DIY Makeup Wipes

I love giving homemade gifts for Christmas but I love making them even more. If you read my blog then you probably know how sensitive my skin is because I am constantly talking about it on here. So there are some makeup remover wipes that really irritate my face and so one day I was just super over it so I found this on Pinterest and made them and now I don't think I'll ever go back to store bought ones. Plus this is way cheaper. 

What you will need: 

• refined coconut oil
• Baby Wash 
• A mason jar 
• Cotton pads

First take two tablespoons of the coconut oil, then about 2 squirts of the baby wash into a bowl with two cups of water in it. You can also add an essential oil to give them a smell. 

Once all of the ingredients are in the bowl together microwave the bowl in increments of 10-20 seconds. I had to do this quite a few times but I think it's the coconut oil I used that took a while to melt. 

Once everything is melted, add as many of the cotton pads that you can into a jar, pour the liquid mixture over the top of the pads. You will want to push the pads down and then add more cotton pads and more of the mixture. 

I added cute little Christmas decoration to make this a cute little gift for someone, this could also be a great grab bag gift or housewarming gift!

Etsy Personalized Gifts

I have always loved the drawings that you can find on Pinterest of the fashion clothes and any other drawings like this and how cute to have it personalized to your family! I think this is such a cute gift idea and it gets rid of the hassle of trying to get everyone together during the holidays for the photo. Plus I think it would be super cute to see how everyone looks in drawing form. This artist is from the Etsy shop called TinyBuffaloDesignsCo and is so talented you can check out more of their work on their Etsy page!

I personally think this is a great gift idea for any man you may have in your life. I find it so hard to buy gifts for the guys in my family but I do know that all of them would like a personalized custom pocket knife. This knife is from the EngraveMeThis Etsy shop. The front and back can be personalized to say whatever fits the person you are giving this to them most!

Those name necklaces seem to be the on-trend necklace to have and although I do love them this ring may be the next best thing. This would be such a sweet gift for a mom or even a girlfriend or bestie! This ring is from the Etsy shop ivoryMR. You can even pick out different fonts and colors for your ring!

First of all who doesn’t love to get a mug during the holidays (or anytime) and better yet who doesn’t love getting a PERSONALIZED mug! This Etsy shop is ODYSEAstore and they will put your name or pretty much anything else you would like on the back of this rustic mountain mug!

Etsy is a great place to find the most unique and so personal gifts for the holiday season. I have found that communicating with the Etsy shop owners is also a great way to get exactly what you need and I can honestly say I have never had a bad experience with one of them. One way to avoid a bad experience is through the comment, you can almost always get a good feel about the product through the comments.

Stocking Stuffers For Him

See all items below:

Kyle loves funky socks so I always try to put a pair of funny socks into his stocking each year.  Another good idea for men’s stocking stuffers is phone cases, Jack Spade has this navy and red one which is two of Kyles favorite colors so he would love this. I also love to add something special into his stocking and how cute is this old car with the tree ornament? I also found these fan plugins which go in your phone and turn your phone into a fan. I like to add little gadget things like this into Kyles stocking. 

Kyle also loves hats but always seems to lose them so easily, the north face has a bunch of nice hats in all sizes and colors. Kyle also has been keeping his beard (he goes back and forth) and now they sell beard wash which I just think is hysterical. 

For Christmas at my house they boys usually get small things in their stockings like a new toothbrush, scratch-offs, the one year we put a tiny set of legos in their stockings just small stuff they would need but not want to buy themselves!

Board Games

The Game of Things | What's That Smell | The Sock Game | Family Feud | Poop the Potato | The Original Tiny Hands Challenge Game | Don't Lose Your Cool | Cards Against Humanity | Telestrations After Dark

Each year we get a new board game under the tree and it is honestly the best thing we get. After our dinner and dessert, we all play one of the games we got and we usually laugh until it hurts. One of our favorites that honestly will be so hard to beat is telestrations. Telestrations is pretty much telephone and Pictionary put together and it is the funniest game I have ever played. They make the regular game and an adult version which are both hysterical. Another favorite is Family Feud. This was another amazing Christmas present, which we played after dinner. An added bonus to this game is if you google “family feud soundboard” all the sound effects of the television show and it adds so much more to the game. 

I added a couple in here that are brand new like Don’t Lose Your Cool, which I saw Carly play on her Instagram story and it looked so funny. I also read about The Sock Game which I think is for smaller children because it talked a lot about sensory activities but it looks so cute! I love the idea of games as gifts because they bring people together in a way that nothing else can. 

Holiday Makeup Sets

I love to browse through the holiday makeup sets, I especially love the green and red ones which look like a Christmas gift. How adorable is the old-fashioned tub filled with bath goodies?? Another bonus is that usually with makeup sets you get multiple items for a reduced price. The IT cosmetics set is only 68$ and is valued at 100$ and they are all full sized products which is an amazing deal. 

Too Faced always has the best holiday sets, like the packaging of this Christmas cracker and this makeup bag. Not to mention their gingerbread themed eyeshadow pallet. All of there items are festive they really make it feel like Christmas!

The beauty blender gift set is an amazing deal for anyone who is a beauty blender fan, there is also this one which even comes with a cleaner which is so convenient. I have to be honest I am not a huge beauty blender person but I have recently been using like a cheaper brand and I have heard there is a big difference in quality between the knock off’s and the actual beauty blender itself. 

I think I put this perfume sampler in every gift guide but I think it is such a good idea. If you don’t know what scent a person is into or if they want to try a different scent this is the perfect gift. It comes with 15 samples of all different perfumes this way you can try out and smell each scent. Then there is also a coupon inside to take back to Sephora and get a full size of the scent you liked the best.

Christmas Pj's

White Penguin Pajama set | Black Penguin Pajama Pants | Black and White Fuzzy Socks | Penguin Fuzzy Socks

Each year my mom buys the girls matching Christmas pj’s, it’s my favorite Christmas tradition. This year we went with these penguin pajamas from gap factory, we even all have matching socks. Except for Kaitlin, we kept calling her tacky from the book "Tacky the Penguin" because she was the odd one out and that I guess is the storyline in the book (I've never read it). We are also not allowed to wear our pajamas until the night of Christmas Eve but mom made an exception for these pics. We all had so much fun taking these pictures while we were on our trip to Vermont. 

Here's a blooper:

My Christmas Wishlist!

1. Daisy Dream Perfume: I am in desperate need of a new perfume since I am completely out on almost all of them. I have never personally had this perfume but my mom has and I love the scent of it. 

2. Earmuffs: These J.Crew earmuffs are so cute and fluffy I never think to get earmuff’s but I always wish that I had them while I was out in the cold. 

3. Slip Pillowcase: These silk pillowcases have so many health benefits, they help to protect your hair from tearing, have anti-aging effects, and more. They also look so comfortable, I’m really picky about the texture of my pillowcase so I feel like I would love this. 

4. Sawyer Leather Booties: I already have a pair of these Sawyer boots in suede and I seriously live in them. I love them also in this brown leather, I love them that much that I want another pair!

5. Patagonia: I have had my eye on this Patagonia better zip sweater, I love to wear half zips to class and while just chilling around the house and this is perfect for that. 

6. Kendra Scott Elle Gold Drop Earrings: I love these earrings and have always wanted a pair of them, this white mother of pearl color is so gorgeous! I love these earrings because they are so classic and will go with anything1

Today is also the first day of Blogmas, which means that I am posting every day in the month of December! I hope you guys love it this year!!

What are you guys asking for this year?!?!

Christmas Advent Calendars

All of these calendars are below:

This is it, it’s finally here! We can officially countdown to Christmas, Freeform begins their holiday movies, the Hallmark channel will no longer leave my TV (no matter how hard Kyle tries to get me to change the channel) and we can pull out the advent calendars. When I was little we had the cutest wooden calendar with doors that you opened to 25 tiny drawers and “Santa” would fill each drawer with a candy. Now there are so many different advent calendars that you can buy, we actually just bought my dad an advent calendar for his birthday that is filled with fishing lures. I also love the advent calendars that are filled with makeup, but nothing can beat a good old fashioned chocolate advent calendar like this Godiva one. 

Christmas Cookies!

Royal icing cookies are my favorite cookies to make when it comes to a special occasion or a holiday. These cookies are actually for my preschoolers and some extra for me and my family but I love how personalized they can be. I originally found out about royal icing cookies from Carly the prepsters Valentine's day cookie post. I watch Carly's live Instagram with her reader Collen and I was hooked. It's so fun and I know mine aren't perfect but it's just something that I really love to do and the cookies are delicious. 

Christmas Inspo

All of these photos can be found on Pinterest

I have a fascination with looking at Christmas home decor on Pinterest and fantasizing about what my own home will look like around the holidays. One decoration at my house that always makes it feel like Christmas is the lit up garland. 

Snow Globe DIY

I love to do different DIY's during the holiday season, I recently posted about the pinecone trees that I made and the wreath that we made which is one of my favorite traditions. Today I am back with another DIY, this is a waterless or nonliquid snowglobe which makes it a quick and easy DIY.

For this you will need:

• Hot glue gun
• a small figurine
• a jar big enough for the figure to fit in
• fake snow
• Ribbon or string (optional)

The tricky part about this was making sure that the figure we picked out, fit in the jar that we bought. Once you find the right size you hot glue the figure to the bottom and then fill it with snow seal the lid and it becomes the most beautiful snow globe! 

The string/ribbon can be wrapped around the top especially if it is a gift for someone or to add another touch to the top.

 

Friday Finds (Blogmas Edition)

• This adorable Christmas card: I love when things like this flood the internet to remind us of what the holidays are all about. You have to read this article to read the daughters sweet reaction to the photo!
• Fixer Upper gift guide: I love all of these gifts, especially for that one person that is so hard to buy for there may be something for them on this list. 
• Mallory Ervin: Mallory just started her vlogmas for the 12 days till Christmas and I am obsessed. Her positive attitude and excitement is contagious.
• Royal Icing Christmas cookies: I plan to make some royal icing Christmas cookies to send home with my preschoolers on our last day before break!

Holiday Outfit Inspiration

Every year I look forward to picking out my outfit for the big family Christmas Eve party at my grandparent's house. Usually, I pick a color like red, maroon, navy, that I want to wear and base the outfit off of that. This year nothing has really jumped out at me so I came up with a few outfits that I am really loving that would work for any holiday gathering.

Themed Gifts | For Him

You may have seen my themed gifts for her so now it is time for the themed gifts for him. I think I write about how hard it is to buy for the men in my life everytime I make a gift guide related to them but it is seriously so hard. That's why I like themed gifts so much if I know they like something I run with it. Like my dad loves to fish, my brother loves baseball. Do you know how many themed gifts I have done in relation to baseball and fishing... too many to count. So I really hope these help you out if you have stubborn men in your life like I do.

For the Tech Savvy Man (Fitbit):

Fitbits were the big ticket item last year and to be honest I haven't really looked at their products since but they really stepped up their game. You can now add your credit card and pay through the watch and they have these wireless headphones. One thing I love about Fitbit is how many accessories they have for the straps. 

For the Man Who Likes to Have a Drink:

I love all of these pieces if you have a man in your life who likes to have a sophisticated drink. I also think that this mixer's manual would be perfect for someone who just turned 21, I know when I was 21 I didn't know anything about what was in a real mixed drink. This way he or she can learn what they would like so they can order it the next time they are out.

For the Man Who Wears a Watch:

I think that a watch is a perfect gift for any guy. My dad works in construction and has always said that he didn't want a nice watch. But my mother just gave in one year and bought him one. The man wears the watch literally all the time. Every time he goes out to dinner or anywhere even semi-casual he wears it and loves it.

For the Professional Man:

How cool are these sunglass cufflinks from Nordstrom. I love this theme for the man in your life who has to go to a more professional job every day. I also love this tie and sock set so that way he has a variety of ties to choose from instead of just one.

For the Chef:

I just love the name of this cookbook "The Dude Diet" and this man apron is the perfect pairing. This would be the perfect gift set for a guy in college who is living on his own. One year when Kyle was in college he got a cookbook that had recipes for canned food only it was pretty funny.

Themed Gifts | For Her

I love getting the people in my life two or three things as a gift that all have a common theme. For Kyle, it would be something to do with video games such as a controller, a game, and maybe a video game poster. For my mom who loves to cook, it would be an apron, a cookbook, and a cooking tool. There are so many different themed gifts you can do so I made a gift guide for some ideas:

p.s. if you click on the picture it will take you to where you can buy the item.

For the Person who Loves to be Cozy:

 I have heard nothing but amazing things about these slip pillow cases and the sleep masks. The pillowcase is supposed to be amazing for your hair and anti-aging. They are even recommended by dermatologists which really got me intrigued by them. And who doesn't love a blanket and new jammies.

For the Beauty Guru:

This is a really great price for the dry bar kit for the amount and quality of products that you get. I've never been to a dry bar because there isn't one by me but it has always been on my bucket list. If you're like me and don't live by a dry bar this may be the next best thing.

For the Cook:

The pioneer woman is hands down the best show on the food network, if you don't want to live on her farm with her family what are you even doing with your life. I love how her show really ties together food and family and her food is absolutely amazing. 

For the Tech savvy:

Last year for Christmas Kyle got me the Lume case, it is the biggest conversation starter whenever I use it out in public. Every time I use it I get at least one person say "omg you have one of those". The quality of photos that it takes in a dark setting is unbelievable. If you are someone who takes a lot of photos this is definitely worth the money.

For the One Who Loves Jewelry:

Jewelry is a gift that you really can't go wrong with, right now I'm into a small petite jewelry phase but also love pieces like these Kendra Scott statement earrings. The amazing thing about these earrings is how many colors they come in and Kendra Scott comes in so many other designs so there is something for everyone.

Wreath Making!

 Making wreaths is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. My mom has always made the wreath for our front door for as long as I can remember. Every year I love to watch her theme come together as we pick out all the goodies. This year she went with a vintage inspired look. Usually and like this year the theme starts off with one piece which this year was the old station wagon which I think is so cute. Most of the stuff we got this year is from target and the rest is from Michael's. This years may be my favorite one so far. My mom always uses a real wreath and it is honestly so fun to go and pick it out with her. It really is something that I look forward to each year.