There was a lot of staying up late this week.
A lot of thrown together meals
And kids left to fend for themselves.

It’s the week all the Christmas orders go out, after all.

This is what my office looks like right now.
I’m just about to load these puppies up and send them off.
Hooray!

I usually have a few more days to get orders out before Christmas,
But not this year.
Because tonight, this family is packing up and going on a road trip.
After the errands have been run,
Bags have been packed,
Car loaded,
We are first going to a Christmas concert.
Four out of the six people in the family are involved.
Then a quick change out of fancy clothes
And pile into the car.
And drive.
And drive.

I believe our total car time in the next four days will be about 30 hours or so.
Yikes.
Oregon to Southern California and back.
In record time.

It’s a lot of quality time packed into a Honda Pilot,
That’s for sure.
And we wouldn’t do it, except for one thing.

This is my nephew, Adam.
And his sweet fiance, Brittany.
They’re getting married on Sunday afternoon.

Adam was born three weeks before my oldest, Alyson.
Adam and Aly have been a pair for the last 21 years.
Hanging out at family gatherings.
Playing.
Fighting.
Apologizing.
Most of that was when they were younger, of course.

Adam went to Southern California for college a few years back.
And found the love of his life.
It happens, you know.

And now it’s time for the big day.
The celebration.
The start.
And I am so excited for them.

So taking off on a trip the week before Christmas?
Yep.
Getting orders shipped out earlier than usual?
You bet.
Driving I-5 from top to bottom
And back again?
Of course.

I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

If my Mom walked into my house right now,
She would say, “This place looks like the Wreck of the Hesperus!”
I don’t really know what that means,
But she used to say it when I was a kid.
And I’m pretty sure it means that things look bad.
Messy.
Disastrous.
Actually, I just googled it.
It was a famous shipwreck.
Yep, we’re still in the ballpark.

Actually, my Mom is really nice and she probably wouldn’t say that.
But she might think it.
Because that’s what I’m thinking right now.

I’ve been getting ready for my first ever
Bonbon Charms Christmas Open House.
And boy, is it going to be fun.
If I can ever get things straightened up around here.

You know how when you have a big cleaning or organizing project?
And things always get worse before they get better?
Yeah.
Well, we’re in the worse stage over here right now.

There’s furniture everywhere.
(Trying to figure out traffic flow)

And empty displays waiting to be filled.

But there’s progress, too…

Chain has been prepped.

Christmas decor is up.
(Props to second daughter, Claire, for the artwork)

New pewter pieces are ready and waiting to be stamped to order.

So really I need to get off the computer and finish some things up.
Make some lists.
Rearrange some more furniture.
Pick up coffee and cupcakes.

Oh, and get rid of incriminating evidence from the late night work session last night.

If you’re in the area,
I’d love for you to come!
It’s going to be a lot of fun.
If I can pull things together in the next 24 hours, that is.

We measured this morning before he left for school.
Because when he went to give me a hug,
My son Sam put his arms over my shoulders
And my arms went around his waist.
What?

We stood back to back.
And it has happened.
With shoes on, he’s as tall as I am.

Now, seeing that I’m only 5’3″, this is not a giant accomplishment,
But it is a marker.
In growing up.
It’s a milestone.
Both of my older girls have done it.
Alyson passed me up by only half an inch,
But she is taller.
And that’s all that matters.

I know we hear it all the time,
But time flies by.
And the little munchkins I once had aren’t munchkins anymore.
They’re looking down at me.

When our family was here for Thanksgiving,
We enjoyed our annual Clements Family Turkey Bowl.
Everyone played.
Except for Nana and Papa, of course.
And me.
Someone has to be the cheerleader, right?

We took a photo of the whole clan afterwards.
And as I looked at it,
And all the kiddos there,
I thought, “Where are all the little kids?”
And, “Who are all those adults?”

Umm…those adults are your children.
Crazy.
Especially since I’m still 25.

And so in this holiday season especially,
I’m going to treasure it all.
Every hot chocolate sipped together.
Every present picked out.
Every family dinner.
Because it’s speeding by, people.
And I don’t want to miss a minute.

Lots of great discounts to be had today!

Lots of deals coming your way in the next couple of weeks!
First one is coming at you today.
$10 Charms, people.
Yep, you heard me right.
$10.

Five of our most popular charms are selling for $10.
Today only.
Sugar Drops.
Vintage Prints.
Descriptive Initials.
And two of our new pewter line.
The Small Circle Charm and the Tiny Circle.

You can take a look at them all here.
No discount code needed.
Just go to the Website and place your order.
Get going!

Today is a great day.
A day I have been thinking about for months now.
I have been scheming.
And designing.
And creating.
And I think you’re going to love what I’ve come up with.

Our line of silver charms is great.
Super popular.
Everyone loves to have a customized silver charm.
But the price of silver these last couple of years?
Not so great.
It’s been going up.
And up.
Boo.

I’ve been wanting to make some charms that had the same look of silver.
They could be customized and stamped like silver.
But they didn’t cost as much.
We’re all for that, right?
Yay!

And we’ve done it.
We’ve made a line of charms in a beautiful and inexpensive metal…pewter.
Pewter is so great.
It has the look and the weight and feel of silver,
but at a fraction of the price.

Check out some of our new collection…

You can see the complete line of Pewter Charms here.
Almost all of these charms are less than $25.
That price even includes the chain.
They can be stamped and customized just like our silver charms.

So whether you’ve just started your Christmas shopping,
Or you’re almost done and just need a few stocking stuffers,
These charms make such great, affordable gifts.

And if you are interested in getting something for free,
Have we got a deal for you.
We’d like to ask you to help us get the word out about these new charms.
So post about our charms on your Facebook page.
Or pin one of our pewter charms on Pinterest.
Tweet about your favorite new charm.
Do any of these and then just let us know.

Either leave a comment here on our blog.
Or post a comment on our Facebook page.
And you will be entered in a drawing to receive one of our new
Pewter Star Christmas Ornaments.

Don’t you just love this ornament?
You might need one for your family this year.
We will do the drawing on next Tuesday, November 20.
But if you don’t win the drawing, this ornament is only $22!
Definitely a family keepsake.

So get to it!
Let your friends know.
Start pinning.
And tweeting.
And shopping!

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.