It’s a slushy, snowy day outside.
The kids were desperately hoping for a snow day
and they were sorely disappointed.
Not a good way to start the day.

I am sitting at my computer
looking out at the weather as it changes
from rain to snow and back again.

Bundled up on the couch is my youngest, Hope.
She is recovering from a bug that took her down yesterday.
She would tell you from personal experience
that it’s no fun to be sick when there’s a snowy world just out the front door.

So lunchtime rolled around.
And she was hungry, having not eaten much in the past 24 hours.
When she asked if it was okay to make a sandwich, I said yes.
I try to encourage independence in the kitchen whenever possible.

I came back into the kitchen a few minutes later.
This is what I saw.

I think she may be feeling better.

But it got me thinking.
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.
I mean, the stores have had the pink and red out
Since December 26.
If not before.

Maybe you have a sweetie that needs a little token of love.
Or maybe it’s your kids.
Anyone wanting to give a little love this Valentine’s Day
can surely find a gift at Bonbon Charms.

Our Valentine’s Day line is up and ready to go.
Orders must be placed by February 1st,
in order to arrive on time,
so there’s not too much time.

And for all of you who are on the ball
and order right away,
I’ve got a special gift for you.
A 15% discount on your entire order.
Just enter the word VALENTINE (all caps)
at checkout.
The discount will only be good
through Saturday, Jan. 21,
so don’t forget.

Well, that’s it.
That’s all I had to say.
Except I’m thinking about maybe asking Hope to make me a sandwich.

Well, the day has come.
The last day to place Christmas orders.
We’ve had such great response from you during this holiday season!

On this final day to order,
I’d like to offer you one more discount…
A last minute special.
Get 15% off your entire order, today only.
Just enter FINALDEAL at checkout to get the sale price.

Fun stuff!
Better get shopping.

This week has been a blur.
Of good things.
But still a blur.

Decorating.
Cooking.
Partying.

We had our first big event at the new house.
25 lovely people for dinner.
It was a success, I do believe.

But other things have fallen by the wayside.
Remember how we were going to have a special Bonbon deal every day this week?
It’s Thursday now.
We’ve had one deal.
Well, onward and upward.
We WILL be having a special deal today.
And I’m not making any more promises after that.
Lesson learned.

For today only, our sugar drop charms are all 25% off.
These are some super cute charms, which were already affordable at $16,
but this deal makes them $12 each.
These would make great gifts or stocking stuffers!
Discount code is XMASDEAL2 (enter at checkout).

Oh, and don’t forget…
tomorrow (Dec. 9th)
is the last day to place an order for Christmas.
We’re on a dealine here, people!

And now I’m off…making more charms,
taking care of a sick child at home today,
and I’m definitely going to need another cup of tea.

Cheers!

This was the weekend for decorating.
And buying a tree.
A big tree.
New house.
Taller ceilings.
Must need a bigger tree, right?
The kids sure thought so!

We lucked out and found the perfect tree almost as soon as we arrived.
Sam cut it down with a hand saw.
Only a little help needed from Dad at the end.

Then we started to wonder.
Would it fit into our tree stand?
The one we’ve had since the first year we were married…
This is its 24th Christmas with us.
It’s probably considered vintage now.
We stopped at Target to buy a new one just in case we needed it.

But then somehow it became a challenge.
It must fit.
We will use our original tree stand.

And we had victory.
It fit.
It was up and decorated.

For about an hour.
Until it fell.
Oh, yes it did.

But my husband would not be defeated.
Or cave in to using the new, stronger, bigger tree stand.
Instead, he built a brace.
A support system.

We are totally returning that other tree stand.

Hope your days have been filled with as much Christmas excitement as ours have!
To cheer you on, we will be offering a few Bonbon discounts
In this final week to order before the holiday.

Today, you can receive 25% off any ornaments you order.
The discount code is XMASDEAL.
It’s only good for today, however.
Tomorrow there will be a new deal!
Have fun,

If you haven’t placed your Christmas order yet,
today might be the day!

Enter discount code CYBERMONDAY at checkout
and you’ll get free shipping (today only!)
That’s a $7 savings, people.

Also, throughout the month of December,
we’re going to be having some fun sales and giveaways,
so make sure to check back here to the blog
and you won’t miss a thing.

Today is an exciting day.
Why?
Because today we launch Christmas 2011 at Bonbon Charms.
Today you get to see some of the fun things I’ve been working on.
I always feel a little bit like one of Santa’s elves creating new ornaments and charms.
And today is the big reveal!

You get to see things like our new Family Silhouette Ornament.

And our leather cuff bracelet.

And check our these lovely new silver numbers!
The Capture the Moment Charm
and
our Sweet Ride Charm.

This is just a sample, folks.
Visit our website for a complete selection of charms and ornaments.
And, as a little bonus for our early shoppers,
we’re offering a pretty great deal.
Enter discount code EARLYBIRD at checkout
and 20% will be taken off your entire order!

Don’t delay.
This deal is only good today through Friday, November 18th.
Oh…and a heads up…
our Christmas order deadline is December 9th.

Happy shopping!

It’s here.
And I’m happy.
I always breathe a sigh of relief when October is over.
Because I’m not so much a Halloween-type of girl.
Not so interested in the creepy, ghoulish, scary stuff.
It’s not my thing.

There is one thing about Halloween that does interest me, however.
Candy.
No kidding.
I do love the candy.
What’s not to like about that?

And cute dressed up kids.
I guess I like that too.

When I look at this cute face it does make me pretty happy.
This is Hope, AKA Glinda the Good Witch.
Or Gah-linda (if you’ve seen Wicked).

And here we have Aly, Claire, and Sam.
Or Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and a Lost Boy, if you like.
Those kiddos do make me smile.
Yes, they do.

But now it’s on to the Season of Thanks.
And I could do with some serious thankfulness in my life.
Because it’s easy to forget.
And I do have so much to be grateful for.
Like happy kids.
And Snickers Bars.

(photo credit)
Subway sign art.
Love it.
I’ve got a little thing for graphics, words, letters.
So this is right up my alley.

We’ve got a funky little space in the entryway of our new house.
The stairs wind around so there’s a little empty spot that needed to be filled.
I had originally envisioned doing something like this.

(photo credit)
Fantastic, right?
Unfortunately, we didn’t have quite enough room for a bookshelf.
Bummer.

I knew I needed something eye-catching.
It’s the first thing you see when you walk in the front door.
So when I saw this piece, I thought it would be perfect.

It’s from Restoration Hardware.
Swoon.
One small detail.
It’s eight hundred and fifty dollars.
Yikes.
So, of course, I thought….I could make it for a lot less.
**Translation: My husband could make that and I could totally help him!**

Van put together a frame for me and painted it flat black.
I created the graphics on my computer.
We copied them onto a transparency.
Using an overhead projector I traced the outline of the words with a paint pen.
(We are fortunate to have connections to a school…thus, the overhead.)

Instead of using British subway stops,
We decided to use the names of the streets we’ve lived on.
Childhood homes and our family homes.
Shurts Street…my childhood home in Illinois.
11th Street….the home Van lived in most of his life.
Rigg Street…our first home as a married couple.
You get the picture.

Once the text was outlined, I used a small paintbrush to fill in the letters.
This is a tedious job.
And I am no painter.
And just a little bit impatient.
But you can’t hurry this part of it.
Notice the large cup of tea needed to keep me going.

Seriously, though.
This part took me hours.
And my hands began to cramp up into little knots.
And I started to think.
$850 might not be a bad deal.

But in the end,
I am so happy with how it turned out.

It fills up the empty space perfectly.
It’s personal.
It’s typography.

It makes me happy.

So, we recently moved into a new home.
I may have mentioned it.

Here’s something I’ve learned.
When you move from a house built in the 1940′s
To a house built in 2011,
You need new stuff.
At least that’s what I keep telling my husband.

Because the stuff that worked in the old house
Does not necessarily work in the new one.
Makes sense, right?

So we sold a bunch of our old furniture on Craigslist this summer.
And purchased quite a bit of new (to us) things on Craigslist as well.
Add to that a few IKEA purchases
And we were nearly good to go.

But a few things needed a special touch.
To be customized.
Personalized.
In other words, we had some projects to do.

It actually worked out great.
We were living with friends.
We had some time between houses.
So in the evenings we did projects.
Well, actually I thought them up.
And my husband did the work.
Because he’s awesome like that.

Our first project was stools.
I have a kitchen island in my new house.
Can I tell you excited I am about that?
Never had an island before.
And with an island, you need stools.

I spotted these stools on a blog a couple of years ago(photo credit)

I loved them the moment I laid eyes on them.
And I knew that if I ever had a chance, I wanted numbered stools.

Project No. 1.
Found some stools that I loved.
They have a look that’s a little bit vintage.
A little industrial.

Fantastic.
They were almost perfect in every way.
But they needed numbers.

So we lightly sanded the tops.
(By “we”, I mean my husband, Van, of course)
Then chose a number font that we liked,
Enlarged it to the right size,
Traced it on the stool,
Painted it,
Sanded off a little of the paint
(wanted it to be a little aged/worn looking)
Finished with a light coat of spray varnish,

 Voila!
Pretty cute just by itself.

But set all three stools up to the bar?
I can hardly stand it.

One project down,
Several to go!