Vial Charm

Along similar lines as my offering bottle I made (see here), I have made a bottle of traditional medicines (native: sweetgrass and sage) to hang in my vehicle. I like to have some traditional medicines in my vehicle for whatever purposes I might need them for...and a vial seemed like a good idea. I have a good little supply of little vials in various sizes, and haven't found uses for them yet. I had planned on storing herbs in them, but they're too small to store 2 oz baggies worth of herbs, so now I have vials with no real use.

Sooo...I have found new use for them. One was the offering bottle I made (see link above) filled with offering herbs to Hecate. Now, I have a small vial filled with traditional medicines.

These bottles can be found mostly in your local craft store, but I also found some at my local dollar store (though they were filled with hole-less beads).

Making your own little charm is not that difficult.

Start with gathering supplies:
-Small corked vial bottle
-head pin (the one without a loop...looks like a long nail with a really small head)
-items to fill it with (this can vary...for this craft: pinch of sweet grass and a couple leaves of sage)
-colored thin string (I used embroidery thread)
-colored beads
-chain, cord, string (whatever you choose)

Step 1:
Take bottle and fill with your items

Step 2:
Push the head pin through the cork from underneath, so that it goes all the way to the head pin. Carefully bend the pin that's sticking out the top 90 degrees. Snip it about 1/4 inch from the cork (or whatever you're comfortable with) and (pinching the end with your round nose pliers) roll the remaining wire to create a loop
(**now...you can try using a screw loop-y thingy you can find at your local hardware store...the kind you use to screw into the back of wood frames to hang pictures...that might work if you're not confident enough to make your own loop...that'll work too)

Step 3:
Gently, but firmly push your cork as far into the vial as you can so that it doesn't come out (you can add a bit of glue to it if you really want to ensure it never comes off, but if you're planning on using the items within the vial, don't glue it). Be careful not to push TOO hard, you might break the vial.

Step 4:
Take your thin string and wrap the neck of the vial a few times, and add your beads, charms, decorations, etc. This is the time to add your own artistic flair.

Step 5:
Take your chain, cord, string, whatever, and attach it to the loop on top of your cork

You're done! This is what it may look like:

You can now wear it as a necklace, or like me, hang it in your vehicle so you have it with you should the opportunity to use whatever's in it arises :)