'Throwback' Package From Heathersmoo: August 2021

I thought that I already blogged about this particular gift package when it arrived. But apparently, I hadn’t. At least, I can’t find a post about it here. This package was originally sent in August of 2021 by my keychain collecting email pen pal, Heathersmoo of Livejournal. Inside was a sweet note from Heather, along with two keychains, one for me and one for my “IRL thrift store Bff” (as Heather referred to my best friend/willing thrift store shopping buddy in the note). I'd already delivered my best friend’s keychain gift quite a while ago, which might explain why I thought I previously posted about Heather's package here on the blog.

According to Heather’s note, my keychain was “the fancy one with the plane”. The one for my best friend didn’t have an added jewelry charm. Both keychains were handmade by Heather herself, and her wire-wrapping skills definitely surpass mine. To be fair, I don’t really practice enough to develop a talent for wirework jewelry.

The red wire coils and blue beads give this keychain sort of a patriotic vibe, while the pink and red color combination of wires gives more of a Valentine’s Day feel. In my opinion, the fact that the keychain isn’t clearly one or the other gives the piece more versatility. While I do enjoy holiday themed items, in season, I’ve noticed that, with clothing for example, there are certain pieces that I don’t wear very much because they’re specifically holiday themed and feel inappropriate at other times of year. I can get away with wearing a snowflake patterned fleece jacket all winter, at least here in the northeastern United States. But characters in Santa hats or even holly and poinsettias are specifically associated with Christmas here in the U.S., and I'd feel too uncomfortable to wear them in January.

I'm sorry for going off topic there. The point is, this keychain was a very thoughtful and much appreciated gift, even though it took me a few years to post about it. So, thank you Heather. I hope that you and all of my readers are doing well. January can be a rather humdrum time of year, but spring comes eventually.

Signed, Treesa

Another Package From Heathersmoo: San Marino and Kumihimo

 I received the keychains shown below in a package from Livejournal poster Heathersmoo in August of 2022, after our in person meet-up that July. Life being what it’s been, it’s taken me this long to get around to posting about them. I’m so sorry Heather. I know it may not seem like it, but I really do appreciate all of the keychain goodies you’ve sent me.

Heather emailed me in the beginning of August because she’d found a duplicate, souvenir keychain from San Marino in her own collection, and she wanted to know if I’d be interested in having it. I actually had to Google where San Marino was/is. I've never been good at geography. As it turns out, San Marino is a European country located near north-central Italy. I emailed Heather back and told her that while I did have some keychains from Italy, I didn’t have any from San Marino. Heather had also written that she’d found a duplicate, souvenir keychain from St. Kitts in her collection. But either she misunderstood my reply, or the St. Kitts keychain ended up not being a duplicate after all, because it wasn’t in the package. (Mystery solved: according to Heather, the St. Kitts keychain ended up not being a duplicate.)

In addition, Heather also sent me a kumihimo keychain that she handmade with wire. Kumihimo, in case anyone has either forgotten or missed a previous post on this blog, is a Japanese braiding technique. Heather has made gifts for me before using this technique, but with embroidery floss rather than wire. So this particular keychain is definitely unique.

I want to send out another thank you to Heather for her thoughtful gifts, along with another apology for my tardiness. I will try to do better in the coming year with sharing things on this blog in a timely manner. But we’ll have to see how that goes.

Signed, Treesa

In Person Meet-Up With Heathersmoo: July 2022 (Part 1)

 This past July, I was fortunate enough to meet face-to-face with Heathersmoo of Livejournal, known for her "Keychain Of The Day" posts. Heather had already made plans to visit some family members in Pittsburgh over the summer, and she asked me ahead of time if I'd mind her stopping by on the way to see me. Now, Pennsylvania is a deceptively long state, so my hometown is technically nowhere near Pittsburgh. The fact that Heather was willing to go out of her way just to meet me in person really means a lot.

In the time leading up to Heather's visit, I got to work gathering up and packing the various keychains and other small items that I'd put aside for Heather for Halloween (her favorite holiday), her birthday, the winter holiday season, etc. I figured that, if I packed everything up neatly and gave it to Heather when I saw her, she would be set for the rest of the year and I wouldn't have to pay rising postage costs on multiple, holiday themed packages.

Heather brought a number of fun goodies with her for me as well. Some of them were things that she had promised to make for me or to set aside for me, while others were a complete surprise.

Like these knitted flag keychains. Heather, remembering a previous blog post that I'd written about my ancestry, handmade this set of small, knitted keychains, based on the national flags of every country that makes up my combined heritage. Since I'm not as familiar with my ancestors' home countries as I probably should be, I had to refer to online images when photographing these, just to make sure that I didn't have any of the flags upside down.

While we're on the subject of knitting, Heather also sent me several emails discussing the possibility of making me a knitted scarf. I got the definite impression that all of her family members, her friends, and anyone else who has been part of her life for long enough eventually receive a handmade scarf. Heather had been emailing me for suggestions of what color schemes and/or patterns I might like. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a scarf concept that I felt would work for what I had in mind. I wanted something that was Disney inspired, but I didn't want the Disney influence to be too obvious. If I wore the scarf out, I wanted other Disney fans to recognize it as the signature colors of a particular Disney character. But I didn't want strangers 'not-in-the-know' to brand me as a Disney dork. I considered having Heather create a blue and black and yellow pattern based on Dory's coloring and markings from Pixar's Finding Nemo films. But Heather was worried that the end result would look "too collegiate". In the end, I gave my approval to the idea of using Figment colors, which was something that Heather had suggested.

For those of you who might not know, Figment is a character from the Journey Into Imagination attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World. The little guy has quite the fan following among Disney parks enthusiasts old enough to fondly remember the original, 1983 version of the attraction. There have been a couple, controversial refurbishments to the ride since then, starting in 1999. But Figment is still prominently featured on a lot of official Epcot merchandise.

Heather not only made me a scarf in Figment's signature colors. She also made me a matching hat and coordinating fingerless gloves. The hat is loosely knitted, which is nice because it means that, if I ever make it back to Walt Disney World in Orlando, I can wear the hat at the actual theme parks without worrying about getting too warm in the Florida heat. Also, I've learned from experience that fingerless gloves are extremely useful when browsing outdoor flea markets in autumn. The weather then can be too chilly to leave my hands exposed to the elements, but it's very difficult for me to pick items up to check for maker's marks and/or small areas of damage if I'm wearing full gloves. Fingerless gloves are therefore the perfect middle ground. That's a little shopping tip for any of you who buy keychains secondhand.

In addition to the other knitted goodies, Heather also made me these two knitted keychains. One is in 'Figment' colors, and the other is predominantly purple, my favorite color.

Since Heather is an Orlando local, she picked up this set of Disney-themed, souvenir Orlando Florida keychains for me. It is my personal belief that one can never have too many Disney keychains, and Heather knows this about me.

Heather also knows that I do papercrafts, primarily handmade greeting cards, as well as some scrapbooking. In late April, I emailed Heather to request a favor regarding one of my papercrafting projects. I told her how I'd been personalizing some partially filled Disney parks autograph books that I'd bought secondhand, one of which was a combination autograph book and photo album. Since I wasn't the one who'd originally collected the character autographs, I didn't have any corresponding photos of the characters to put in the album. So I'd been filling the photo sleeves with character postcards instead. I'd asked Heather if she could keep an eye out for a couple of specific character postcards, to help me finish up the project, since she lives much closer to 'Disney territory' than I do.

Although Heather wasn't able to find what I was looking for, she did get me a Disney-themed Florida postcard, thinking I might be able to use it in my papercrafts. I actually have a growing collection of Disney postcards, organized and arranged in standard photo albums. So I'm happy to add this one to my collection. I really like the cheerful colors, and the window frame style grid layout.

To continue on the Disney train of thought, in February of this year, Heather told me about a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion featuring Disney Stitch plush toys that could easily be converted into keychains. I don't really keep up to date with fast food toys anymore, despite there sometimes being interesting keychains in the assortments, so this was the first I'd heard about the Stitch promotion. Heather promised to give me "an extra" that she'd gotten. This plush is number 4 from the assortment, "Sippin' Stitch". There appear to have been 8 in total to collect. Heather even taped a spare split ring to the back of the packaging before giving it to me.

(To be continued...)

(Signed, Treesa)

Birthday Package From Heathersmoo: 2021

 Heathersmoo from Livejournal, a dedicated keychain collector if there ever was one, kindly sent me a package of keychain goodies for my December birthday. Thanks, Heather! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up. I had a lot more prep work to do for this Christmas season compared to last year, since members of my extended family reinstated their annual holiday get-togethers after putting them on hiatus for the past 2 years due to Covid-19. I'm still trying to catch up on all of the projects and other things that got pushed to the back burner during the Christmas rush. So without further ado, let's bring on the keychains.

 

I absolutely love this puffy, furry, greenish-blue teddy bear keychain. The head and limbs seem to be made from some sort of pleather or textured vinyl material that is stuffed, and the body is one of those faux fur pom-poms that were all the rage for purse accessories a while back. The color is unique and fun for a teddy bear, in a subdued shade that strikes just the right balance between a pale pastel and a vibrant jewel tone. However, my favorite part of the design has to be the facial printing. For some reason the face makes me think of Bearemy, the Build-a-Bear Workshop mascot. I doubt that that resemblance was intentional though. According to the product tag, this bear was "Distributed by Kalan LP".

 

I had a lot of trouble photographing the eyes on this dog head keychain, even though I deliberately placed a white backing sheet behind the black metal to better highlight the details. I think my issues were largely due to overcast weather reducing my lighting. While I don't know enough about dog breeds to say for certain what type of dog this keychain is modeled on, maybe someone reading this post can help to narrow it down for me.

Since this dinosaur is holding half of a heart with the word "Best" on it, I'm assuming that it was part of a 'best friends' keychain set, and that Heather has the matching half. The yellow and orange color scheme reminds me a lot of Cheesasaurus Rex, the 90s era mascot for Kraft Macaroni And Cheese. The raised markings on the back of this keychain identify it as another "Kalan" product, this one made in Bangladesh.

Even though it's the first guitar pick keychain in my collection, I've actually been intrigued by this keychain's concept for a while now. Also, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here before how much 'brand nostalgia' I have for My Little Pony, even though I'm not all that invested in more recent iterations of the franchise. The fact that this keychain is my favorite color, purple, doesn't hurt either.

Lastly, this final keychain is shaped like a silhouette of the United States and patterned like an American flag. I tend to be drawn to country and state silhouette shaped keychains, although I have no idea why. Maybe I should try accumulating enough of these keychains to do some temporary map setups to photograph. That might make for an interesting future project.

There's also an advertisement on the back of this keychain for "Patriot On-Site Services Inc" in Ellenboro, North Carolina. However, I wasn't able to find additional information about the company. The web address listed on the keychain no longer seems to be valid, and online searches got me nowhere. Such is the transitory nature of cyberspace I guess. Internet based resources frequently disappear into the ether, unless we're talking about old social media posts that you actually want buried. Then they hang around forever.

I'd like to thank Heather once again for her gift. I appreciate her generosity in sharing some of her treasured keychains with me, since it's a known fact that once a keychain finds its way into her possession it rarely leaves. So thanks Heather, and I wish you good luck with your keychain hunting in the coming year.

Signed, Treesa

Half-Birthday Care Package From Heathersmoo

 This may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but making contact with my keychain-collecting, email pen-pal Heathersmoo through her Livejournal site has been practically life changing for me. I know I've probably said this before, but keychain collecting can be a lonely hobby. Finding someone online who shares that hobby has made a big difference for me. It's helped me feel more...normal I guess, like maybe collecting keychains isn't such an out-of-left-field pastime after all. And it's so nice to have a keychain collecting friend that I can swap duplicates from my collection with. It's also nice knowing that if I find a decently priced, mixed lot of keychains secondhand but don't actually need and/or like all of them, I can always send the extras to Heather. Although the fact that she lives in another state is a bit of a downer, since it means we'll probably never get to meet in person. Steadily increasing postage rates to send each other stuff could also be a hassle.

Over the past few months I've sent Heather several small, keychain care packages. She has been going through a rough time in her life, and I was hoping that a few keychains and the reassurance that she was in my thoughts would help to cheer her up a little. Well, Heather decided that it was past time that she returned the favor. Using the excuse of celebrating my half-birthday, she sent me a care package filled to bursting with keychain goodies.

Heather structured this care package around a zoo theme, with keychain versions of various critters, for example bears.

The bear on the end is a 'birthstone' keychain, and the color is meant to simulate topaz, according to Heather's note. Topaz can be found naturally in more than one color, with the more familiar Golden Topaz being used in modern times as a November birthstone while Blue Topaz is associated with December, my actual birth month. However since this care package was intended for my half-birthday, which would fall in June, Heather might've been aiming for that. The modern day June birthstone is apparently Alexandrite, which according to my online research looks green in sunlight but has a red tone under incandescent light.

Heather also included a flamingo keychain, stating that, "It's not a trip to Florida without them." Heather herself resides in Florida.

Other animals featured in keychain form were a dog,

a cat,

and, as Heather described them, a "herd" of unicorns. No two members of the 'herd' look exactly alike, although one of the 'unicorns' has wings as well as a horn, so it's technically an alicorn. I know some mythical creature fans can be persnickety about that.

This "pine tree" keychain, as Heather called it, was part of the package as well. I'm not normally a huge fan of sequins, but this colorful conifer is just plain fun.

According to Heather, this purple crystal keychain is an amethyst. Heather must've remembered that my favorite color is purple.

Something else that Heather apparently remembered was an email conversation that we had months ago where the topic of anime came up in passing. I mentioned, again in passing, that "anime wasn't really my thing". But I then admitted that I had been into Cardcaptors back in the day, when shows like Pokemon were still all the rage in the U.S. This pink winged keychain is the Star Wand symbol from Cardcaptors. It sort of amazes me that Heather actually remembered my Cardcaptors comment when I think I only brought it up once. I wish my own memory was that good.

Thank you so much for the generous gift Heather! When I went to bring in the mail and found a package with my name on it, it really brightened my day, sort of that 'child seeing the wrapped packages on Christmas morning' kind of feeling. I sincerely hope that the clouds are lifting in your own life.

Signed, Treesa

Birthday Surprise Box From Heathersmoo

 My first introduction to Heathersmoo was through her Keychain Of The Day posts on Livejournal. Before the internet, having a collection or interest that wasn't prominent in the mainstream could often feel like a solitary, or at worst an isolating, pursuit. When I first started collecting keychains in my childhood, it was easy for me to believe that I was the only person on the planet who did, judging by the way people reacted when they found out about my collection. I'm pretty sure I got some odd looks when I went flea marketing with my dad and he explained to sellers we bought keychains from that I collected them. And none of the adults in my life had ever heard of someone collecting keychains before, though they were willing to indulge my odd hobby and help me build my collection. When I showed off my keychains to my grade school peers as part of a class project, I'm fairly sure that they just added 'keychain collecting' to the long list of things about me that were strange. I was never one of the 'popular' kids to begin with, but collecting keychains just reinforced the idea that there was something off about me. Anyway, I was really happy when Basic Fun Inc. created a pop culture craze with their mini board game and classic toy keychains. Not only were the keychains cool, but knowing that there were other people in the world who also collected them made me feel like less of a weirdo.

The World Wide Web has made it much easier for people to connect with others who share their particular interests. Thanks to the internet, collectors who previously felt isolated have been able to form vast, global networks with other collectors. However, keychain collecting is such an obscure hobby that even online I had trouble finding anyone who shared my enthusiasm for keychains. So it was a real thrill for me to discover Heather's posts.

Heather and I have been corresponding by email off and on for quite a while now. We've also sent each other small packages from time to time. I've mentioned Heather here on the blog before, since I try to upload a post any time she sends me something for my collection. But I was especially touched by Heather's kindness when her most recent package arrived. Despite the fact that she had recently suffered a loss in her family, Heather still took the time to put together a gift box for my December birthday because she wanted me to have, as she put it, "a big birthday surprise". But that was only the beginning of Heather's thoughtfulness.

 Here's a photo of everything that was in the box. Heather took the time to individually wrap each small gift with My Little Pony wrapping paper. Being a child of the 80s, I had quite a collection of My Little Pony toys back in the day. So I do have a sense of nostalgia for the My Little Pony brand, even though I never got into the more recent iterations of the franchise.

Heather handmade this hemp macrame keychain and this knit Santa hat ornament just for me. The fact that Heather put in the time and effort to craft something by hand makes the gifts even more meaningful, in my opinion.

But to show you the full extent of Heather's thoughtfulness, let me tell you about the two keychains pictured above. In a previous blog post about my ancestry, I mentioned that I was looking for a keychain from Hungary to round out a sub-collection of keychains that I'd assembled to represent my mixed 'cultural heritage'. Well, Heather got one for me. I had also emailed Heather earlier that year to ask her if she had any extra Cypress Gardens keychains that she could float my way, since she lives in Florida and she's mentioned before that she holds on to her duplicate keychains. Heather didn't have any spares in her collection to send me, but she went to the trouble of going online and buying me one instead.

Heather also sent this BFF keychain from Claire's. Keychains like this are typically sold in pairs, and according to the note that Heather included in the package she kept the coordinating pink cat for her own collection. She also said that she considers us "keychain best buds", which to me really means a lot.

There were several other fun inclusions in the package as well, like this railroad museum sticker and keychain set.

I really like the architectural design on this Budapest keychain. The use of light in the composition is striking and gives the building an almost ethereal glow.

This Buzz Lightyear clip originally came with a McDonald's 'Happy Meal'. I'm glad I'm not the only one who still thinks about ordering kid's meals to get a particularly tempting premium. I am feeling a little divided over whether or not I should open this, since the bag is still sealed.

Last but not least is this Uzbekistan keychain, shaped like a boxing glove. I 'googled' Uzbekistan and boxing to try and figure out the connection, and apparently boxing is a very popular sport in that country, thanks to Uzbekistan's stellar participation in several of the Olympics.

Thank you so much Heather! You really went above and beyond with this 'birthday surprise', and I am blown away by your thoughtfulness.

Signed, Treesa

Another Goodie Box From Heathersmoo

I recently received another fun goodie box from Heathersmoo of Keychain Of The Day on Livejournal. Heather's parents had gone to Hawaii before the whole Corona virus pandemic, and she'd had them pick up a couple keychains for me while they were there. Heather also included some additional items in the package. So, let's take a look.

Here are the two keychains from Hawaii. I love the sea turtle hatching out of the egg. I think I mentioned my fondness for turtles in a past post. I find it interesting that although the keychain was purchased in Hawaii and says Hawaii on it, according to the tag it was manufactured in the Philippines. The turtle and the egg are both made from wood.

The fish keychain seems to be made from some kind of leather. According to Heather, this keychain is modeled on Hawaii's state fish, which is known as the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. (From what I understand, the Hawaiian language has only 13 letters, and as a result a number of native Hawaiian words have repeating syllables.)

Heather also sent me a small notepad from Canada (notepads are always handy things to have around), as well as a handmade kumihimo keychain and an adjustable bracelet/anklet. Kumihimo is a Japanese braiding technique. In the note that Heather sent with the package, she told me that the colors she chose for the bracelet/anklet were inspired by Thin Mint cookies. As a former girl scout, I think this is a fun idea.

And I guess that about wraps up this post. Thanks again Heather! If I end up going on vacation this summer I'll try to return the favor. Although with the current state of the world a summer vacation doesn't seem likely.

Signed, Treesa

Christmas Gifts: 2019

This past holiday season my third sister, A., proved just how well she knows me. She gave me keychains for Christmas!

Here's a photo of my Christmas keychain haul. My sister picked these up at various places she stopped while driving home for the holidays, after her seasonal position in the Great Smoky Mountains was over. Anyway, let's take a closer look.

This first keychain came from Goats On The Roof in Tiger, Georgia, a tourist attraction that seems to defy description. While researching the location online I saw it alternately described as a restaurant, a country store, and a petting zoo.

These two keychains came from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The purple rocket keychain is 3D printed according to my sister, and the circular keychain looks like it was made from a poker chip. There's a cool looking NASA logo on the back.

I forget where my sister said she bought the keychain pictured below.

I also don't know enough about boats to definitively identify the shape and form. But from what I found online, I think this keychain is meant to be some kind of canoe with outriggers. What I can tell you is that it's made from varnished wood.

This red, bear-shaped keychain is made of metal. I've seen similar keychains in other animal shapes before, and I'm reasonably certain that the bear's front claw is meant to be used as a bottle opener. I researched the website printed on this keychain, and discovered that it's an informational site providing safety tips for people who live in the same territory as black bears.

My sister wasn't the only one who gave me something for my collection this past holiday season. I found this little guy in my Christmas stocking. He's an Elf On The Shelf Plushee Pal. I've replaced the plastic clip with a metal split ring, as I normally do. Add this to the keychains my sister gave me, and I'd say I got a pretty good haul.

Signed, Treesa

Keychain Goodie Box From Heathersmoo

I know I've said something like this before on this blog, but keychain collectors with an online presence seem to be few and far between. At least I've had trouble finding anyone on the web who shares this hobby. So I was beyond thrilled when I was able to make contact with Heathersmoo. Heather is behind Keychain Of The Day over on Livejournal. I especially enjoy seeing her posts showcasing the keychains she's brought back from her many trips abroad.

Heather and I have been exchanging emails now for awhile. I also found some keychains with the name 'Heather' on them at my local thrift store that I was able to send to her. When I found out that Heather and I both have December birthdays, I sent her a few more keychains as a combination birthday and holiday gift. So, when Heather took a trip to Africa earlier this year, she offered to bring me back a keychain or two for my own collection. She also offered to send me a few of her spare keychains. I wanted to share what she sent here, now that I've gone through the package and have finally gotten everything photographed. A big shout-out and a big thank you to Heather for her thoughtful gift.

Here's a look at the box Heather sent before I unpacked it.

And here's a photo of all the fun goodies that were inside. Along with the keychains, Heather also included a very nice letter, as well as two rooibos infusion packets. Apparently rooibos is steeped in hot water to make a beverage like tea. However according to Heather rooibos comes from the redbush plant, which isn't actually related to the tea plant. This is a good thing to know, since traditional tea is too bitter for my taste. Anyway, let's take a look at the keychains Heather sent me.

Here are the two keychains that Heather brought back from Africa for me. The letter she sent along says that the Protea flower pictured on the one keychain is the national flower of South Africa. Even though over the years I've managed to collect a lot of keychains from places I've never visited, I haven't found many Africa keychains for my collection. So these were really nice to get.

According to the letter Heather sent, she knit this letter T monogram keychain herself. She called it a "T-ring". She even used my favorite color, purple.

Here we have two Webkinz Kinz Klips, a 'Cocoa Dino' and a Dalmatian. Heather made a point of asking me if I already had any Webkinz in my keychain collection, so I sent her a list of what I owned. It's funny, but when I first opened the package I thought the dinosaur was supposed to be a dragon. The Dalmatian makes me think of one of my sister's best friends, who happens to be a big fan of Disney's 101 Dalmatians. I'll be replacing the plastic clips with split ring 'findings', because I'm very particular like that.

Last we have this Rainbow Dash My Little Pony. Heather's letter says that this line of My Little Ponies was originally sold in blind bags at Target stores. Once again, I'll be replacing the clip with a split ring.

I want to say another big thank you to Heather. It means a lot to me being able to share this hobby with someone, even if we never get to meet in the 'real world'.

Signed, Treesa

Ocean City Vacation: July 2018 (Keychain Souvenirs Haul)

Remember how, in a previous post, I wrote about the lack of souvenir keychains in gift shops? Well apparently, there's at least one place where souvenir keychains can still be found in abundance, and that's Ocean City, New Jersey. My best friend and I took an 'extended weekend' trip there near the end of July, and I came back with over half a dozen keychains for my collection.

My best friend bought this first keychain for me as a gift. I was eyeing it at one of the shops on the Boardwalk. But because it was the first day of the trip, I was trying to decide whether I should just buy it then or wait and see if I could find it cheaper elsewhere. My friend must've gotten tired of waiting for me to make up my mind, because she offered to buy it for me. The turtle itself is made from wood and has the words "Ocean City" painted on the underside.

This next group of keychains came from a shop on Asbury Avenue called Hoy's 5&10.

I first learned about 5&10, or five-and-dime, stores in my grade school social studies textbook. I don't know whether the store in Ocean City actually dates back to the 'golden age' of five-and-dimes. But I did realize that, due to inflation, there wouldn't be anything for five or ten cents in the store. However, because there's a chain of stores in my area called Five Below where everything for sale is five dollars or less, I thought that maybe the 5&10 in the name had been updated to mean five and ten dollars. I was wrong in that assumption. There were a number of things for sale at Hoy's 5&10 that were over ten dollars. Actually, this lot of three keychains ended up costing me over ten dollars. But honestly, where was I ever going to find that miniature food noodle bowl keychain again in the United States. And as the previous keychain featured in this post demonstrates, I have a real fondness for turtle keychains. The black seashell with the rainbow-colored floral design is actually a coin purse, made from two shells that are painted black and stitched to a zipper.

This record player keychain, or 'turntable' as it's called on the packaging, is from the World's Coolest line by Super Impulse. Record players, like typewriters and VHS tapes, are 'old school' technology, and have received renewed attention in recent years. The resurgence of these items in popular culture has genuinely piqued my interest, since I fondly remember such things from my childhood. In my keychain collection, I categorize these and similar items as 'retro tech', the word retro meaning inspired by or imitating the recent past. I plan on devoting a blog post to the subject at some point.

I was looking at the 'turntable' keychain in a store called Kay Jay's Doll Shoppe, but I put it back because I thought the price was a little high for one keychain. I was also feeling guilty for spending over ten dollars on keychains at Hoy's 5&10. My best friend bought the record player for me when I wasn't looking, then handed me the bag after we left the store. I replaced the original metal clip on the keychain with a split ring after getting home from vacation, because I'm nitpicky like that.

I found this seashell keychain for sale at a candy shop on the Boardwalk. Now, the thing I've noticed about seashells is that they can be fragile. Shells with thinner walls can easily crack or crush. So when I looked through the basket of shell keychains at the store, I made sure to pick one that not only looked interesting but also had decently thick walls. Hopefully, this will ensure it's more durable.

This dolphin keychain came from a 'dollar store', also located on the Boardwalk. The store had a similar keychain with a sea turtle design that I was considering buying. However, the sea turtle seemed to have a rather unpleasant expression, while the dolphins looked much more cheerful. And I happen to have the same soft spot for dolphins that I do for turtles.

I think I was drawn to this last keychain because it's made to be three collectibles in one. First off, it's a souvenir keychain. Secondly, it's a collectable souvenir spoon. And thirdly, it can function as a bottle opener, thanks to the way the back is shaped. Not only that, but there's also a 'spinner' element at the top.

In spite of the impressive number of keychains that I brought home, there were a few I saw that I'm wishing I'd picked up. Hoy's 5&10 had a clearance priced keychain showing the Ocean City Music Pier. The Music Pier happened to be right near the Boardwalk entrance that my friend and I always used, because it was the entrance closest to our hotel. There was also another keychain I saw at one of the Boardwalk shops that featured a quote on it about how the sand and the salt water would wash away but the memories would last forever, or something like that. I really should have bought it, since I liked it so much and since it wasn't that expensive. But at the time I was feeling guilty yet again for buying so many keychains on the trip.

Of course, collectors often think about 'the ones that got away'. It's one of the factors that drives them to keep collecting. I hope that you enjoyed seeing what I got on my trip. And to any other keychain collectors out there, I wish you luck on your own collecting journeys.

Signed, Treesa