Childhood living is a charmed life. Besides school, you get to go through your day without the stress of bills and healthcare that dog your life as you get older. A common, crafty activity many people enjoy when they’re young is creating charm bracelets and necklaces. Even my own kid has taken up this task, fashioning necklaces based on various characters from books and tales they’ve been into. I always love seeing what they’ve made. You can imagine how excited I was to see this fun activity of creating charm bracelets combined with my love of Zelda. Pixelosis has created two amazing charm bracelets featuring items from A Link to the Past that rival the Power Glove and Titan’s Mitt in their beauty and ability to take a player’s breath away.
The first bracelet is bound to be the one many prefer as it features the legendary Master Sword in both its iconic regular look and its golden upgrade. Other fan-favorites make their appearance here as well. The green tunic sits proudly next to the Boss Key and Agahnim’s bane: the Bug Catching Net. Beloved footwear appears as well with both the Flippers and Pegasus Boots sitting next to each other like they might on Link’s Hylian shoe rack. My favorite item has to be the little-used but extremely cool Magic Cape just because it’s such a fun idea that was underutilized in the actual game. I also loved how Link’s sprite would disappear when it was used, but his shadow would still be there. Maybe it should have been called the mostly Magic Cape.
With the Master Sword’s heavenly gleam anchoring the charm assortment of the first bracelet, it would be hard for the second one to measure up. Thankfully, I think it does an admirable job by including some items that are a lot of fun as well as a few elements that are not items whose inclusion made me laugh. In terms of items, we get the Book of Mudora, which isn’t necessarily fun within the game, but I remember being astounded by it as a kid. I recall being amazed at how you’d have to slam Link into the bookshelf in order to knock it down. It seems so simple now, but few games had made me interact with their world in such a way at that time. Being an English teacher, I also love the idea of language, so being able to use the Book of Mudora to translate ancient Hylian text always scratched my linguistic itch. The magical Ether, Quake, and Bombos Medallions also grace this bracelet. Their inclusion makes me smile as well because I remember being amazed at the sheer power they seemed to contain. Being able to use them to freeze, explode, or shake enemies always seemed unbalanced, but also like a ton of fun. The guaranteed winner of this bracelet has to be the Cucco though. While not a traditional item, I don’t think any Zelda fan could see the Cucco and not smile before mouthing a silent “Buccah!” in appreciation.
Pixelosis’s bracelets are stunningly beautiful in the diversity and inclusion of the various items and icons of A Link to the Past. Even more beautiful is the amount of work Pixelosis has put into both creations. They explain that “each charm was handmade by weaving one tiny Japanese Miyuki Delica Seed Bead together at a time with a needle and thermally bonded Wildfire bead weaving thread.” I appreciate that a Zelda charm bracelet is made using Japanese materials given that the series originated from there. The sheer amount of time this would take also shows a deep love from Pixelosis. The idea of crafting each individual charm and attaching them one by one to the thread demonstrates how special these bracelets are. Truly they would be worthy of holding aloft while the traditional “Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh!” treasure fanfare plays.
