We like to shop as much as the next gal or guy, but there’s something a bit unsettling about the mad “Black Friday” stampedes — which have started to creep into “Black Thursday.”

At the risk of undercutting our own sales, I’m going to beg you: PUT YOUR CREDIT CARDS AWAY ON THANKSGIVING DAY and chill out with your family.

Go to your local high school football game. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with those oversized cartoon hot air balloons. Tell your Mom you love her cooking or go toss a Frisbee with Dad.  Or tell your Dad you love his cooking and go play Frisbee with Mom.

There’s a reason why Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and it isn’t about going to the mall.

Now with that sermon out of the way, let me make it clear that I am neither anti-holiday shopping nor anti-credit card.  Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express, is the ultimate blend of the two.

Amex is encouraging Americans to devote some of their gift budget to local businesses, a badly needed boost for Main Street — especially in this economy. It almost sounds too good to be true, but the company is also giving $25 in free spending money to its cardholders who spend $25 or more at a local business which takes American Express.  What a deal! (Click here for details).

If you want to spend that “play money” on WallCandy removable chalkboard wall stickers, wall decals or temporary peel-and-stick wallpaper, we wouldn’t protest. Your best bet is to go to the WallCandy Small Business Saturday page!

You can enjoy four days of HUGE savings on WallCandy from Friday, Nov. 25 through Monday, Nov. 28!

No matter which credit card you use, you’re eligible for our four day Thanksgiving special: Buy One and Get One for Half Price. This deal applies to all our easy-to-apply stickers with the exception of the Occasions collection and gift certificates.

With all our stickers and decorations made in America, WallCandy certainly fits the spirit of Small Business Saturday. Listen to WallCandy CEO Allison Krongard explain why she refused to manufacture her products in China on the Fox Business Network.

And closer to home, here’s Allison celebrating more than 225,000 WallCandy kits decorating rooms around the world!

WallCandy Profile for American Express from Allison Krongard on Vimeo.

Want to get your hands on some Temporary WallPaper? Spruce up your house for the holidays and really impress those guests!

Use code wallpaper20 to save 20% on your WallPaper purchase! Hurry! This sale ends October 21st! Shop now!

The WallPaper $100 off sale was featured on People Magazine, so read about that here.

You can see our full line of peel and stick WallPaper here.

Only 24 hours to go! (Photo credit: Chris Ison/AP)

With Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton only one day away, Royal Wedding Fever is at its most contagious. If you find yourself scowling at your spouse’s sudden obsession with E!, your dental hygienist’s plan to host a WilliKate lookalike party, or your cubicle neighbor’s suspicious new accent, just breathe and remember it’s perfectly natural to find the British monarchy fascinating, if only because any governing organization that dates back to 400 A.D. makes our own political pot look so shallow. If you’ve watched even 20 seconds of The Tudors by accident (or the entire series in one shameless sitting, thank you very much), you and I probably share a category – temporarily interested, but only because it’s more tantalizing than baseball or bickering politicians. Yawn.

If there’s one thing about the Royal Wedding I’m enjoying, aside from a wicked case of gown anticipation, it’s the opportunity to save on a few Kate-inspired fashions or home accents for my own Buckingham Palace, which is slightly smaller and much more prone to hosting city mice but still my favorite place to fix up and Feng Shui. I appreciate any occasion that inspires my favorite designers to add new items to already fabulous collections and oft-visited stores to knock a few bucks off the things I’ve been eyeballing for weeks but avoiding due to a mysterious wallet drought. (If you know a few stores who are taking advantage of the Royal Wedding by allowing me to take advantage of a sweet sale or two, post a comment and clue me in!)

Brandon and his Union Jack

I admit that I never paid much attention to the Union Jack until I visited the humble abode of WallCandy®’s leading lady. I’d seen that most famous of flags numerous times on postcards and flagpoles – and once on a well-sculpted forearm – but its place in the Hall of Style Icons is hard to recognize without the proper medium. As a high-quality home accessory carefully planted among complementary shades and shy standards such as, say, a quilted maple bench purchased straight from the furniture maker’s dusty warehouse, the Union Jack truly stands out as a lovely bit of geometry done up in bright, classic colors. One of the most noticeable items in Allison’s house is the crown in her son’s bedroom, a thick Union Jack throw rug, which I daresay he’ll enjoy as a bit of warm-but-masculine décor well into his teenage years.

The Union Jack toolbox

In case you were wondering how cool the Union Jack can get, take a look at the newest addition to WallCandy’s hip housewares collection, the Union Jack metal toolbox by Alice Supply Co. What better way to commemorate Prince William of Wales’s terrific taste than to treat yourself (or your hosting dental hygienist, who just might know the secret to making homemade Aero bars) to the most stylish method possible for keeping up appearances? Use it to keep jewelry in a safe place, corral day-to-day supplies, or give an inherited tool collection a proper home. However you use this sturdy does-it-all, you’ll surely fall in love with a classic historical icon that just happens to be an effective space-sprucer all on its own.

WallCandy’s own Royal Wedding celebration doesn’t end with a groovy toolbox. From now until May 7, every item for sale on the website is 10% off – simply enter the code royal10 during the checkout process and save on a few fun things that will surely last way longer than the televised exchanging of vows.

Queen Elizabeth II prefers sprinkles.

Anyone itching to start a new season can score a pack of large whiteboard wall stickers or a chalkboard wall decal for planning a warm weather bake sale to christen the newly green front yard. Once rampant Royal Wedding Fever has subsided and we can all unglue our eyes, help your kids plan a menu of royally decorated pastries on our spacious cupcake chalkboard wall decal, throw those windows open, and let the scent of springtime baking permeate the neighborhood with the sweet smells of reality. When the first batch is sold out and everyone’s enjoying a sugar coma, it’s a cinch to move any of our reusable chalkboard decals to the playroom wall for an entire summer spent pretending to be the Royal Family’s official caterers.

Please, Please, PLEASE tell me you are not going to wake up at 2 a.m. on Black Friday and risk a shopping mall trampling for the opportunity to save a little more money on your holiday gifts. If you are lucky enough to have Friday off, how about giving a gift to your health (or your secret love for laziness) and get a few extra hours of sleep?

Yes, shopping and spending is vital to boost the economy and is absolutely patriotic. But stuff will still be at the stores at noon on Black Friday, with sales galore!

Of course, now post-Thanksgiving sales have been extended beyond the holiday weekend into “Cyber Monday,” the day we are all supposed to blow off our work responsibilities and do our shopping on-line. And now, there’s even Small Business Saturday, an American Express-backed campaign to support local merchants and independent retailers who might be squeezed out by the Big Box Stores.

I’m going to be frank with you. We here at WallCandy have been getting a little panicky about all the days of the week getting snapped up for special sales. That’s why we have now staked a promotional claim to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Introducing…. Sticker Sunday! This Sunday, venture out to our WallCandy Sales Room and feast your eyes on most of your favorite wall decals at special holiday prices. As a bonus, Sticker Sunday prices will be extended through midnight on Cyber Monday.

The Sale Room will also carry unique children’s toys and books, including one about a bear who likes to wear underwear (I suspect that rhyming is quite frequent in the dialogue).

And here’s another open secret. If you sign up for our free newsletter, you can have a 10-percent off sale any day that you wish. Our subscribers immediately receive a discount coupon code for 10-percent off — and then receive exclusive WallCandy discounts and the scoop on upcoming sales throughout the year.

But back to Black Friday.   Two years ago, a vicious mob of impatient shoppers trampled a Long Island Wal-Mart employee to death. Some of the crowd of 2,000 people had been chanting “Push the doors in!” before the incident.

Using actual footage of past Black Friday mobs, Saturday Night Live just did a parody of insane consumer behavior and the crazy marketing that spurs it:

We have faith that our sticker customers are more civil and care about humanity. But in any case, the WallCandy on-line sales floor is guaranteed to be trample-free.  No need for karate lessons. No need for a bodyguard.  Just relax at home on Sticker Sunday and shop without anxiety.

(In case you were wondering, the cute child growth chart wall stickers pictured above is part of the sale!)

And don’t forget – place your order by midnight, Dec. 15th for delivery before Christmas!

Happy holidays!

- Allison

Please enter the code cybercandy30 at check out and you will receive a 30 percent discount off your entire order of anything in our online store.

Happy Shopping!

- Allison

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- Allison

Time to announce a winner! Our polls are closed, the popular vote has been tabulated, and the people’s choice in our My Sweet Room Contest rings loud and clear! Drum roll, please ….

Congratulations to home decorator extraordinaire, Christy Snook, who decorated her daughter Delaney’s room to perfection with a happy combination of our wallsticker kits.

Christy ran away with the large majority of votes in our Contest, but we still must congratulate all the entrants, who each demonstrated marvelous creativity in his/her own unique way. And extra congratulations to Rick Joens and  Karen O’Campo, who both received special mention.

Allison Krongard, President of WallCandy Arts, remarked about Christy’s entry: “Delaney’s room is bursting with fun and intrigue. I love how Christy combined Candy Factory with the Seasons designs. I would have never thought of it but it looks fantastic. I really appreciate all the entries;it’s such a joy to see what people do with the product.”

To reward her excellent work, Christy will receive her choice of WallCandy wall sticker kits.

Thanks so much to all participants, and we hoping everyone is looking forward to our next Sweet Room Contest. We’re planning for it to be bigger and better than ever! Look for details soon.

- Allison