Glass Glass Charms

Glass cat charms keep some of my cups easy to find again. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Glass Glass Charms

You probably have seen them at local craft shows and hobby stores; that’s where I found some of mine over the years. Charms, and in particular glass animal charms, make charming coffee cup and wine glass jewelry to help identify which one is yours. Those are also called glass charms, as in charms for a glass.

Attached to expandable rings, glass glass charms can easily be attached so that the person who first picked up the glass can get back to it later.

When several people get together to share - whether it’s coffee or a meal, it’s easy to misplace a cup or wine glass. Or better yet, confuse one’s cup for someone else’s drinking vessel.

These glass glass charms solve that by temporarily identifying the cup or glass and cutting down on reaching for a second or third.

One of my favorite little collections is this one of glass cats. The little blue cat is clearly ready to get on the job.

A blue glass cat charm is among a set of charms I use on coffee cups. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

To make your own, you can find the expandable rings at your local hobby shop in the jewelry section.. If you want to embellish them, you can add beads threaded through the rings. Nice project for little hands to work those beads through the hoops.

Some of my glass charms with beads on the expandable rings. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

This ladybug glass charm was picked up to join my glass charm collection. I am short of the rings so she’s spending her time now hanging from a flower vase keeping flowers company. As soon as I pick up more rings, she will begin her job of keeping my cup identified.

Or maybe not, I like seeing her on the bottom of the flower bouquet from flowers blooming mid-winter inside my house.

This ladybug glass charm is waiting for me to pick up more rings. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I also have a set of plastic frog glass charms someone gave me many years ago. They are handy for those visits out to the deck where a wind, or errant elbow, might knock over a glass. The plastic charms have less of a chance of breaking and still do the job of identifying who has what cup.

The collection doesn’t have to start big. Pick two favorite charms of any kind and get them on the flexible rings. As you find more charms you like, you can reuse the same flexible rings and add more charms that can be interchanged.

To make these into personalized gifts, choose charms with initials or a favorite theme. You can also personalize a gift by adding them to a set of coffee cups for a newlywed couple, or special charms on wine glasses for a personalized anniversary gift.

This is a small sized gift that will keep on giving for as long as they are not lost or forgotten.

Some of my glass charms ready for a party. Or two. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

As we move away from throw away items and get back to using our real glasses and cups, this would be a charming way to make them easy to find in a crowd. It would also cut down on the number of extra glasses used. A fun win all around!

Charlotte