Holy Sunday.

Katie and I spent a few, tired hours on Sunday morning, scrambling around to prepare for meetings with a few new shops. We eventually left Baltimore and headed north toward New York. A few car dances and a NJ Turnpike rest-stop meal later, we ended up in my favorite part of Brooklyn, Park Slope. I lived there 4 years ago and barely had time to recognize the place. After a quick swoop into Homebody, one of our favorite new boutiques, we jumped back in the car and headed to Philadelphia. Katie and I were both bummed that we didn't get to spend more time in Park Slope, as originally planned. It's such an awesome area, filled with eclectic people, unique restaurants, shops and art. The below picture on the left is a good one of the neighborhood.

We dashed down to Philly and ended up in Manayunk, one of the most inviting, urban towns that either of us had ever seen. The historic community is home to The Little Apple, another one of our new favorite shops that's now carrying Charms City Company products. It's lined with quaint shops and restaurants and is perfect for a nice stroll on a spring day. The below pic on the right shows one of the main street blocks in Manayunk.

I love Baltimore but have been wondering lately how I haven't yet lived in Philly, especially after visiting Rittenhouse Square a few months prior. I love the City of Brotherly Love.

The day was such  a whirlwind, it was hard to believe it had even happened by the time we got home. I highly recommend taking separate day trips to both Park Slope and Manayunk. They're both beautiful communities, with lots of charm and are ideal for a weekend getaway.

Getting Too Big for Our Britches

Katie and I looked around her house the other day and realized that we're outgrowing our workspace. We have hundreds of jewelry pieces, cascading down her exposed brick wall, 2 work tables, a shelf full of supplies and a designated area for show display pieces. The below picture doesn't do my explanation enough justice. There are oodles of props under the table and lots more spots around Katie's that look similar to the one below. The two of us have learned that being organized is definitely key in a small workspace.

Designing and creating jewelry is so much easier when our scavenged finds are organized by finish and size, etc. I now get excited when I find new ways of organizing our stuff. Another essential in our space is music. Crafting sessions feel strange without the sounds of Fleet Foxes in the background. My Friday nights usually consist of Katie's ipod mixes, a few glasses of wine and lots of crafting - which is fine with me. :) I wonder if others' craft spaces are similar to ours. I would love to hear if anyone has tips on maintaining a small studio. Happy Friday, everyone.

Give her the key to your heart this Valentine's Day

It's difficult to find a Valentine's Day gift for your lady, so we're sharing our top picks that we think will win over your significant other on February 14th. For the gals out there, go ahead and indulge with something special this V'Day.

A vintage key necklace is a quixotic gift, since it's a one-of-a-kind piece that holds a certain mysterious nostalgia. The keys that we've found date back to the 1800s, if not before. They may have traveled here from France, Germany, or many other parts of the world and once unlocked a secret treasure chest, or even an old jail cell. We salvage each hand-selected key from antique shops and flea markets and pair them with mixed chains into re-purposed, unique accessories. We pictured 2 of our skeleton key necklaces below. Check out our Etsy site for more of a selection.

We used found strands of chandelier crystals to create our romantic bracelets, which we've pictured below, next to our red Czech-glass, beaded bar necklace. The sparkling red beads are beautiful accessories for any Valentine. Both are available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/CharmsCityCompany

 

 

Another great Valentine's Day gift is a bottle of wine or champagne, tied with a pretty ribbon in pink, red or gold. You could dangle a personalized wine charm to the bottle for as an added touch. Check out our last blog post to see our vintage game piece wine charms. The Scrabble ones are our favorite.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's day. For more gifting ideas that will melt any girl's heart, check out our website: www.CharmsCityCompany.com. Thanks for reading. :)

- Katie and Rachel

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!