Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! What are your plans? Tonight my doorbell will get a real workout. I'm looking forward to seeing the neighborhood kids & their friends in their costumes, and to seeing the excitement that candy gives them.  It never gets old :-)

Speaking of old... I just love everything about this photo of my younger brother and me with our pumpkins. Based on my haircut I'm guessing this is the fall I started Kindergarten, so probably 1978. Aww!

photo by Susan's mom :-)

Skip the mall and come to McCaw Hall!

Seattle: Your holiday shopping just got a lot easier and more awesome. Just four short weeks from now, the 4th Annual etsyRAIN Handmade Holiday show will be bigger and better than ever. More artisans are participating than ever before and we've got a gorgeous new location to boot. This Thanksgiving weekend, support small local businesses - including This Charming Candy :-)

What: 4^th Annual etsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Show
Dates: FRIDAY and SATURDAY, November 23 & 24, 2012
Show hours: Friday 11am to 6pm / Saturday 11am to 5pm
Location: Marion Oliver McCaw Hall Lobby – Two floors of booths!
321 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109

You can RSVP:

• on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/104082626409591/
• on Yelp http://www.yelp.com/events/seattle-etsyrain-handmade-holiday-show-4

There will be 100 swag bags to give to our first customers through the door EACH day – a total of 200 swag bags – the most we’ve ever offered! So exciting!

Blood Suckers for Halloween

"I vant to suck your blood..."
photo by Kevin Keeker

If your Halloween plans include vampires in any form,the seductive, deep red Blood Suckers will be a big hit (SugarLoco thinks so too!)

The cool, tingly flavor of anise invokes the vampire’s cooler-than-human body temperature… and the clean sweet taste of apple presents the temptation of eternal life that lurks in the vampire’s kiss...

If you plan to include lollipops at a Halloween party you’re throwing or attending, you should order from our Etsy store by tomorrow to ensure delivery in time for the 31st. Trick or Treat!

Lion Baby Shower Theme

Our customer Sandy used lollipops in yellow, blue and orange (Pineapple Heaven, Blueberry Muffin and Tangerine Clove flavors, respectively) in an adorable lion-themed baby shower. She used wrapping paper to decorate a 4" Blumebox with the cake pop insert -- a product that we totally love for photo shoots -- and viola!

Photo and baby shower styling by Sandy

See all the decor and many more photos in her blog... Thank you, Sandy, for sharing your creativity with us!

Have you displayed This Charming Candy lollipops at a wedding, a Thanksgiving table, a birthday party or other event? We'd love to see your photos and, with your permission, share them. Drop us an email anytime.

Crafty Caravan is Today!

Just a quick reminder for Seattle people... the seriously awesome Wayward Coffeehouse in the Roosevelt neighborhood is hosting the Crafty Caravan traveling craft show tomorrow morning...

I'll have all of This Charming Candy's lollipop variety packs with me, plus Greatest Hits 2012. If you've got something specific that you want to be sure I have with me, drop a comment below or send email to thischarmingcandy@gmail.com and it'll be packed up and waiting for you!

Greatest Hits 2012
photo by Heather Immoor

Here's the full list of participating Crafty Caravan artists:

When Good Lollipops Go Bad

If you're thinking ahead about buying lollipops for holiday presents or as event favors, you might wonder, "How long do lollipops last?" Sugar is a natural preservative (think: fruit jams, jellies, etc.) so in general, lollipops have very good shelf life.

They're naturally dairy-free and fat-free and they don't "go bad" in the sense of becoming spoiled or otherwise dangerous to eat. We ship them to you in a zip-top bag and you can expect them to last a few months at normal room temperature conditions. If you're getting them a few months before you expect to eat or give them, you could put them in an airtight storage container for some extra protection.

Eventually, hard candy pulls enough moisture from the air to begin melting itself. While browsing the photo archives for the Salted Caramel retrospective, I came across this beast from 2010:

Heat and humidity are the enemies of hard candy.
But stored properly they'll last for months in fine condition.
photo by Kevin Keeker

Startling, no? If I remember correctly, Kev & I were hanging out and decided to do an impromptu photo shoot outside so we could start to understand how to take pictures in that environment. All we had on hand were some very old models, at least a year old or more. Given that it's purple candy on a black stick, it is probably an early prototype of the Honey Jasmine flavor. It looks like not only has it been melting, it's crystallizing too - the sugar is reverting to a granulated state.

Tens of thousands of lollipops have passed through my custody since I began this business, and I really can't remember the last time I've seen a lollipop in such wretched condition!

Orange Lollipops for Halloween

Tangerine-Clove lollipops
photo by Kevin Keeker

There's no better Halloween lollipop in our lineup than Tangerine Clove. The look of the warm, pumpkin orange labels against the electric orange candy just screams "FALL", doesn't it?

And where any This Charming Candy lollipop really stands apart from mass-produced candy, of course, is flavor. A spike of aromatic clove really wakes up that tangy tangerine!

If you're planning to include lollipops in any of your Halloween fun, the U.S. order deadline is next Tues Oct 23rd. Trick or treat!

Grown-Up Trick or Treat

We had so much fun giving out lollipops last year, we're doing it again! Whether you're in costume or not, drop by our lollipop kitchen on Monday Oct 29 between 4-7, exclaim "Trick or Treat!" and pick out the sucker of your choice. Free lollipop! Because you're awesome.

We call it "Grown-up Trick or Treat" but all ages are welcome of course! It's important to encourage kids to enjoy quality flavors at an early age :-)
 
WHO: kids of all ages
WHEN: Monday October 29 from 4 - 7 pm
WHERE: 7533 Lake City Way NE, Seattle (at The Wandering Cafe)
WHY: did you miss the part above where it said "free lollipop"? 

Happy Halloween! 

Hockey Friday: Lockout Edition

Last night should have been the NHL season opener, but the current lockout has resulted in the first few weeks of the season being canceled. Meanwhile, many players are headed to play for various European clubs, including my Flyers' Danny Briere and Claude Giroux. Go Eisbaren Berlin! Sigh.

Perennial Favorite: Salted Caramel

It was our 3rd anniversary this week, as you might have heard... A lot has changed in three years, but one thing that's remained remarkably consistent is your love for Salted Caramel lollipops. "Addicting" may be an understatement, as we know many of you call them "Salted Crack"! Here's a brief retrospective of photos going back to 2009. Enjoy! 

A pinch of French sel de mer yields a lollipop that's rough and salty on one side, smooth and sweet on the other. From day 1, we loved showcasing the salt crystals suspended in the candy.

In 2009 and 2010 we were intrigued by allowing the lollipops to cast interesting and colorful shadows on whatever surface was behind them, like this textured wall. The above picture was among the first pictures we ever tried outside, and it also highlighted the silky smooth edges of the candy.

As we entered 2011, we continued our experiments with daylight conditions and tight cropping. This photo shows off the salty texture and the beautiful clarity of the rest of the candy -- clarity that comes from our small-batch methods.

In our light box photo sessions, such as this one from late 2011, we've always been partial to what we call "lollipiles" -- playful scatterings of lollipops askew in all directions.

In 2012 we started experimenting with lighting the lollipiles from below, a technique that yields some intriguing variations.

Salted Caramel's been a trendy flavor for a few years now, and at least from where we sit, it shows no signs of slowing. Viva Salted Crack!

And The Giveaway Winner Is...

Congratulations to commenter #16, Morningside, who wins the This Charming Candy 3rd anniversary giveaway! Please send email to thischarmingcandy@gmail.com and let us know your shipping address.

random number generated by http://www.random.org/ 

comment #16 to the "We're 3!" blog post

Thanks to everyone who participated . It was so cool and inspiring to hear all the reasons you deserve a ten minute treat. And here's to, we hope, another year of ten minute treats from This Charming Candy.

We're 3!

This Charming Candy turns 3 today and we're incredibly thankful for you, our lovely and amazing customers. You're the ones who make this possible and who make it so much fun. Thank you!

To celebrate, we're giving away a Lollipop Collection of the Month, our six month variety pack subscription, to one lucky commenter to be chosen at random.

Variety packs by This Charming Candy
photo by Kevin Keeker

Our tagline affirms "You deserve a ten minute treat"; it's the premise behind This Charming Candy and it's why we love hard candy so much. All you need to do to enter the drawing is leave a comment answering the question: Why do you deserve a ten minute treat? You could tell us about a kind thing you recently did for someone, or name something that you like about yourself or that others think is charming about you... you get the idea.

Simply leave your comment to this blog post anytime before 9 pm Pacific tomorrow, Tuesday October 9 [UPDATE: post before 8 am Pacific on Wednesday Oct 10. Your comments are awesome so far! Please remember to sign your post somehow so we know who you are...]

We'll use the Random Number Generator to pick one lucky commenter at random to win a lollipop subscription! We'll announce the winner in a post on Wednesday October 10, so don't forget to check back.

NOTE: if you win, we'll ask you to send us an email message so that we can get your mailing address, because we probably won't know how to contact you otherwise!

The More Things Change...

... the more they stay the same :-)

Me in 1975:

Me in 2012:

Aqua Lollipops for Mermaid Birthdays

Earlier this year, we created a special aqua color for a mermaid-themed birthday party, which was designed and created by the TomKat Studio. By popular request, we've made one more batch of aqua lollipops, in two of our delightfully kid-friendly flavors: Bubble Gum and Blueberry Muffin.

{ party photos courtesy of The Tomkat Studio
and taken by Vicki Lynn Photography }

You, your little mermaid, and her mermaid buddies will love them! We probably won't have time to make another batch before the end of 2012, so once these are sold out, it'll be a while before they're available again.

Next Crafty Caravan: October 18th

Quick announcement for Seattle area folks - I’m part of a small group of local artists called Crafty Caravan. Most of us have shops on Etsy, and we have developed an intimate traveling craft show that will periodically do shows in a few local independent cafés.

The next edition of Crafty Caravan is Thursday Oct 18 from 9 am - 12 pm at the seriously awesome Wayward Coffeehouse in the Roosevelt neighborhood. Any shop that takes inspiration from Joss Whedon's Firefly is ok in my book.

I'll have all of This Charming Candy's lollipop variety packs with me, plus Greatest Hits 2012. If you've got something specific that you want to be sure I have with me, drop a comment below or send email to thischarmingcandy@gmail.com and it'll be packed up and waiting for you at the show.

Whether you're a parent looking for a bit of adult time or a regular haunter of coffee houses, we hope you'll join us for a morning of laid-back caffeinating (oxymoron?) and shopping.