pm!  This event is hosted by Craftermath, West Potomac Academy students!  Check out the website - it's beautifully colorful!!  Certainly come out and visit us and the other vendors.  The address is on the site - http://www.craftermath.moonfruit.com/

Also, tonight we listed our newest creation - our beaded bar necklaces.  Right now, we've only listed the red necklace, but we have many other colors.  These will be available at our shows and hopefully soon on etsy.  If you'd like to order on in a color other than red, please email us - charmscitycompany@gmail.com.

We've also listed our Hello, Velo necklace.  We've have this popular necklace at our shows, so we decided to list it on our etsy site, in case you wanted to buy it!

As always, please give us your feedback!

Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to come by the Great Halloween Lantern Parade on 10/30 at Patterson Park!

New Items & Next Show!

We're busy crafting new necklaces and bracelets.  Stay tuned to our etsy store to see the latest!  We're using new charms/pendants, mixed chains on a necklace, new ideas with Czech glass beads, etc.  We also created some gift tags that are available at our shows to spruce up any piece that might be given as a gift.  We're getting all of the holiday bases covered!

Our next show will be on Saturday, October 30th at the Great Halloween Lantern Parade that is sponsored by the Creative Alliance and will held at Patterson Park in Baltimore - on the corners of Linwood and Eastern Avenues.  It's from 3-9pm.  This is a great opportunity to take the family out to be a part of the parade.  Come early and grab a bite to eat and stroll the vendors.  Stop by to say hello to Charms City Company.  Let us know what you think of our latest creations.  We love feedback:)  See the link below for more details about the Lantern Parade.

http://www.creativealliance.org/events/eventItem2312.html

Don't forget to check us out on Facebook - Charms City Company

Thanks!

Review of the Hereford Festival

Thanks to all of those who came out the Hereford Fall Festival over the weekend.  The wind was fierce on Saturday morning.  Canopies were shaking and flying around the Hereford grounds all morning.  Luckily, the crowds still came to listen to live music, sample wine, watch monster trucks and browse the arts and crafts sections!  Our key necklaces and charm necklaces still seem to be the crowd favorite.  Everyone has their own favorite key and luckily we still have a wide selection for replenishment!

While hanging out at the festival, we continued to make new party rings.  We'll be showcasing them soon on our Etsy site and at our next show.  Lots more gold and silver rings, just in time for the holidays!

Keep checking the blog and etsy sites.  We're always putting new items up and giving updates of our next shows.  

Don't forget to find us on Facebook!  CharmsCityCompany

Our website is still under construction, but check back for updates!

Hereford Fall Festival - 10/16/10 - THIS WEEKEND!

Come out and visit Charms City Company at the Hereford Fall Festival on Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 10am to 6pm!  This is our first time as a seller at the festival.  It's supposed to be sunny and 65 degrees, so stop by our tent and check out our wide selection of jewelry and accessories!

Z104.3 will be broadcasting from the festival on Saturday, some local wineries will be attending and over 15 food vendors and over 100 product vendors will be in attendance!

Can't wait to see you!

http://www.herefordfire.org/festival/

NEW Vintage Key & Tag Charm Bracelet

We've just listed our latest and greatest - a vintage key and tag charm bracelet! We hand selected and assembled the bracelet from the coolest keys we could find. The shapes and finishes vary to give this bracelet even more unique character.  It has a gentle jingle when worn. Be sure to check out our newest creation on etsy!

www.charmscitycompany.etsy.com

Our First Show - Darlington Apple Festival!

Last weekend, Charms City Company made it's first debut at the Darlington Apple Festival!  http://www.darlingtonapplefest.org/

Leading up to the festival, the weather was terrible.  The Baltimore Inner Harbor flooded!  Luckily, the conditions cleared and brought a most beautiful, fall Saturday!  We trekked to Darlington early Saturday morning to set-up our booth.  We used pumpkins, tree branches, wire baskets and trays for display and decoration.  We received many compliments on our booth style!

Our first show was a success!  Vintage Key Necklaces were our hottest items!  Each key has so much unique character.  Those necklaces easily spruce up a casual outfit or compliment a dressy ensemble.

Using found and natural elements is very important to our business.  It also helps that we love the outdoors and checking out the local antique shops and flea markets.  There are so many ways to re-purpose old items.  Now it's just a matter of creativity and time!

We are applying for a few more festivals and shows.  Please continue to check back to see where we will be next!

 Katie & Rachel

Fresh Fall Starts

Charms City Company is now up and running.  After a recent vacation to Maine and many brainstorms about things we could make, we've finally done it... launched our first attempt at doing what we love - crafting!


Along the coast of Maine, mussel shells, pine cones, snail shells, acorns and snowball flowers rejuvenated our spirits and sparked new ideas.  Not long after, we're still riding the creative wave and assembling jewelry that we've imagined for months and years, but had never pieced together.  Carefully selecting the right chains, the perfect key, the fattest acorn, the shiniest bead, we are concentrating on pairing the perfect mix between found and natural objects.


Planning the festival attendance, web site appearance and table layouts are certainly keeping us busy.  It's fueling us to work harder, think outside of the box and pour our energy into our creativity.


Please stay tuned to see what we're up to and come check out our booth at a festival or our online shop through etsy.


Thanks for reading -
Katie & Rachel


www.charmscitycompany.etsy.com