A Day At Churchville Nature Center: Fall 2025 (Keychain Souvenirs Haul)

Churchville Nature Center is located on a nature preserve in Northampton Township, Bucks County in Pennsylvania. The property features nature trails, native wildlife gardens, a seasonal Butterfly House, and a ‘Take A Book, Leave A Book’ Little Free Library. The Visitor Center has educational exhibits and live animal displays, wildlife viewing areas, and the obligatory gift shop.

I personally enjoy a curated nature walk experience, with trails that are maintained, clearly marked, and not too long for my stamina to handle. The fact that Churchville Nature Center has a Little Free Library is a nice bonus feature. However, I just can’t seem to visit any historic site, museum, state park, etc. without making a stop at the gift shop.

This geode keychain came from Churchville Nature Center’s Dragonfly Niche Gift Shop. A geode is defined as a rock containing a cavity lined with crystals or other mineral material. I chose this particular geode keychain because the exterior rock it had a less uniform and more textured appearance compared to the others for sale, which made it stand out to me. I actually have a decent-sized sub-collection of rock and mineral keychains. I've already shared some of them previously in my "Hobbies And Fandoms" post, if anyone's interested in taking a look.

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

Disney Parks Lanyard Medals

Ok, so the items pictured above aren’t technically keychains. At least, they didn’t start out as keychains. I had to add a split ring to the original metal clip on each one of them before I could justify calling them keychains. Cheating? Maybe. However, when I first started buying these items second-hand, I had no idea what exactly they were. I just knew that the Disney fan in me thought they looked really cool. And that some of them were obviously souvenirs from the Disney parks, and as such must’ve been pricey at original retail. Never underestimate the lure of a perceived bargain. Anyway, it wasn’t until I found one of these at a thrift store, with the original backing card, that I learned what their intended purpose was.

Disney lanyard medals appear to have been marketed to visitors at Disney’s theme parks as accessories for pin traders. The basic construction on the medals is very similar to the Disney park pins, but on a larger scale. Also, the medals in my collection are marked on the back as “Official Pin Trading” products. As the name “lanyard medal” implies, these items were intended to be hung on pin trading lanyards. They could also be clipped to pin trading bags. In my opinion, a lanyard loaded down with metal pins tends to be heavy enough without the extra weight of a lanyard medal. Maybe that’s why lanyard medals don’t seem to be very common on Disney’s official online shopping site anymore. At least, they weren’t the last time I checked. The last lanyard medal I purchased, shown below, was found on clearance at a Disney outlet store quite some time ago. Brick and mortar Disney stores themselves have become a rarity in their own right.

That’s all the information I could find to share on the subject of Disney parks lanyard medals. However, I would like to pass on a warning to other collectors who may be considering seeking these items out. I bought the Stitch lanyard medal, based on the character from Disney’s Lilo And Stitch franchise, used at a flea market. After I bought it, I ended up having to glue some of the enamel bits back into place with strong craft adhesive because they’d come loose and fallen out. I don’t know if this is a common problem with lanyard medals as they age. But I wanted other collectors to be aware of it. So, my secondhand shopping tip for today is, always examine used lanyard medals carefully to check for missing or loose enamel. I currently have all of my lanyard medals stored in individual, sealed baggies, just to make sure that none of the enamel pieces get lost if they start loosening and falling out.

Signed, Treesa

Sesame Place Souvenir Keychains (A Story Post)

 Before my in person meet-up with keychain collecting, email pen pal Heathersmoo in July of 2022, which I previously wrote about on this blog, I’d only ever been to Sesame Place once in my life. Though, no doubt like countless other children of my generation, I was practically raised on PBS, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in particular. I made my first ever visit to Sesame Place on a Girl Scout trip, and though my memories of the excursion are pretty hazy, there’s one detail that still stands out in my mind. I was standing on the edge of the ball pit, preparing to jump in, when the employee in charge ordered me to take off my shoes first. Being a sensitive child, I thought the employee was angry and was yelling at me, and I got scared. Crying, I ran back to my dad, who was acting as my chaperone on the trip. I didn’t tell him what was wrong however. I guess I was afraid that he would be mad at me too, if I told him that the person in charge of the ball pit was angry at me. I did refuse to go back to the ball pit though. Since that’s my clearest memory from the trip, I’m guessing the rest of the day wasn’t all that memorable in comparison.

I didn’t get any keychains on that particular outing. I was still rather young at the time, and I don’t think I was actively collecting yet.

You may therefore be wondering how I ended up with several Sesame Place keychains in my collection, especially since that time I went in my childhood was so traumatic for me. I think I bought the first one in an attempt to let go of the memory and put the experience behind me. I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I’d gotten over it. I bought the second keychain, I believe, because I’d forgotten that I’d already picked up a Sesame Place keychain for my collection.

As for the Sesame Place nail clippers keychain, I bought that at a flea market because I was amused by what I saw as an odd combination of elements. Sesame Place is a locale typically associated with young children, while nail clippers are more commonly perceived as something for adults. So to be honest, I’m not really sure why this keychain exists. I don’t know what the attached little keys were originally for either. They just came with the keychain.

Anyway, as far as Sesame Place goes, I guess this Story Post sort of serves to close a chapter for me. Given the cost of park tickets, and the fact that there are far fewer attractions at Sesame Place that can accommodate older guests (unlike at the Disney theme parks), I'm not planning on revisiting by myself anytime soon. Even though I love theme park gift shops with exclusive, licensed merchandise more than I probably should.

Signed, Treesa

Package From Heathersmoo: Mothman and Buc-ee

 I mentioned in “Part 2” of my “In Person Meet-Up With Heathersmoo” post that Heather promised to send me a souvenir keychain from the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant. I originally planned to upload a follow-up post, showing off the Mothman keychain I received, long before now. Unfortunately, time got away from me, and my Key Chains Advent Calendar opening ended up taking over my posting schedule. Sorry, Heather. I really am grateful to you for thinking of me. Anyway, here’s the Mothman keychain that Heather sent.

Not only did Heather make a point of asking me what type of Mothman keychain I would like, but she also sent me a link to the Mothman Museum website, so that I could browse their inventory. I told Heather that, if possible, I would prefer a keychain with the actual name of the museum on it. As you can see, Heather didn’t fail to deliver.

Heather also sent me a Buc-ee’s keychain in the same package. I’d never heard of the Buc-ee’s store chain before meeting Heather, which isn’t that surprising considering the chain was founded in Texas and doesn’t seem to have much of a foothold in the northern United States. However, when Heather attempted to describe the awesomeness of Buc-ee’s to me, the impression I got was of a convenience store and an old-fashioned soda counter and a tacky tourist shop all rolled into one.

The last thing in Heather’s package was this ‘lucky penny’. We made a stop at Sesame Place the day of our in person meet-up, and as we were walking around I happened to find a penny on the ground that someone must’ve dropped. Over time, I’ve developed a pretty good eye for spotting dropped change. Anyway, I gave the penny to Heather, telling her that maybe it would bring her good luck. Apparently she wanted to return the favor, and according to her note she had a friend help her scout around for a lost penny to send to me.

I want to apologize to Heather, again, for getting this post up so late. I also haven’t forgotten that I still owe you a few other posts, and I want you to know that I am working on them. Better late than never, right?

Signed, Treesa

Season Of The Witch (Harry Potter Keychains)

 In popular culture, witches often get lumped into the same 'paranormal' category as vampires, werewolves, and other, frequently sinister mythological beings. Although Wicca and various 'modern-day pagan' groups have, in more recent years, made efforts to combat the age-old stereotype of equating witchcraft with devil-worship.

The seven book Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, set primarily at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is statistically the best-selling book series in history. Add to this a blockbuster film franchise based on the books, as well as "The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter" at Universal Orlando theme park, and it could be argued that Rowling's characters rank among some of the most famous magic practitioners in fiction, right up there with Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth or even Shakespeare's 'Three Witches'.

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought that now would be a good time to show off some Harry Potter themed keychains. I already shared a couple of 'wizarding' keychains in my "Buy What You Like" post, under the header "Pop Culture Touchstones". Also, in another previous post, I wrote about a blind bag Ron Weasley wand keychain made by Paladone Products Ltd. that I found at Dollar Tree. In that post, I mentioned how another company had released several blind box wand keychains made from metal, rather than plastic. I also hinted that I would be sharing more information in a successive post. Unfortunately, that follow-up got buried in my list of future post ideas, where I eventually forgot about it. I will attempt to make amends to my readers here, and I apologize for keeping you waiting.

The metal wand pictured above is from the "Harry Potter Collectible Keychains: Series 1" line by Se7en20. It's meant to be Ron Weasley's broken wand from the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. If you look closely at the photo, you might be able to see the molded 'Spellotape' wrapping on the wand.

This "Wingardium Leviosa" keychain is also from the same line. I actually bought this one in its original blind box, at an actual retail store. I more often buy 'blind' items used rather than at retail, so that they're pre-opened and I know exactly what I'm getting. However, this was on clearance at the time.

The Triwizard Cup keychain pictured above is from a similar collectible keychain series by Monogram International Inc., the "Harry Potter Collectors Keyring: Series 1" line. This keychain would've been a blind bag item originally. However, I bought mine secondhand.

This Hogwarts crest, labeled as a "Harry Potter Soft Touch Keyring" on the tag, is another Monogram International Inc. product. However, this item wasn't blind-packed.

Speaking of crests, here's the official emblem of Hogwarts' Hufflepuff house. Each Hogwarts house features a different animal on its crest, with Hufflepuff represented by an animal that some refer to as 'the badger of mediocrity'. However, judging by the number of times that I've walked into a Build A Bear Workshop store and found all of the Hufflepuff merchandise sold out, while merchandise for every other Hogwarts house was still in stock, I think a lot of Harry Potter fans must have a soft spot for this particular house. And in my mind, this actually makes a lot of sense. While many of us may aspire to be Gryffindors or Ravenclaws or even Slytherins, I think that deep down, most of us identify more with Hufflepuffs. Incidentally, this Hufflepuff house keychain was put out by ATA-BOY Inc.

This Lego keychain also features the Hufflepuff house emblem.

When I told my online keychain collecting friend, Heathersmoo, that I'd acquired a secondhand time turner souvenir keychain with identifying markings from Universal Orlando theme park's "The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter", Heather seemed very interested in seeing it. There's also a story behind my managing to snag this keychain from an online auction site that I think could be useful to other shoppers who buy from secondhand sites. I first stumbled across the auction listing for this time turner keychain by accident, when I typed in a search for, I believe, "hourglass keychains". The auction details stated that this keychain was an estate sale find, and I have a strong suspicion that the seller didn't know what it was actually called because neither the auction header nor the item description included the words "time turner". This may have worked in my favor, as it might partially explain why I was the only one who put in a bid. My guess is that because those crucial keywords were missing from the listing, no rival bidders were able to find the auction, despite the fact that the name Harry Potter was included in the title by the seller.

Let's shift our attention to Paladone Products Ltd., the company responsible for that "Harry Potter Backpack Buddies" blind bag wand keychain I picked up from Dollar Tree. This "Harry Potter Light Up Key Ring" is another Paladone Products item. Coincidentally, I bought this keychain from Dollar Tree as well.

I don't really know a lot about this Harry Potter name/logo keychain, since I bought it secondhand from an outdoor flea market. An online seller who also had one listed for sale stated that it originally came from Hot Topic, a store specializing in pop culture related items. But so far, I've been unable to verify this.

I hope that you enjoyed this 'seasonal' post, and Happy Fall to you all.

Signed, Treesa

In Person Meet-Up With Heathersmoo: July 2022 (Part 2)

 (Picking up where Part 1 left off)

Anyone who follows Heather regularly on Livejournal knows that she loves My Little Pony. In her efforts to get a complete set of G5 My Little Pony blind bag clips, Heather bought up the remaining stock from a bookstore she shops at, figuring that she could give away any duplicates to her friends. She wrote on Livejournal that she did manage to get all 11 clips in the series. The duplicate pony that she gave me for my keychain collection is named Zipp Storm. I've got to say, I really like her hairstyle/mane situation for some reason.

Next, we have this surprise pet blind box, which I still need to look at in depth. I was planning to write a full review and upload it as a separate post. But I've fallen way behind on my posting, as you can obviously tell.

The last gift that Heather brought along on the lengthy drive from Florida was this keychain advent calendar. I didn't even know that such a thing existed. Heather also bought one for herself, with her idea being that the both of us could open our individual calendars over the holiday season and then show off what we got.

The location chosen for our meet-up was the thrift store near my neighborhood. Heather has heard me mention this store a lot in blog posts and emails. I gave her a few pointers for shopping at this particular store, such as which departments to check for keychains and where that day's special offers would be posted. Unfortunately, Heather visited me on a Tuesday, which is one of the worst days for shopping at this store location.

Every day, one color tag is supposed to be 50% off and a different color tag is 1/3 off. The colors are rotated twice a week on Sundays and Thursdays, with the 1/3 off color going 50% off and a new color going 1/3 off. This helps to clear out older stock and make room for 'new' items. However, due to space limitations at this location, the tag color that goes from 1/3 off to 50% off on Sunday will only be available for purchase at 50% off on that day. Any remaining items with that tag color after the store closes on Sunday night get pulled from the racks first thing Monday morning, presumably to make room for fresh stock. I've seen store employees doing this.

There is another location of this store chain that I shop less frequently, because it's further away, that does seem to leave stuff on the racks for the duration of the discount period. However, that location is much larger, inside of a former Babies 'R' Us. I've gotten the general impression that pulling discounted items off the racks early must be a management decision, rather than a corporate policy. Regardless, I shared what I knew about the situation with Heather as we were shopping. And like me, Heather found the store's 'policy' frustrating.

I did manage to snag a decent 'grab bag' of keychains at the thrift store that day, although not at 50% off, obviously. Still, the price wasn't too bad. And I just couldn't pass up on Alice Snuffleupagus, Snuffy's little sister from Sesame Street, even though the clip needs to be replaced. Also, the Disney Goofy flashlight and the Marvel Comics Spider-Man clip that came in the bag are pretty fun too.

Speaking of Sesame Street, it so happened that Heather's friend/driver for the trip, Josh, works for the corporate parent company that operates SeaWorld and a variety of other theme parks, including Sesame Place. As an employee, Josh can bring a select number of guests into any company owned park with him for free. Since it was within a reasonable driving distance, Heather and Josh suggested that we all go to Sesame Place. Heather had actually brought this up as a possibility via email before leaving Florida, so I knew ahead of time that it might be happening.

I hadn't been to Sesame Place since I was in the Girl Scouts. But I was pretty sure that, unlike the Disney parks, Sesame Place as a whole was primarily aimed at young children, rather than people of all ages. Still, if Josh and Heather could get me in for free, then why not have a look around? Besides, as long as we got to check out the gift shop for keychains and any other fun Muppet goodies, I'd probably be happy regardless.

All in all, Sesame Place was a pleasant way to kill some time. The park itself had some nice themeing, as far as the buildings and the 'set-dressing' went. Heather and I even took a spin on the merry go round. And Heather and Josh let me hit up every gift shop in the park before we left, searching for unique Muppet items. Josh even let both Heather and I use his corporate discount to each pick up a souvenir keychain for our collections.

I'd like to send a big thank you to Heather, and Josh, for making time to come and see me in their already packed trip schedule. The fact that Heather made visiting me one of her priorities, and the fact that Josh was willing to spend time hanging out with me when he didn't even know me, really means a lot. And I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get this write-up posted. One of these days, I have got to get myself a decent camera that works well, but that isn't too complicated for me to use. Auto focus just isn't doing it for me.

But at least Heather got the thank you card with keychain that I sent to her.

Signed, Treesa

P.S. Heather also promised to pick me up a keychain from the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant on her way home. But I'll save that package for another post.

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)

When "Buy What You Like" Backfires

 No matter what someone collects, collectors who are just starting out are often told to, "buy what you like". The reasoning behind this seems to be that since novice collectors are inexperienced, they're also more likely to pay more for something than it's worth. When this happens, it's a lot easier to accept the outcome as a learning experience and move on if what you overpaid for is something you don't mind being stuck with. This doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with keychains as it is with some other collectables. After all, I've never heard of anyone collecting keychains for investment purposes.

However, the problem with 'buying what you like' is that there are times when it can backfire. If my personal experience is anything to go by, then a collector who buys whatever catches his or her eye is also more likely to buy too much. This can not only result in storage issues, but can also cause the collection itself to lack any sort of unifying theme or focus. My own collection is very...eclectic, to put it politely. Below is a list of some of the stranger reasons why I've added a particular keychain to my collection.

1. I liked the color or the color combination

I've never listened to the Smooth Jazz radio station that is being promoted on the keychain at the top of this photo. Jazz isn't one of my preferred music genres, unless you count Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas, and I'm not even sure if the station still exists. However, I was drawn to the purple design on this particular keychain. Purple is my favorite color. I am also not familiar with the Health Alliance that's advertised on the keychain below it. But I really liked the dark maroon color of the text, especially against the stark white background. And while I know nothing about credit unions, I know that the number one shaped, credit union advertisement keychain pictured here is a beautiful shade of blue-green.

2. I liked the shape and/or the design

I bought these two keychains second-hand at different times. But I think they make a nice 'matched' set, thanks to their identical flower shape. However, I have no idea what the 'message' on the pink flower is supposed to signify.

The two keychains pictured above both feature guitar designs. One is for a radio station that I've never heard of, and the other one is from the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant at Niagara Falls. There are actually two Hard Rock Cafe locations at Niagara Falls, one in the United States and one in Canada. I've been to the U.S. location, once. However, this keychain if from the Canadian one, according to the information on the reverse side.

3. I liked the logo.

The first two keychains pictured above were part of a mixed lot that I purchased online. I decided to keep them because the design of the TP logo appealed to me, though I'm not quite sure why this was. The appeal of the Dolphin Cruise Line keychain is something that I can easily explain. Given my childhood love of dolphins, how could I pass up on this neat looking dolphin logo?

This starfish shaped keychain from Dolphin Cay at Atlantis resort in the Bahamas has a somewhat similar dolphin logo.

4. I liked the name of the advertised business

As far as the shape and the design go, there's nothing really remarkable about the yellow keychain pictured above. It's just a basic advertising keychain. But I really liked the name of the advertised location - Beachcomber Camping Resort. It brought to mind thoughts of strolling across the sand, collecting seashells and other beach treasures.

The red keychain has a little more going for it, design-wise, with its eye-catching color and a shape that's meant to suggest a tree. But it was the name Cherry Creek Village that really caught my eye. It makes the place sound so quaint and homey, doesn't it? The blue keychain is from Riverside Hospital. Hospitals have a reputation for being cold and sterile places, but naming the place Riverside makes it sound picturesque. I also liked the cool looking wave design on this keychain, as well as the blue and white color scheme.

5. mental associations

This keychain from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory ended up in my collection because it sounded like the type of location that would be featured on the tv-show The Big Bang Theory. My mom and my best friend both love that show, and I watched it off and on in the early seasons.

The reed boat, or 'cabillito', keychain pictured above was purchased from the Smithsonian in Washington DC at their annual Folklife Festival. I wanted it because it reminded me of the 'basket boat' that Donald Duck uses in the Lake Titicaca segment of the Disney 'package film' Saludos Amigos. Frequent readers of this blog might remember that I have a fondness for all things Disney.

As for this keychain from the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, the island was prominently featured in an episode of the tv-series Reading Rainbow, hosted by LeVar Burton. The fact that the island was later severely impacted by a volcanic eruption made the keychain seem 'rarer' and more valuable in my eyes, despite the fact that there were probably hundreds of these made. I was still young when I got this keychain, and at the time I didn't consider just how many were likely in circulation.

6. pop culture touchstones

Remember when foam clog shoes were all the rage? I do. I never owned a pair, but I do have a few in keychain form.

I think the majority of us remember when Harry Potter mania gripped the world. The golden snitch keychain pictured above was a gift, but I bought the London To Hogwarts train ticket keychain myself at a flea market. According to the information on the back, the ticket keychain originally came from The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando theme park. To be completely honest, I never actually got through the whole book series. I was a little TOO invested in the characters, and because the stakes seemed to keep getting higher as the story progressed, trying to read the later books was just too stressful for me, especially once characters started dying.

Does anybody else remember the big fuss over Y2K? There was a time when everyone was talking about the New Millennium. I bought this keychain cheap at a flea market in 2017. I'm guessing that it was so cheap because nobody cared anymore. But I think it's still interesting as a historical artifact. And who knows, there are people who collect all the mass-market stuff that was produced for the United States bicentennial, so maybe millennium memorabilia will become a hot collectable someday. But I won't hold my breath.

As you can see, it doesn't always take much for a keychain to pique my interest. Maybe that's why I have so many of them.

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