How to Make a Trinket Swap Box
Plus the history of the Philly Trinket Trove!
Written by the curator of the Philly Trinket Trove
How to make a Trinket Swap Box
Get yourself a box. Many trinket troves are having success using a repurposed ‘waterproof junction box.’ You can find them in many hardware stores and also online.
Make it useable with whatever you have lying around. I had some hooks and a basket.
PDX Dinorama’s Note: The Trinket Trove community is growing and many folks have created 3D printed pieces specifically for these boxes. Reach out to Philly Trinket Trove or PDX Dinorama if you’re interested in getting these files!
Slap a name on it and fill it with some cool trinkets you have around, but don’t stress. If you build it, they will come.
Scout some locations.
PDX Dinorama’s Note: Philly Trinket Trove took a more ‘do first and ask forgiveness later’ approach (which she talks about more below) but if you’re nervous about that route you can seek city approval, get permission from the business outside which you want to install it, or put it in a private yard (yours or a friend’s). Unless you live in an HOA, there are generally less restrictions on private property though check your city’s rules first.
Establish yourself on social and generate a buzz! It helps to follow and connect with other Trinket Swap Boxes (which you can find on the Sidewalk Joy Map).
Hang your box in the perfect spot you chose, post about it, and spread joy!
Get your Trinket Swap on the Sidewalk Joy Map by filling out the form here.
The History of the Philly Trinket Trove
I am a magpie, I am a crow, I am a trinket girlie. I like shiny,sparkly, brightly-colored things, exchanging presents and collecting things that tickle my brain.
I am the friend that always has the random art supply you need. I am the girl who’s always trying the latest craft she happens upon on Instagram or TikTok. I am the person that sees something cool in a store or online, but maybe it’s a LITTLE more than she wants to spend and says, I COULD MAKE THAT, and sometimes, actually follows through with it.
I am the woman with a very non-creative and left-brained corporate job that needs an outlet for her right-brained creative side to let its flag fly high.
ENTER, the Philly Trinket Trove.
I’m also a runner, a runner that likes to go on adventures. What does that have to do with the Trinket Trove? Bear with me.
My bestie, also a runner, and I decided that we were going to run the New York City Marathon this year. If you aren’t a runner, you may not know that the New York City Marathon is HUGE, and there are hundreds of thousands of people vying for a spot to run it each year. There are generally around 50-55,000 spots to be had to run. There are a couple of ways to gain entry to this marathon:
Be FAST, like REALLY FAST, which I am not;
Commit to raise THOUSANDS of dollars for a charity, which I would love to do, but I just didn’t think I could ask that of my friends and family;
Enter via lottery, cross all your fingers and hope to be one of the 2-3% of people randomly selected out of hundreds of thousands of hopefuls; and lastly,
Run 9 shorter distance (anywhere from 1-13.1 mile) races and volunteer at one race put on by the New York Road Runners, the organization that puts on the New York City Marathon each year, in the year prior to the marathon.
My bestie and I decided on option 4. Three of the races could be done virtually, so we did them in Philly, which was super convenient. The other six races and the volunteer opportunity were in New York City, which gave us five weekends of fun to spend there over the course of 2025. Being a planner, we not only had to run while we were in NYC, but also take advantage of all the cool stuff the city has to offer. I am a planner, and each weekend there, we had something fun to do or eat or see planned, in addition to running.
Being a chronically online person, the algorithm KNOWS me. It knew I was going to be in NYC, it knew I was a crafty trinket girlie, and it knew I needed dopamine and serotonin, so it showed me @ChelseaDuckMags and @CaptainDudesEmporium in NYC (sadly, we haven’t actually gone to those boxes yet, but I did send my buddy with a 3D printer there to fill them up with tons of ducks!). Once I went down that rabbit hole, the algorithm showed me @PDXDinorama and the Worldwide Sidewalk Joy Movement, in Portland and the @shrekbox in my hometown, Philly. The wheels in my head started turning, and my brain said, “there’s a lot of super awful stuff going on in the world right now, people need some joy.” and “I CAN DO THAT!”
I decided on a smaller, more manageable box like those used by @ChelseaDuckMags and @CaptainDudesEmporium, since I didn’t have the location for a repurposed newspaper box like the @shrekbox, and the space/tools/badass-handywoman-ness of @PDXDinorama, to make a larger wooden box of my own. From their feeds, I also knew that @ChelseaDuckMags and @CaptainDudesEmporium were having some durability problems with the metal boxes they were using for their spots. I did what I do best, pulled up the ol’ Google and found the perfect canvas for my idea, the waterproof junction box. It was somewhat affordable, readily available, weatherproof and very customizable. The wheels were really turning. I decided on a trinket trade since I hadn’t seen very many of those, I loved trinkets, and just ducks or Shrek or dinos felt too limiting.
Once the box arrived, I looked around the house for things I could use to create spaces within the box to leave and display trinkets. I ended up with some scrap thick plastic sheets, a small plastic basket and some screw hooks. I cut out signage for the front of the box in vinyl on my Cricut. I also grabbed some of my trinkets that no longer “sparked joy” for me and I threw everything together one night. After toiling away for a bit with my screw driver, scissors and my trusty hot glue gun, I must say, I was impressed with my work.
I set up socials for the box on TikTok and Instagram, knowing it might need a little bit more than foot traffic and word of mouth to generate interest and keep it going. I knew I wanted to have the box close to my house, but not in front of my house, since it doesn’t get a ton of foot traffic. I decided on a place around the corner on South Street. The place immortalized in songs by Boys II Men and Will Smith, and even earlier by a local vocal group called the Orlons, in 1963, who penned the lyrics, “Where do all the hippies meet? South Street, South Street!” an iconic hook, sung by Philadelphians and others for years, some who weren’t even around when the song came out. It felt right. Conveniently, the block near my house has several bars, restaurants, cafes and cool businesses that were all very supportive once the box went up.
A lot of people ask, “did you need permits?” or “did you get permission?” I did not. I tell those who ask that one day, I walked around the block with my tote bag filled with the box, trinkets and zip ties, I just put the box up on a pole and announced its presence online. I felt that it was more of a do first and ask forgiveness later kind of situation. The box is only held up by plastic zip ties and is no more destructive or intrusive than someone chaining a bike to the pole, which often occurs. If I were asked by the City or surrounding businesses to remove the box, I would, albeit begrudgingly. I also tell them that they may want to look into local laws/rules if they’re very concerned or ask a local business to host their box if they would feel more comfortable that way. It’s about joy, not spending time worrying if your creation is a nuisance.
The junction box is also easily replaceable in case of vandalism or accidental damage. The surrounding businesses are super into it, they’ve featured it on their socials. I try to visit daily, when I walk my dog, to make sure the box isn’t a trash magnet or causing much disruption, and to do a little general housekeeping, if needed.
The response to the Trinket Trove has been BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING and OVERWHELMING, to say the least. On top of meeting people who are trading trinkets at the Trinket Trove, I’ve also inspired a TON of trinket ladies (and one or two trinket gentlemen) to start trinket trade boxes of their own. (And they, in turn, have inspired others!) Several trinket trades have popped up or are in the works in Philly and the surrounding areas including @ManayunkTrinketTrade, @BrewerytownTrinkets, @TrinketTradePhilly, @FSHTrinkets,@gtowntrinkets, @westphillytrinketlibrary and @borotrinketbox.
I’ve spoken to people from all over the country and the world looking for advice on how to get a trinket trade started. I’m always happy to share what I’ve learned so far and I tell them to just do it! We also have a fun chat going on Instagram with many of the keepers of the trinket trades, where we talk about ideas, new craft hyperfixations, any issues we’re having with our boxes, and the ups and downs of trinket-trade-keeper life. It’s a great place to spitball things and helpful to have a support system of people who know what I’m going through with the box, good, bad and in-between.
It’s really heartwarming to see how this little spark of an idea has grown across the country and world. I am just one person, but I hope that the little piece of sidewalk joy I put out there can make people happy for many years to come.