Valentine's Day Gifts

To me, Valentine’s Day has always seemed like a strange holiday: it can be the most romantic day of the year or completely forgettable. It all depends on how you choose to celebrate it, and above all what gift you give your partner.

Flowers and chocolates are two traditional Valentine’s gifts, but at this point they may have become a little too traditional. Yes, in movies, women always swoon for a dozen red roses, but think about it: chances are, you won’t be the first person to get her some flowers. Giving such a standard gift is like taping a sign to your forehead saying, “I didn't put much thought into this! I didn't take any time to consider you as an individual.” Jewelry is more complicated. Here, you can go very right or very, very wrong. Some types of jewellery are just as standard and dull as a box of store-bought chocolates (although typically much more expensive). A bracelet or a pair of earrings may be beautiful. But the real question is, do they express her unique personality in some way? Or are they just shiny objects, no different from all the other shiny objects she keeps unused in her jewellery box? Jewelry can be a great Valentine’s Day present, but you can’t just give her any old thing and expect her to be grateful. That’s why I really like the Pandora charms collection. Pandora offers over 600 unique charms, some gold, some silver, with many different precious stones and themes.

Charms make great personal gifts because a charm bracelet isn't just decoration—it tells a story. Each charm recalls the memory of a specific moment in her life, and she can carry those memories around with her wherever she goes. And no two charms are exactly alike. Pandora’s Pavé heart charms are elegant and glamorous, while the Love Bonds openwork charm is expressive and slightly unconventional. Think about how much better that is than some generic present. No one but you has ever given her a gift like this, so she’ll never forget where it came from. The enormity of the selection may seem daunting at first, but you can easily narrow your options down by thinking about what best suits her. Does she prefer gold or silver? Traditional or playful? If you don’t know—just ask! The Pandora line has something for every woman. By getting her a charm especially suited for her, you’re essentially telling her, “Nobody knows and understands you better than me.” And for most women, that sentiment is worth more than a truckload of boring old flowers.

How to Choose the Perfect Charm-Bracelet Gift to Make Her Wish Come True

When it comes to buying jewellery, how do you select a meaningful gift that she will really love to wear?

Whether she's your mother, beloved or best friend, the answer is simple, Personalize it! Nothing is more special than jewellery that you can design yourself and customize just for her. Creating a charm bracelet is easy enough for anyone to do, and many people recommend Pandora's extensive collection of high-quality charms because they have more choices for a well-customized bracelet with some real personality. All you need to do is check out these clever ideas from Pandora to get started:

First, choose her ideal bracelet type.

A charm bracelet can have any kind of band; leather and fabric-based bracelets are the most comfortable, and choosing a brightly coloured bracelet will help her show it off more. However, gold and silver bracelets are classics that never go out of style and suit even the fanciest occasions. Pandora's range of bracelets include sterling silver, 14-carat gold, two-toned silver and gold, leather and textile bracelets in colours like black, pink, purple, teal, lavender, dark blue and orange.

Pick the right charms for Mum.

Mothers love their children more than anything else in the world, so choose charms that remind her of you and the special bond that you share with her. Some great charm ideas for mothers include:

• silver-heart charm engraved with the word "Mum"
• "Letter To Santa" charm in the shape of an envelope that says "I've been good."
• "Family Bonds" charm that shows a silver-silhouetted image of a family with two small kids
• four sparkling number charms to spell out her child's birth year.
• silver locket-style charm that says "Sweet Mother" in silver and pink on the inside
• silver charms that represent the zodiac birth sign of each child
• silver-letter charms to spell out a short message like "Love you, Mom."

Select special charms for the one. Let her charm bracelet show how special she is to you by making it a symbol of your love. Some perfect gold and two-toned charms for the love of your life include:

• a charm with a silver cupid who's shooting a 14-carat-gold heart-shaped arrow
• "Solitaire Dangle" charm that features a silver bunch of hearts holding a miniature 14-carat gold ring with a real 0.02 carat diamond.
• Envelope charm that says "To My Love."
• charm engraved with the phrase "Together Forever."
• Number charms that spell out the date of your first night out together
• Silver "Key To My Heart" heart-shaped charm lock with a golden key

Find fun charms for a friend that show you care. Doesn't your best friend deserve the best charms? Get her cute talismans like these that will make her smile and think of the great times you've had together:

• silver charm engraved with "Best Friends"
• charms spelling out your favourite nickname for her or "BFF" for "best friends forever"
• silver and gold charms of her favourite animals
• stiletto-heels charm or designer-sunglasses charm if she's a fashionista
• royal-crown charms if she's a diva

Start your search by trying Pandora's free gift-finder application or browse for Pandora gifts by jewellery type, price range and colour.

A Special Gift For Every Occasion

Are you out of gift ideas for your special someone this Christmas? Whether you a buying for a partner, sister, mother or aunt, charm bracelets give you the opportunity to create a unique piece that fits the personality of the wearer. Here are some ways that charms are one of the best present ideas for Christmas, birthdays and any other special event.

Charms Are Easy To Hide For the Ultimate Surprise

Big-ticket presents can be hard to keep a secret, but charms are easy to store away before that special occasion. This is especially helpful when you are giving someone the gift of a charm bracelet unexpectedly. When you just want give gifts for your girlfriend without having to wait until a holiday or birthday, charm bracelets let you keep the surprise under wraps until the right moment during an evening out.

Take the Hassle Out of Gift Giving

How many hours have you wasted scouring the Internet to figure out what to get the women in your life? Gift giving is often a tedious process, and the joy of giving a present to the people who matter most to you can be overshadowed by the time you take trying to find that perfect gift. Charm bracelets are ideal because people with all different personalities and style choices love these jewelry pieces.

Personalise Your Present

Impersonal gifts make it seem like you don't really know anything about the recipient. She might feel like you don't care, so it's best to opt for a gift that reflects her unique personality. Charm bracelets do just that. You can choose charms according to hobbies, careers or interests.

The fact that you get to choose the charms for the bracelet means that you can customize it according to the occasion, too. Whether you are giving a gift for Christmas, a birthday or even a wedding, Pandora charms have you covered.

Pandora Goes Beyond Charms

If you've already fallen in love with the beauty of Pandora charms, you can give the gift of a winter ring from Pandora. These rings feature silver and blue accents that reflect the season for which they are made. While the designs and colour schemes are focused on winter, Pandora winter rings can be worn throughout the year.

When you need a special gift for every occasion, look no further than Pandora jewelry. Not only are their charm bracelets beautiful and versatile, but Pandora winter rings can add to the look with themed patterns and colours to match the season.

Pandora's Bracelet Designer

I am constantly amazed at how technology has changed the way we do almost everything. We have reached the stage where we can pre-plan our shopping trips using software applications to sample the choices and test-drive the merchandise, so to speak. Jewellery retailer Pandora has turned shopping into a virtual adventure with the use of its Bracelet Designer, an onboard app that lets customers design their own charm bracelet.

Working with the Bracelet Designer

Pandora’s Bracelet Designer can be accessed from a tab on its homepage. Intended as a tool for customers to try out various combinations of charms, I found this tool easy to use. The app is intuitive with no complicated set up or instructions to read. The only choice provided for the starter bracelet is the Essence Silver Bracelet with a bead clasp, which makes this part easy. I selected that by clicking the Add button. The price of each piece is given on the same view, a helpful feature to keep track of the costs of my charm bracelet.

Selecting the charms is the harder part, and it isn’t because the Bracelet Designer app makes users jump through technical hoops. It’s because there are so many charms to choose from with each one more tempting than the next. Click on the Add button to add charms to the bracelet or Remove to take off unwanted charms. A really nifty trick is to use the cursor to rearrange the charms on my bracelet.

Charm Selection

Thumbnails of the charms are arranged by theme. The first page presents character and virtue choices with the charms engraved with words such as dedication, dignity and spirituality. The next is a selection of charms representing astrological signs, and the third set consists of inspirational charms with words like faith, hope and happiness. A fourth set expands on the character and virtue selection presented in the first set with choices such as balance, prosperity and courage.

The charms are made of gold, silver or white gold with each one featuring intricate details along the sphere. The designs on the all-metal charms are particularly detailed. Other charms add colour by incorporating materials such as carnelian, synthetic ruby and lapis lazuli.

It was really hard to narrow down my favourites to a few. Clicking on the charms brought up a larger view with interesting details in full focus while clicking on the Info link brought up a description of material, colour and price.

The Bracelet on my Wish List

Using Pandora's Bracelet Designer was an interesting way to explore different ways to build a charm bracelet without spending a mint and with the option to change my mind as often as I want. I loved all the coloured charms, and I would choose all of them regardless of what they represented.

I don't think I would be able to stop at just one charm bracelet, so I'm off to post my wish list on my social media accounts to make friends and family aware of what I want this Christmas and many Christmases hence.

Charm Bracelets: An Introduction For Novices

It's been a while since I first started this blog and I thought it might be good to do a short introduction to charms and charm bracelets in general, especially a bit of history and basics of collecting charms. If you're a beginner then some other good posts to get acquainted with charm bracelets might be my styling for Christmas post or the Cleaning and Caring post.

Charm bracelets have been around since ancient people first figured out a way to string bits of rock, bone and twigs to wear as body adornment. However, these ancient charms were not worn for decorative purposes alone; each charm carried a certain symbolism special to the wearer. Charms could be worn as amulets, lucky charms or as healing objects.

Bracelets that Tell a Story

Jewellery has borne witness to important events throughout history. Bracelets, neck pieces and head gear have provided rare insights into the life and times of generations before us. The practice of using jewellery to mark significant events has become even more entrenched in modern times, and the low-key charm bracelet is the accessory best suited for accumulating a lifetime of stories on one’s wrists.

Charm bracelets appeal to women and young girls because of the ease with which the wearer can customize the design and personalize the jewellery. There are countless choices when it comes to charms, including animals, graphic emblems and alphanumeric symbols. The charms on a bracelet can be a collection based on a single theme representing hobbies or special interests or a hodge-podge of charms inspired by special moments in your life. Look to Pandora's themes, particularly the occasions theme for some really good ideas that can mark a milestone or special occasion in your life.

There aren’t any rules when it comes to building a charm bracelet because the key is to put together a piece of jewellery that is meaningful to you. The charm bracelet is, possibly, the only piece of jewellery that grows with you. Charms can be added on or older ones replaced to express new interests or portray new experiences.

How to Express Yourself with Charm Bracelets

The base bracelet could be a simple chain, a strand of durable leather or a metal-based band that would serve as the foundation for the links. Traditional-style charms typically dangle from the base bracelet through fixed or non-fixed links while the charms for European-style bracelets are hollow beads that thread through the base bracelet. The charms are interchangeable and bracelets can be layered to create the look of statement jewellery.

The key is to choose the bracelet that is compatible with the theme and the style of charms you intend to collect. Consider starter sets from Pandora that come with a base bracelet and a set of three or four charms. Add charms as the mood inspires you. If you are the organized type, add charms according to a planned theme such as one memento for each birthday. You can use spacers to set off each charm or string them continuously until the base bracelet is completely covered.

A charm bracelet can be as simple or as elaborate as you fancy. It is a very personal type of jewellery that evolves and changes with you. Let your charm bracelet tell the story of your life.

Building The Perfect Fairytale Charm Bracelet

My two nieces have been visiting recently and that’s meant one thing – endless Disney movies! They were also admiring my charm bracelet and it got me thinking about what the perfect fairytale charm bracelet would look like. This would make a perfect birthday present (if only a few charms to get the girl’s started) and really put anybody right in the magic of charms and charm bracelets. So here’s my take on what I would put on the ultimate fairy tale themed charm bracelet.

Step 1: Add in the stories

Fairytales are great stories full of wonder and imagination – so add in some of the most iconic fairytale charms from Pandora. Here I’ve selected the Fairytale Castle Charm, the Frog Prince Charm, the Fairytale Mouse Charm and the Fairy Tales Book Charm – all instant reminders of the Fairytale genre! This will instantly make the bracelet an obviously fairytale themed charm bracelet, but there are still a few more charms ideas we can add to push up the level of magic and imagination of the theme!

Step 2: Add in a bit of nature

Almost all fairytales have a strong element of nature in them. Even modern fairytales like Frozen and Brave feature stunning scenic shots of nature. It also play an important part in the stories as this is where you’ll find the troll, elves and magical beings residing. So, for our charm bracelet a touch of nature is certainly warranted. Here are the Tumbling Leaves charm, the Birds and Branches charm (a personal favourite), the Pink Rose Garden silver fixed clip (floral clips are a great idea to add nature to your charm while still keeping the fairytale charms center stage) and the nature spirit charm. Look for a bit of colour as well, like the forest green faceted charm or even a wood charm if you were lucky enough to snag one before it got retired.

So now the bracelet is looking pretty magical and mystical – a perfect gift for a young girl to start her charm collection, and its sure to be something she’ll cherish and remember forever. You don’t have to get all of these charms by the way, just a couple will surely be enough to astound any young mind. The only thing left to do is add a bit of sparkle – a must in any bracelet!

Step 3: Add a bit of shine!

Again, we want to keep the fairytale charms the focus of the bracelet, and it would be best not to overshine them with any sort of huge cubic zirconia piece or pave ball. I’ve picked out a few smaller dangles, clips and spacers that should add just the right amount of sparkle to the bracelet to complete it. Here is the Symbol of Protection hanging charm, the Pave Inspiration Spacer and the Pave Star Clip, all great neutral additions to any budding bracelet.

So good luck out there for anybody who’s thinking of building a special fairytale themed bracelet! If you have any other ideas that have worked well then shoot it over and feel free to send me a picture of your gorgeous creations. If you’re stuck for ideas the Pandora Fairytale section is another great place for ideas.

Pandora Zodiac Charms

The latest in Pandora’s Essences collection is an addition of 12 charms – all with a Zodiac theme. I’m near crazy about anything that’s even vaguely related to astrology, and these new Zodiac charms are a huge stylistic and detailed leap up from the old sets we had to work with. I couldn’t be more excited, and even came across this cool app here http://essencezodiacs.pandora.net/ that does through the zodiac and the charms for your month. Here’s a rundown for anybody’s who’s in the dark about the zodiac calendar!

Capricon (December 22nd to January 19th)

The star sign for Capricorn is a stylish looking goat and the personality matches as such – people born in this month are determined (as stubborn as a goat), ambitious and hard workers! Capricorns are perfectionists and likely to dress well no matter the occasion. As for partners the Capricorn values honesty and thoughtfulness.

Aquarius (January 20th to February 18th)

The Aquarius sign is a guy holding a jug of water – elsewhere I’ve seen just water or waves to represent this star sign. Aquarians are fun and free spirited, a bit of the opposite to the grounded Capricorn. Aquarians should look to an Aries as partners as both have similar natures.

Pisces (February 19th to March 20th)

The Pisces is a fish and apparently one of the most spiritual of the zodiacs meaning they are sensitive to their feelings and the emotions of others. As fish these people naturally love the water and seek out the other fish star signs like Cancer, Libras and Scopios.

Aries (March 21st to April 19th)

The fiery ram is another strong and energetic star sign. As determined as the Capricorn goat, Aries come across as great leaders and enthusiastic individuals. Fire what Aries should look for in a partner, along with the Leo and Sagittarius star signs.

Taurus (April 20th to May 20th)

You probably know the Taurus as a bull and the personality is the same – a hard working and headstrong character. A great thing about Tauruses are that they are a loyal and when they find their match they’ll stick to them no matter what!

Gemini (May 21st to June 20th)

The creepy twins! The Geminis are explorers of new experiences and super sociable. Geminis are also known to be a tad fleeting, and luckily gifted in natural beauty.

Cancer (June 21st to July 22nd)

The friendly water dwelling crab is the animal of the Cancer star sign. With a lot of water dwelling signs the theme seems to be emotions and Cancer is no exception! As with the other water dwellers, try to jump in the pool with another crustacean.

Leo (July 23rd to August 22nd)

A firey lion, the Leo is another natural born leader like the Aries. The proud personality makes these types of people happy showing off with a passion. Leos need somebody just as fiery and passionate as them to match their passionate natures.

Virgo (August 23rd to Spetember 22nd)

With a beautiful woman, the Virgos are described as those with calm and gentle personality and people that are wanting to reach out and help others. These people are all about helping the earth and healing the environment.

Libra (September 23rd to October 22nd)

A set of scales indicate that Libras are balanced and harmonious people with a sense of justice and longing for peace. Exercises like yoga, running and swimming that are more relaxed and meditative and great for the ponderous Libra.

Sagittarius (November 22nd to December 21st)

A bow and arrow, the archer is another firey and full of energy sign. Fun loving and optimistic, Sagittariuses are most compatible with other fire signs such as the Leo. For more info on your star sign charm head over to http://www.pandora.net/en-au/.