Aargh! We've all experienced it at one time or another: fishing endlessly through our handbag for those elusive keys. It's especially irritating at holiday time, when shopping hits maximum stress levels.

Now there's a creative solution: the Chic Magnet. It's a stocking stuffer with a little aloha, invented by Kaiser Permanente nurse Christina Rees of Hale'iwa.

The idea came to Rees on a cold, dark, icy night in Iowa. Rees, a traveling nurse who was suffering the pain of a broken engagement, took a break from work to visit her sister in Iowa. While fumbling for her keys in the bottom of her handbag, she slipped on her sister's driveway, dropping her bag and spilling its contents onto the ice.

"That night, I went to bed in the basement of my sister's house, unemployed, unengaged and unhappy. Feeling frustrated, I focused my energies on finding some way to never have to lose my keys again. It took about 15 minutes to come up with the idea of using a magnet inside my purse to attract my keys. My life completely changed that night," Rees said.

"The very next morning, I got a call from a traveling-nurse agency asking if I wanted to work in Hawai'i. I was elated! I passed the phone interview despite the fact that my nieces were dancing the hula in front of me during the conference call. Two weeks later I was in Hawai'i, ready to start a three-month assignment at Wahiawa (General) Hospital," Rees said.

She couldn't get the key magnet idea out of head, however, so with her first paycheck, she bought a computer and began her research. She also, coincidentally, met an engineer, Randy Rees, who helped her figure out how to create Island-inspired shapes with magnets embedded in them.

Not only did she succeed in producing the innovation, but she fell in love with Rees, and they were married in 2003.

The Chic Magnet is easy to use. Simply place the charm on the outside of a hand bag and attach the round magnet to the inside, directly behind the charm. Trust me, the magnet will stay put — it has maximum magnetic pull. When you drop your keys into your bag they will stick right to the magnet, so you'll always know exactly where they are. (These days, most keys are steel, which sticks to magnets, rather than brass.)

The decorative charms come in six designs: palm tree, shell, pineapple, frog, rosebud and heart with the breast cancer awareness logo. They sell for $12 at Silver Moon Emporium in Hale'iwa, Hawaiian Moon in Ward Warehouse and Waikele Shopping Center, Global Village in Kailua, Hair Attitudes in 'Aiea, Dawn's in Kailua and Hale'iwa, and Surprise! in the Mililani Town Center. They're also available through www.thechicmagnet.com.

While Rees has carefully tested the Chic Magnet, it's advisable to avoid close contact with a credit card. It shouldn't be a problem if your card is in your wallet, but you won't want it loose in your bag. If your bag has a magnetic clasp, keep the magnet as far away as possible from the clasp.

Reach Paula Rath at prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.