From bags and shoes to journals and phone straps, here’s how my charm obsession escaped the jewellery box and took over every corner of my life.

A collage featuring colourful trinkets, tiny charms, a glittery pink bat meme reading “Trinket girl is a personality type” and a vintage sterling silver charm necklace with whimsical charms

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how quickly my personal jewellery collection has grown. At this point, I simply do not have enough real estate to wear all of my favourite pieces at once.

And honestly? That feels like a very good problem to have.

One of the things I love most about charms is how endless the styling possibilities are. A single charm can completely change depending on where you put it, what you pair it with, or how you wear it. They’re tiny little treasures that somehow make everything feel more personal.

As a maximalist, my approach to styling has always been “one more couldn’t hurt.” So naturally, I started looking beyond jewellery and finding ways to add charms to every part of my life instead.

That’s actually what inspired my recent Charm Jumbles release at Sorrell Jewels.

Each one is a hand curated cluster of vintage charms, finished with sterling silver dog clips so they can attach onto almost anything. Bags, keys, journals, belt loops, phone straps… if it can hold a charm, I will probably try it.

Here are some of my favourite places to add a little extra sparkle lately…

Shoes

Adding charms or beads onto shoelaces is such a fun way to make classic shoes feel more personal. I love seeing people customise their Sambas, Converse, or docs with tiny details that make them feel completely unique.

Recently I saw someone attach vintage charms onto their Birkenstock mules using oversized safety pins and immediately added it to my inspiration folder. It felt playful and chaotic in the best way possible.

Bags

At this point, I think most people have some form of bag charm situation going on and honestly, I hope this trend never disappears.

I love mixing together chains, charms, keyrings and found objects until my bags feel like tiny travelling treasure troves. Some are silver and heavy and jangly, others are colourful and nostalgic.

I now have different charm combinations for different bags and swapping them around genuinely feels like accessorising an outfit.

Phone Straps

Phone straps are severely underrated styling real estate. I discovered the lovely Corb Core at Salad Days Market and instantly became obsessed with their designs. I mainly use mine for dog walks, market days and running around London, but obviously I couldn’t leave it plain for long.

Mine is pink, overloaded with Blorbs (their custom dangly charms), and makes my phone look like it belongs to someone who definitely owns too many trinkets, which is accurate.

A collage of decorated keyrings featuring Sonny Angel charms, cherries, Hello Kitty accessories and playful colourful trinkets — Left: My ever growing keyring bundle of tiny treasures, Middle & Right: Pinterest inspiration for chaotic trinket covered keys and clips

Keys

When I created keyrings for Sorrell Jewels, I knew my own keys needed a maximalist upgrade too.

I added a glass charm from Rosyln Studio alongside vintage costume charms I’ve collected over time, and now my keys make enough noise to announce my arrival from several streets away.

There’s something so satisfying about making even the most practical everyday objects feel a little more whimsical.

Phone Cases

Around Christmas, I came across The Charme Edit, who create custom phone cases decorated with charms and tiny personalised details.

Mine has stayed on my phone ever since.

I love that it feels completely unique to me and turns something functional into something joyful. Tiny treasures genuinely make everyday life feel more fun and personal, and this feels like the perfect example of that.

A collage of journals, planners and wallets decorated with stickers, safety pins, bows and charm clusters — Left: My personal journal decorated with charms and keepsakes, Middle: A journal spotted at the haricotvert Pop Up, Right: A customer styling one of my custom charm bundles on their planner

Journals & Diaries

Last year I visited the Haricot Vert Pop Up and came home with lots of little picto charms that I immediately wanted to experiment with.

I’d been seeing people decorating journals and diaries with beads and charms online and absolutely needed to join in. I used old necklace parts, leftover beads from reworked jewellery and tiny vintage charms to make my diary feel a bit more like an extension of my personal style.

It’s now covered in tiny details and honestly makes me want to journal more purely because it looks cute sitting on my desk.

A collage of colourful trinkets, tiny charms, silver charm jewellery and whimsical maximalist accessories

Final Thoughts

My love of tiny treasures only seems to grow stronger every year, and I’ve genuinely loved finding new ways to weave them into everyday life.

At this point, if something can physically hold a charm, there’s a very high chance I’ve attached one to it.

I think that’s what I love most about trinkets and vintage jewellery. They aren’t just accessories. They become part of your routines, your memories, your personality and all the little details that make your life feel like yours.

Let me know where else I should be adding charms because I am always looking for new places to make slightly more chaotic.

How I Started Adding Charms to Everything I Own