A Locket is the Perfect Valentine for your Granddaughter

It’s not always easy for a grandmother to figure out the perfect gift to give a granddaughter on Valentine’s Day. After all, Valentine’s Day is about celebrating love, and there are few things more special than a grandmother’s love. So what’s a thoughtful grandma to do? Well, we’re about more than just charms here at Classic Charms (even though “charms” is in our name!). We also have a wide selection of gold and silver lockets that are perfect keepsake gifts for granddaughters on Valentine’s Day.

Really… what little girl (or full-grown woman, for that matter) doesn’t love jewelry? A locket will be a granddaughter’s cherished piece that she’s sure to appreciate for years to come. We love the idea of giving a locket to a little girl for Valentine’s Day. Choose from our many different sizes and styles—a locket can truly be chosen to fit the personality of the girl or woman that’s going to wear it. Heart lockets, round lockets, oval lockets, and Celtic lockets can be the perfect way to show your granddaughter just how special she is.

But the most special thing you can do is place a photo inside the locket for an added personal touch. The perfect starter picture for your granddaughter’s locket would be a picture of you holding her when she was first born.

A locket this Valentine’s Day is something that your granddaughter will never outgrow. And, let’s face it, they grow up so fast!

Give your Wife a Valentine’s Day to Remember!

We’re halfway through January already (can you believe it!?), and that means that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! For any guys out there reading this, it’s never too early to start thinking about what you’re going to get your wife for this lovers’ holiday. All too often, we’re busy with family and kids—and we just don’t have the time to set aside for ourselves. With any of our gorgeous Valentine’s Day charms, you can make sure that the special woman in your life knows just how much you care. And once you’ve helped her add some sparkle to her charm bracelet, you can get the whole family together for some family-friendly Valentine’s Day fun. Because, after all, your wife has enough love to go around!

Have the kids help out first!

Before you give your wife her beautiful Valentine’s Day charms, get the kids together to help decorate the house. You can go out and get some Valentine’s Day decorations, or you can have the kids create their own. Decorated paper hearts, red and pink streamers, and Valentine’s Day signs are perfect homemade options. Your wife will know just how much the whole family loves her.

Valentine’s Day charm options

Here at Classic Charms we have some cute Valentine’s Day charms that your wife is sure to love. There’s the Rembrandt engravable “Be my Valentine” heart charm—perfect for sweethearts of all ages. You can also choose the “XO” heart charm or the ever-popular box of chocolates Valentine’s Day charm (this is great when paired up with actual chocolates!). And you can have the kiddos present mommy with a gorgeous LeStage Enamel 3-D Valentine Bear charm!

(Ladies, feel free to share this post with your husband. He’ll get the hint!)

Bridesmaid Charms and Other Gift Ideas

With New Year’s Eve now behind us, we’re pretty sure that there are plenty of newly-engaged couples out there! If you got engaged over the holiday… Congratulations! You have a lot of planning to do now, don’t you? Well, we’re here to make sure that the little things are as easy as possible. If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably been planning your wedding since you were a little girl. You know what you want the flowers to look like, and you know who you want your bridesmaids to be. But do you know what you want to give your bridesmaids as a token of your appreciation?

Start them out with a bridesmaid charm!

Giving jewelry to your bridesmaids is a win-win situation. You have a perfect opportunity to thank them for being part of your wedding, and you can help them look fabulous during the ceremony with a new little bauble! With the selection of Rembrandt charms and other gorgeous jewelry here at Classic Charms, it’s easy to choose jewelry that’s perfect for the occasion. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

• We offer engraving, so you can get a gorgeous engraved charm for your bridesmaids. Have something personal put onto each piece. It’s sentimental, but it’s totally adorable.
• If you want to help your bridesmaids start their own tradition, you can set them up with a charm bracelet and one or two charms to go with it. They can then build up and add to it on their own.
• You can get them something personal without getting too cutesy by choosing charms with each bridesmaid’s initial. Initial charms are so classically chic.

As you enter this new chapter in your life, it’s always important to remember the people that helped to get you where you are today! Celebrate the New Year and your new life with the perfect jewelry gifts for your bridesmaids.

A Charming History of Charm Bracelets

As we wind this year to a close, it’s always nice to look back and see where we’ve been. We’ve done a lot of growing here at Classic Charms… We have a thriving Facebook community, and we’re as committed as ever to bringing you the most gorgeous Rembrandt Charms, 14k Gold charms, silver charms, and other beautiful keepsake jewelry like lockets and earrings. While we’re looking back on this great year of 2011, we thought it might be fun to look back on the history of charm bracelets, too.

Here’s a bit of what we dug up:

Charm bracelets actually date back tens of thousands of years. That means that if you’re wearing a charm bracelet today, you’re taking part in a time-honored tradition that has been around for centuries. The ancient Egyptians wore necklaces and charm bracelets to symbolize status—they believed that the charms would help the gods guide them into the afterlife.

In the Middle Ages, charms were worn for protection. The upper class also used them to display social status. As time wore on, charms fell out of favor during the Renaissance. (But they’d come back. Charms always come back!)

At different points in history, charms and charm bracelets gained and lost popularity. (They’ve always been special in our hearts, though!) By the early 20^th century, charm bracelets started being worn to enhance personal style. We can thank England’s Queen Victoria for popularizing charm bracelets with dangling beads, trinkets, and lockets.

Tracey Zabar, a writer and jewelry designer, has said that “the most irresistible and alluring thing about a charm bracelet is its ability to tell a story unique to its owner.” Frankly, we couldn’t agree more.

Look to the past and look to the future with a charm bracelet from Classic Charms for 2012! Have a wonderful New Year!

Christmas Eve Classic Charms Shopping Spree – A Fun Gift Idea!

It’s easy to begin your own holiday tradition with a charm bracelet from Classic Charms. You’re never too old to enjoy the whimsy of a charm bracelet. Why do we love charms so much? They’re so easy to personalize! No two are alike—just like all of you out there. With the holiday season upon us, you can give your loved one the opportunity to start her own charm bracelet—or add to one that she already has. The list is virtually endless. Perhaps she’d like a zodiac sign, a state symbol, a “mother” charm, or a charm that represents one of her hobbies. The best part about a charm bracelet is that the wearer can really make it completely unique.

If you’ve waited until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping, don’t worry! We’re always here to help at Classic Charms. It might be too late to get your gift by the holiday, but you can still give the gift of charms. Make some hot chocolate, bring your loved one to the computer, and the two of you can sit together and design the perfect charm bracelet. In fact, it might be a calming way to relieve some holiday stress. Spend some quiet time on the Classic Charms website and enjoy one another’s company. When you’re picking out charms together, you’ll also be able to relive some great memories!

Begin your own holiday tradition this year with a Christmas Eve Classic Charms shopping spree. Reminisce about some good times, and pick out some great gold and silver charms!

Have a Merry Christmas!

For When You Want it All – Pick Two Tone Charm Bracelets

Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Everyone wishes
For silver and gold!
How do you measure,
It’s worth?
Just by the pleasure it,
Gives here on Earth
Silver and gold
Silver and gold

How do you measure the worth of the gift of one of our two tone charm bracelets? For a lady who enjoys both silver and gold in her jewelry, our two tone charm bracelets are just the thing to satisfy any of her moods or styles! While they’re not silver and gold, the white gold appeals to her desire for white metal in her ensemble.

Complimentary Colors
Both colors will compliment twice as many charms, making it possible for you to place both your white and yellow gold charms on the same bracelet! Such a unique combination that really can’t be beat! Coordinate this bracelet with many different outfits as well, with white or yellow gold earrings and necklaces! It really is the best gift for a lady who loves both stunning metals!

Charm with the brilliant shades of both yellow and white in a 14K gold bracelet for a holiday gift. Get the best of both worlds with our two tone charm bracelets here at ClassicCharms.com.

Don’t forget! Today is Free Shipping Day… So you can order your two tone charm bracelets and other gifts and ensure that everything is here by Christmas.

Charming Traditions: Our Winning Holiday Tradition Story

Last month we asked all of our Facebook friends and fans to share their holiday tradition stories with us. We got an overwhelming amount of great responses! It’s so nice to hear how people celebrate the holidays with their family. We spend so much time working on making sure we have the perfect 14K gold and silver charms for you, and it’s nice to see how you put them to use. After all, charm bracelets are a great way to keep those holiday memories alive all year long.

As promised, here’s our winning holiday tradition story. It comes to us from Joan Sapienza. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Joan! Congratulations on winning the gorgeous family bead. And we’d like to thank everyone else that shared their holiday traditions with Classic Charms. With so many great entries, it really was tough to choose a winner.

Start your own unique holiday traditions, too!

Joan’s Holiday Tradition

My favorite holiday tradition began 15 or 16 years ago. My large family (4 brothers, 5 sisters, both parents alive at the time, many nieces and nephews) always gets together Christmas Eve. It is the only holiday where we all manage (barring illness or call of duty for our military/police/fire dept members) to get together.  It is a very busy, hectic time with lots of food and many presents for all.

My sister was busy in the days before with buying, wrapping and sorting all kinds of gifts. She was also telling her young son (he was about 3 at the time) the Christmas story of Jesus.  He, in his innocence, asked “If it is Jesus’ birthday why doesn’t he get any gifts?”  She was taken aback, but then asked what he would like to give Jesus. He had a small starfish that he had gotten earlier that year while they were on vacation. They wrapped the starfish up and then a family debate began as to how to get the present to Jesus. The idea was presented to send it to him via a balloon.

So, Christmas Eve after Mass, we all gathered outside with the starfish tied to a balloon and gave each child present another balloon and we sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus as loud as we could and then released the balloons. Every year since then we have continued the singing and balloon send off. The young boy who first thought of the idea is now a college freshman. We started out needing only about a dozen balloons, but are up to almost 3 dozen now! Even the neighbors join in our tribute. It is a wonderful tradition and one I hope continues for all time!

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to share this tradition with you.

Christmas Gift Ideas: Travel Charms to Announce A Trip

You could slip a pair of tickets into a stocking, wrap them up in a giant box, or tuck them in a card but there are so many more exciting ways to announce a trip to a loved one for friends. For the holidays though, give tickets in a fun way. You can use travel charms to make the gift more exciting and the payoff much more immediate.

Big trips are planned months in advance, so this exciting trip you’ve created may be as far off as months or even a year. While the lucky recipient is waiting for her big trip, give her a charm as well so she has something to hold onto!

If you’re taking a road trip, then you don’t have tickets at all to include. Instead, pick out the states you’ll be passing through to design a road map to your trip bracelet! The bracelet will be a great reminder of the trip both before and after!

How can you give the charm?

• Attach the travel charm to a card, tied up with a string around the tickets.
• Find her charm bracelet and add the charm. Then, wrap it so she can discover the next big trip she’ll be taking!

There’s so many ways to make a Christmas travel gift even more special! The extra mile in presentation will go far this holiday!

Thanks and Giving – Ways to Embrace the Holidays!

Be more kind, more thoughtful and, of course, more giving! These aren’t just ways to act during the holidays – they ought to apply year round! This Thanksgiving, promise yourself and loved ones a year of compassion and kindness. The way you look at yourself and your friends will be different when you’re thinking like you do on November 24th all year round! A sparkling reminder on your wrist or necklace will always keep the generosity of the holidays alive. Why not try one of these Thanksgiving bracelet and necklace ideas:

• Make the holiday special with gifts like Thanksgiving themed bracelets. Choose lettering to spell out ‘T-H-A-N-K-S’ or ‘T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L.’ The addition of a few Thanksgiving themed charms makes it complete!
• Add a Thanksgiving charm to your bracelet – or give one as a gift. The Thanksgiving Horn of Plenty charm is a sign of the great joys in your life that keep you going through even hard times. Thanksgiving charms remind you to be thankful and be plentiful with friends all year round!
• A single plump and cheerful Turkey charm will make a perfect Thanksgiving necklace gift all on its own!

All year we want to be better, kinder people. With one of our Thanksgiving charms around your wrist, you’ll have a helpful reminder year round to be your best!

Family Values: What Matters Most to You?

There is no better time to remember what is so important about family than the month of November. Thanksgiving brings the family together for one big happy meal – soon you’ll all be together again for Christmas. In the meantime there are so many family traditions in between the two holidays. Here’s a few of our favorite traditions:

Prepping for Thanksgiving Dinner – More than the meal, it’s getting the meal ready that’s the most fun for some families. From setting the table to basting the turkey, there’s something for everyone – it brings the whole family together!
Black Friday sales – will the whole family be waiting outside the store at 4 a.m. sharing hot cocoa?
Christmas shopping as a family! It’s so much fun because you get to sneak around the mall, buying gifts for each other -all while trying to hide from each other!
Opening up presents! There are so many Christmas joys on the morning of the 25th – one is getting to unwrap your presents and the second is seeing people unwrap the beautiful charms and beads you’ve given them!

We’d like to know your favorite Holiday Traditions – both traditional and unconventional! Email us at mail us at stories@classiccharms.com with your favorite Holiday Traditions by November 30th for a chance to win a Family Bead (valued at $40).