Dozens attend Trinket Club Indy's first swap
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A blue-haired troll doll driving a clear plastic car. A shih tzu wearing sunglasses. A miniature crate full of postage stamp-sized records.
Why they matter: Each was among the tiny treasures up for grabs at Indy's first trinket swap, held earlier this week.
The big picture: Dozens of trinket enthusiasts descended on Re:Public, the pop-up art space on East 10th Street, to trade small wonders and the stories behind them.
- "This town loves trinkets," said organizer Amber Gyselinck, who runs online trinket shop Lapis Lily Market and created Trinket Club Indy.
How it worked: Long tables were covered in ephemera of all kinds — stickers, toys, charms, found objects and vintage items.
- To participate in the free event, swappers added the trinkets they were ready to part with to the tables and perused for new treasures to add to their collections.
- "I'm obsessed with tiny things," said Finn Lucas, a zoology major from Ball State who was on the hunt for animal-themed trinkets and found a Japanese lucky cat figurine and a plush frog.
What makes a trinket: It has to fit in the palm of your hand, said Calico Critters collector Jeni May.
- Otherwise, it can be anything that sparks joy.
- "It's just … love at first sight," she said.
What they're saying: "Trinkets hold so much story," said Elliot McBride, who brought her first-ever trinket to swap.
- McBride said she's ready to part with the ceramic figurine now that her trinket tastes have changed, and the swap felt like a good place to let it find a new home with someone who will appreciate it as much as she once did.
"I love trinkets so much," said Jess Stapp, who brought troll dolls and vintage Pez dispensers to trade and was on the lookout for blind boxes, small opaque packages with unknown trinkets inside.
- "They're so little. They make you smile. You can keep them in your pocket."
Zoom in: Siera Hipsher found a Twinkie the Kid doll. The anthropomorphized snack mascot is dressed as a wrangler, wearing a 10-gallon hat, boots and a bandana.
- "Iconic," she said.
- Hipsher also picked up a tiny turtle made of seashells, wearing eyeglasses.
- "You let the trinkets speak to you."
While some people, like Hipsher, plan to display their finds as is, others use them as a starting point for new creations.
- Gyselinck makes trinket-based art, like the trinket purse and charm necklace she wore to the event.
Between the lines: Trinkets that didn't find a home were collected for future Trinket Club events.
What's next: Gyselinck is hosting a trinket mirror workshop at the Indianapolis Central Library's makerspace June 21 and a trinket egg hunt in Garfield Park July 19.
- "A community of trinket lovers is what I'm trying to bring together," she said.