Holiday Gift Ideas for Him

Guys are hard to shop for, plain and simple. I came up with a few ideas for any guys in you life that you are still struggling to find that perfect holiday gift for. Happy Shopping.

 

1. Bag // 2. Tie // 3. Scarf // 4. Watch // 5. Kindle // 6. Iphone Case

It's Friday!

TGIF! I can't believe it is Friday, but I especially can't believe it's only 11 days till Christmas. Thankfully I pretty much have all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped. Gasp!? I know, me actually being prepared this year, big surprise!

To start out our Christmas shopping, Bill and I knocked out a lot of gifts at the Holiday Markets in New York before I headed back to Michigan.

 

Etsy opened a Holiday Shop where you could view some shop owner's items and speak directly with them. Some of the shop owners were working right as you browsed. It was an awesome way to see the behind the scenes of Etsy and some of the shops.

After that we headed over to Bryant Park where we browsed the Holiday Shops set up there. The little glass kiosks transform the park into a great shopping experience. The variety of goodies sold make for great one of a kind gifts.

We shopped till we dropped literally and then headed back to Jersey.

Where do you do most of your shopping for the Holidays?

December Birchbox

For those of you who haven't signed up for Birchbox yet, you should because it is amazing. I look forward to mine each month with so much excitement. Whoever said a box was boring was so wrong. 

You pay $10 a month and receive a box in the mail full of sample size products to try out and review. If you love them you can purchase the products online at the birchbox store. Also you get points for then reviewing the products as well as points for dollars spent. With 100 points you receive $10 off any purchase. To find out more click here.

This month my box didn't disappoint. I was surprised on how large the samples were. 

To start I dove right in and ate my Dark Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Fortune cookie. For some weird reason I love fortune cookies and this one was great. I mean what girl doesn't love chocolate. If you don't your crazy!

Eyeko supplied a Skinny Liquid Eyeliner which I am excited to try out because I usually use a pencil.

Everyone has been talking about the new CC creams and now I get to try out Juice Beauty's Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream. This went right in my makeup bag. 

Juicy Couture sample is sweet with a little bit of floral notes. It's nice to always have new perfumes to try.

Lastly, since you know I am a hair girl, I am super excited about this large Advanced Volume Shampoo sample from Nick Chavez Beverly Hills.

Pretty Ponytail

So you want to know what to do with all those curls from yesterdays tutorial? Well your in luck because that's exactly what I am going to show you today.

This tutorial is great for putting your hair up in a little fancier way than just a boring old ponytail.

Curling and Setting your Hair

This tutorial is great for a fancy updo that needs to be super curly or have a lot of texture. Also, this is great for those of you that have hair that doesn't hold curls. If you wanted a similar look with not quite as tight of curls you could use a little bigger curling iron than a 1" like I did.

This tutorial is going to be 2 parts in 2 days. I wanted to show you how to curl your hair like this first (part 1). The part 2 of this tutorial, which will be tomorrow, will be how to put these tight curls up into a fancy ponytail. 

DIY Scarf

Want to learn how to make this little gem of a scarf? Well, it is pretty simple as long as you have a lot of time on your hands. It took me a full day to make this scarf, but it is cute enough to be worth it! I found the tutorial here. 

What you need:

- wool fabrics in at least 4 different colors (9" by 13" cuts)

- wool fabric in a solid color used for backing (1/4 of a yard)

- thread in opposite colors of wool

- beads (optional)

- Patterns and Diagrams

Cut two strips 37" long and 1 1/4" wide of your solid color for your backing. Over lap pieces about 1/2". Sew them together. Trim extra fabric. Set aside. 

Cut flowers. (38 small, 20 medium, and 18 large)

(You can draw your own small medium, and large flower pattern or print them out here.)

Once your flowers are cut you need to stich 3 or 4 veins lines in the center of all the small size flowers with contrasting thread color of flower. Use a triple stitch if available. (Diagram 1)

With the medium and large flowers, pinch 1/2" tuck in center of flower and tack it down with a few stitches. (Diagram 2)

Pair one small flower with a medium or large flower in a contrasting color. Tack the small flower on top of the larger flower with same color thread used for veins. Repeat until you have 38 pairs of flowers in an assortment of color combinations. 

Pin flowers along one side of your strip. Fill the strip from end to end, placing strips close enough to fill the space but barely touching. (Diagram 3) Flip the strip over filling in the spaces between the flowers placed on the first side. Tack them all down to the backing using the same color thread as used on top small flower.

(Optional) Hand stitch a contrasting bead onto the center of each flower. 

 

Maybe this can be used as a holiday gift for someone you aren't sure what to get? Once your done though, you might just be to in love with it to give it away!

High Five For Friday!

Wow! This week flew by. I know I have said this before, but really, where did this week go?

1. Brrrr winter is here. Broke out the winter coat for walking around in the city.

2. Did hair and makeup for a commercial Bill was directing. 

3. Got a little crafty this week. (Look for a post soon on what I made.)

4. Bailey went beauty shoppin' and got the Christmas special!

5. Went to the Rockettes last night at Radio City Hall. Let's just say, I have been bitten by the Holiday Bug. Love this season!