A sense of family history is important.  Some families have a great-grandmother’s engagement ring, a silver tea set a grandad’s brother found at an estate auction or a plastic chip and dip set in the shape of  platypus your mother received as a wedding gift.  Perhaps your family isn’t blessed with the cherished objects or those that might even become a running joke generation after generation You don’t have to dig an old broken vase out of your father’s attic to kick-start an heirloom tradition.  Instead, decide to start your own tradition beginning with the current generation.  Begin to collect Italian charms. 

Italian Charms bracelets are the perfect family tradition and treasure: they are not as fragile as that old vase, not so valuable that they can’t be worn on a day to day basis, and not so old that they fall out of style.  Rather, the great thing about Italian Charms is that they create a dynamic tradition:  each generation can add new links to the charm bracelet to reflect their own life and interests, which keeps the tradition significant, meaningful, and alive. 

  Discover the three steps to begin the process of inventing an heirloom:

1) Begin by purchasing a starter bracelet.

You can start your tradition inexpensively with starter bracelets.  Starter bracelets are often simple, 14 link bracelets with links that are easy to link and unlink.  Since the starter bracelets are made of a series of plain, individual charms, each carefully selected charm that you add will become a point of contrast and interest in the changing, overall design.  You’ll want to take your time as you build your collection over many years.

2) Buy charms over time that reflect meaningful events or stages in the lives of each family member. 

When there is a new addition to your family, choose a charm with the appropriate birthstone.  Perhaps add a charm that reflects, in some way, the community of the birth.  From then on, notice what the children enjoy, their favorite toys or, as they grow older, the sports or hobbies.  With this information, begin to collect Italian Charms that reflect their passions, hobbies, interests, and especially their achievements.  Is your daughter an honor’s student?  Is your son an expert pianist?  Find Italian Charms that reflect these accomplishments and add them to their bracelets.

3) Give the charm bracelets to your children. 

This may be the hardest step!  After years of collecting and caring for the Italian Charms, you might grown somewhat attached to them.  But for the tradition to continue and grow, you must pass the bracelets on.  Select an occasion that is momentous, a transitional moment in the life of the bracelet’s recipient.  Find a time just before a wedding or after a graduation celebration when you can have some quality, unrushed time together.  Tell them about the importance of their new heirloom, the meaning behind every charm and how each charm should remind them of an important chapter in their lives.  Stress the importance of keeping the tradition going, and encourage them to continue adding charms until the time comes for them to pass the bracelet along to the next generation.

Don’t search the attic or cellar for something that you hope might have some meaning to future generations.  Instead create something that will inherently serve that purpose of providing a continuing family tradition.