“I want to get people (downtown), not just to shop,” she said. “Even if you don’t buy anything, it will be a place that you can just come and dream for a little while with me.”
Some of her most popular items are earrings made of real cicada wings, which she collects in the summer, and butterfly wings, which she sources from a butterfly house.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“When the butterflies pass away, they sell the wings to support the butterfly house,” McQueen said.
The shop also offers a variety of crystals, hand-crafted jewelry, wire trees, sun catchers and “fairy gardens,” which are small sculptures that can be made by customers in the shop featuring fairy or gnome figurines, plants and rock.
In addition to McQueen’s products, there are also plans to hold classes and feature other artists, including Charmed Keychains by Patti, owned by McQueen’s mother; Miamisburg Roots and Shoots, a plant nursery; and The Hawk and The Oak, a Missouri-based business that sells stickers, bookmarks and magnets.
McQueen first opened a retail space in March 2025 at Pendleton Arts Center.
“From that point, I started to realize ... this is something that can be bigger,” she said.
In December, McQueen sold her products at Merry Market, a brand-new downtown shopping concept that housed seven local Middletown vendors in one space at 1050 Central Ave. during the holiday season.
“You got to see a glimpse of people who come downtown, and you get a glimpse of what it’s like to have a space and a retail spot,” she said.
It was a “happy surprise” that she found the 600-square-foot space at 1118 Central Ave., which she is subleasing from Design 2 Wear 2, LLC.
Prior to Pendleton Arts Center, she sold her jewelry at vendor shows, arts festivals and markets — her first being the Serpent Mound Summer Solstice Festival in Adams County, Ohio, where she grew up.
McQueen moved to Middletown about 25 years ago. She worked in finance at local banks and then in the parks systems until the end of 2024. Running Charm & Crystal is now her full-time job.
She said art community she has found in Middletown has been “really great.”
“I have the mentality that there’s room for everybody, so I don’t feel like there’s a competition going on,” she said. “And 99% of the people I’ve met feel exactly the same.”
HOW TO GO
What: Charm & Crystal Wire Wrapped Jewelry
Where: 1118 Central Ave., Middletown
Hours: Jan. 23 soft opening date, then open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
MIDDLETOWN NEWS ONLINE
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