I’m finally back at home after my whirlwind tour of the West Coast. After leaving San Francisco, I hung out in Portland for the weekend (my first time there). Both cities were amazing, of course, but one of the highlights of my trip was roaming the Saturday Market in Portland. So many amazing artists and handcrafted stuff! I met up with Patrick, the founder of lov.li while I was there as well, and chatted with him about what inspired him to create the site.

While at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, I picked up one of those souvenir pressed pennies. It made me remember something I’d stumbled across on Etsy right before I headed out of town.

Etsy user Tomorrow Girl (aka Cassie) creates these great pieces of jewelry using those fun souvenir pennies that are available at tourist traps the world over. There are quite a few wonderful designs, including some copper dinosaur necklaces, but I like this one that reads, “Berlin, I love you.”

Got a pressed penny left over from a vacation that you don’t have any use for? Just contact Cassie via her Etsy shop and she can whip up a custom order necklace for you with your own souvenir penny. I might just have to use my new coin for my very own pressed penny necklace.

Posted by MissMalaprop on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 11:56 am.