11.30.2017

Christmas Card Season With Shutterfly

Christmas cards are hands hand down one of my all time top favorite holiday activities. I just love everything about the, taking family photos, to choosing a card theme and design, and picking out all of the extra details that make a card extra special, I just love it. This year was so exception and we went with TinyPrints (from Shutterfly) for our cards again. I love their unique designs and choosing a card design is so hard to do only because they're all so pretty! Eventually  I narrowed it down to two different designs, this pretty gleaming joy design, and this "Blessed" ribbon gold foil design that we ultimately went with and Frank helped me choose. Gold foil is such a weakness of mine, because gold, and shiny are two words that always catch me eye, plus I love the glam and festive feel that it brings.



I wanted a little more minimal look this year, simple and classy and I feel that this card design totally captures the look I was dreaming of for our 2017 Christmas cards. The great thing is that Shutterfly and Tiny Prints make it so easy to create just what you're looking for this year! All you need to do is choose a card design (that's the hard part, for me anyways, since they're all so pretty), add your photo, add your family name and that's pretty much it. the rest is just small details that you can choose based on what you'd like, they have signature card stock or you can choose what we always do, pearl shimmer card stock (my fave), from there, most card designs have different color foils and glitters and backgrounds you can actually choose to completely personalize your card! And if square edges on your card don't suit your fancy, you can decide from scallops, rounded edges and more, seriously the ways you can personalize these cards are endless to make them truly one of a kind and completely your own. So fun right?



I also grabbed some lovely personalized postage stamps to match our Christmas cards and I feel they're the perfect way to tie everything in and create a seem-less and festive holiday card look. When your card shows up in the mail everyone will stop and take note! And who has time to sit and write address for hours? Shutterfly and Tiny Prints also offers to envelope addressing! I didn't choose that option this year but it's definitely on my list for next year! I did however choose a custom self inking address stamp for our return address on the cards!



If you still need cards, there's still time! You can browse and choose form so many festive designs here, and there are always a ton of promo codes available on their website so make sure to take advantage of all of those (you can usually use multiple codes) while choosing your design and checking out with your cards or personalized gifts. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays friends!



Thanks to Shutterfly & Tiny Prints for sending products in exchange for this post. As always, my opinions are my own and I only share products and brands that we love in our home.

11.29.2017

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for THE LITTLE ONES

While gifting is one of my love languages, gifting for children is on another level. It's my absolute favorite. Finding fun and unique items that a child will love, that aligns with all of their interests and that's good quality is the best. That's why I'm so excited for this third and final installment of my 2017 Holiday Gift Guide series, since this one is all for the little ones! We've loved each of these brands that I'm featuring below for years, and their products are each perfect in every way, great fir gifting to your own children or other little ones you buy for. Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!


ONE | CUDDLE & KIND
We're big fans of Cuddle and Kind in our home, we own 3 already (the pink bunny, the red haired mermaid, and the girl fox), so these two new sweethearts, Aspen the penguin, and Stella the polar bear, are going to fit right into our cuddle and kind doll family nicely! Though we love how soft and cuddle these dolls are, also love the quality and that fact that our little girl loves them so much and could play with them for hours, what we love most about these dolls, is that for every single doll purchased, Cuddle & Kind donates 10 meals to those in need. So for every doll you purchase, you'll be feeding a child or family 10 meals, putting food on their table and food in the tummies of hungry and growing children. Their mission is what resonates most with me, and the fact that you can have such a nice product to purchase while doing good in the world is so awesome. Their dolls are hand crafted by artisans in Guatemala and once you get one, you'll need them all. Oh! And they also come in two different sizes, the regular size, and the mini, so no matter what your budget or the size of your little one, you can still do good!


TWO | MAILEG
Maileg is one of those brands that offers the "aaawwwww" kind of toys, the ones your little ones love and the ones you certainly can't resist. I mean, just look at those tiny baby mice, I simply cannot deal. the cuteness is too much. Last Christmas we got the sleepy wakey bambi for Bella and it's become one of her absolute favorites, she says its "lambies sister" (her lovey that she's carried around since she was around one year old) and it's just the cutest thing, so I figured why not add a couple more of these sweet little toys from Maileg to her collection! These baby twin mice are simply darling and I have a feeling that this isn't the last set of mice we'll be getting, and I have a feeling I'm going to love these little mice just as much as she does haha. I love these toys because they're not bright, flashy, loud toys that are going to break in a month, they're actually quality made, Danish design toys that will last for years to come and never go out of style, toys that can be passed down and be favorites for so many generations. This sweet little bunny was also sent our way and it's going to be the perfect friend for sleepy-wakey bambie and her lambie!


THREE | BABYLIT
Books are the best thing ever, or at least we think so in our home. Books have always been my favorite, I'd spend hours upon hours upon hours as a child with my nose stuck in a book, reading anything and everything that I could get my hands on and filling my head with the knowledge of big words (that I was always using and telling my brother to look up in the dictionary when he asked what something meant haha), all the classics (Jane Austen was and still is one of my favorite authors) and filling my brain with all sorts and manners of useful and useless facts and things alike. So now that I have a little girl of my own, and she loves to look at books and be read to, it's time to break out some of the classics as well as some new favorites! BabyLit has been one of our go-to and favorite places for children's board books since I first found them right before Bella turned a year old (and one of her 1st birthday gifts was a BabyLit pride and prejudice, that she can no recite word for word all on her own). Last year we got her 5 more and this year we're upping the game to 10 new BabyLit books! Woohoo! A few of he new books we chose for Bella this year is A Christmas Carol, A Little Princess, The Nutcracker and the Fairy Friends collection, you can shop all of their books here. I can't wait to see her smile when she finds these all under the tree on Christmas morning!


Cozy things are one of my big weaknesses. Like give me all he cozy things, blankets, throws, pillows, pajamas, rugs, leggings, quilts... I need them all, er at least I think I do lol. So of course it was natural to get Bella a couple more muslin quilts from one of our favorite brands, Clementine Kids. We have the original clementine quilt and she loves is so much. It's so soft and cozy, keeps you the perfect temperature and it's big enough that I can even use it as a throw blanket for myself while watching a movie, well, that is when she lets me, she usually keeps a pretty tight grip on it and isn't so keen on sharing lol. I love these quilts because they don't fade or pill, they show virtually no wash wear and even though we've had our clementine one for months, it still looks brand new! I usually keep them folded in a cute basket on her dresser so she can easily grab it whenever she want to snuggle up with it and I cannot wait to add these two to our collection, the ice cream one is going to be soooo good for summer and I just love the pretty nature inspired print of the huckleberry one as well.


FIVE | GATHRE
Gathre mats are one of the must-have necessities in our home. From snacking, to crafting, to painting, to baking, to picnics outdoors and everything and anything in between. We just love our Gathre Mats and I'm super excited to get another one to add to our collection! We already have this round flax maxi, and this grid midi from the Riley + Cru collaboration earlier this year, and though we love both sizes, for everyday use around our home, I love the size, convenience and portability of the midi size, so when I spied this raven midi on the Gathre website, I kind of fell in love. I know, I know, you're probably like, whaaaat she got something other than white, gray or brown? but I just love the contrast of this one, something different and unique and it can be used for more than our other two lighter ones, like if my daughter wants to use markers, she can use any color she wants now haha, which I'm sure she'll be thrilled about. She's going to be so excited to find this under the tree on Christmas morning, along with some new crafting and art supplies of course!


11.28.2017

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for HER

Happy Tuesday! I'm so excited to bring you my second installment of my 2017 Holiday Gift Guide series, filled with such great items that every woman will love and I can't wait to find some of these under my tree on Christmas morning, as well as gift some to family and friends! I'm keeping it minimal this year with gifts and I'm just loving each and every one of these items. I love that they're all useful, beautiful and functional. I'm excited to share them all below, hopefully you'll find some great gift ideas and you could even send this to your significant other as a hint list! Happy Shopping!


ONE | Freedom Soap Co.
I recently chatted about some of the products we love from the Freedom Soap Co. over in my men's 2017 holiday gift guide and I'm loving all of their products for the ladies just as much! These ylang-ylang and rose bath salts are simply amazing, they have the most divine smell and I absolutely cannot wait to take a relaxing warm bath with these. This facial toning water spray is such a great addition to my beauty regimen and it's so great on my skin, I also love this cleansing oil, perfect for removing makeup naturally and so much more. And of course I can't not talk a little more about their lovely soaps again; I'm absolutely loving the lavender and rose clay, both smell so delicious and work so great! I just love that all of the products they offer are completely natural with no bad ingredients, so you don't have to worry about anything and your skin will be it's happiest!


A chunky woven blanket has been on the top of my wishlist for awhile and when I received this one in the mail recently it was love at first sight. It's so soft, so cuddly, and so beautiful. If you're looking for a little luxury to add under the tree this year, then look no further, this blanket (which comes in three different sizes) is the perfect gift for the lady in your life. Each blanket is handmade and hand-knitted in the beautiful state of Utah by Elena, the sweetest lady who is a coffee and cat lover (two of my own favorite things) and the quality is amazing. Unmatched in softness, as well as very high quality and durable even though they're so soft. This piece is definitely going to be a conversation starter in your home and I would be surprised if everyone just has to know where you got it so they can buy one too (you tend starter you). Guys, take note: every lady needs one of these to snuggle up in for movie nights and reading on cold days. If you need me, you'll find me snuggling up under this pretty blanket all winter.


A trusty mug is one of those things that everyone needs, and it's even better when it's as cute as this pretty mug from Soul Vessel Designs. After seeing it online, I couldn't get over how pretty it was, but I literally gasped when I opened the box, so stunning in person, and it's the absolute prettiest mug ever. I love the size if it. It's large and shallow so it'll fit a ton of coffee but also cool it off faster so I won't be constantly burning myself lol, perfect for keeping for yourself or gifting to someone special to you, or you could just buy one to keep and one to gift. I've been loving my coffee and hot cocoa in this mug since the holiday season started and the quality of this mug is great!


FOUR | Fawn Design
Fawn Design has been our go-to bag of choice for the past year and I literally never carry anything else anymore, we just love their sleek minimal design and the fact that they hold so much, all while looking super stylish. Not to mention that we love the faux leather since it's so resilient and everything just wipes off to look good as new. We've had a black one, a bloom one (a limited edition color from this spring), and now I'm super excited to try out the Fawn Design mini! Yes, they make a smaller size now and even though I simply love the storage capabilities of the original size, I'm excited to start using this mini size since I don't always carry as much with us now that Bella is potty trained and getting older, this way I can also carry it with me and use it as a purse on date nights! I just love the pretty natural brown color and how it's neutral so it'll go with everything in all seasons!


FIVE | Woven Pear
I don't wear socks often, but when I do, I want them to be cute, and I just love the cuteness factor , as well as the coziness of Woven Pear socks. Whenever I wear them out in public I always get a ton of compliments and comments, everyone just loves how unique they are, and that's another big reason I love them too! There's a pair to match whatever mood you're in and a pair for whatever your hobby or favorite snack may be (ice cream and sushi anyone?). I've loved Woven Pear since they first started way back in 2015 and I admittedly have quite a collection of them (because I need them allllll, they're so cute).


11.21.2017

2017 Gift Guide For HIM

Gifting is one of my favorite things, and when it comes to finding gifts for my husband, I love it even more, even though he can be a little hard to buy for sometimes since he has pretty much everything and always insists he doesn't want anything. But I can't have a tree empty of gifts on Christmas morning, so I always scour the internets for the perfect gifts for him and sometimes come up with some gems like these! The perfect gifts for my husband and if you're in the same situation as me, (with a husband who never wants anything) here's a list below of some of my favorite gifts that are perfect for any guy!



ONE | THE FREEDOM SOAP CO.
My husband absolutely loves handmade soaps, so these soaps from The Fredom Soap Co. were totally a no brainer. They smell great, wash great and are filled with great ingredients! The Freedom Soap Co. is an all natural, soap and skin care company who specializes in small batch, handmade items perfect for all skin and everyone, and each product is specially formulated, tested and made completely by hand, right here in the United States! Another reason I love this company so much is because they source so many of their ingredients locally to them, so while you think you're supporting only one small shop, in reality you are supporting many more small shops and local business owners, beekeepers, farmers, brewers and more! Plus in addition to all that, their products contain none of the junk that you find in most products available on the shelves in stores, in Freedom Soap Company products, you'll find only the best, most natural and quality ingredients. A few of our favorite soaps are the coffee and peppermint, activated charcoal, and pine and eucalyptus bar soaps, they all smell so amazing and I have a feeling they're going to make the most perfect stocking stuffers this year!



Watches are one of the most timeless gifts for a man that I can think of. Something that they can feeling stylish while wearing, yet it's so functional and practical as well, and just makes for the best gift. This year I'm adding another watch, this absolutely stunning watch from JORD, to Frank's collection and I absolutely cannot wait for him to find this under the tree and start wearing it, in fact, I may have to give it to him a little bit early, I'm that excited about it haha. This Koa and Black Wood Watch (from JORD's Dover Series) is without a doubt the prettiest watch I've ever seen and also one of the most unique watches as well. The fact that it's made from wood is amazing, especially since I'm obsessed with all things natural wood, and the shiny gears peaking through? That just puts the candles on the cake. It features sapphire crystal glass, a display with hours, minutes and seconds, and the splash-proof koa wood band is pre-treated with tung oils to keep it looking great for years to come. It's also an automatic watch (or self winding), which means no batteries (so no trips to the jeweler for a new battery. Yay!). The rustic look of the wood, and the industrial vibe of the visible gears, give this skeleton wood watch such a classy, unique and masculine feel, the perfect gift for my husband. Every man needs a nice watch, so if you're looking to make a stylish statement this Christmas, make sure to scoop up one of these awesome wood watches from JORD, they have so many different styles and options to choose from and also sell women's watches as well all men's!



THREE | RXBAR
We first tried RXBars last year and we're totally hooked now. We've loved every flavor we've tried so far and I was super excited when a box of their NEW (seasonal) flavor showed up at our doorstep recently. Cue all the excitement when I realized the flavor was gingerbread. So delicious and the perfect holiday flavor. We love the great taste of RXBars, but one of the most important factors is that's inside them. Just the good stuff: egg whites, dates, almonds, cashews... just real and good ingredients you can pronounce, packed full of protein and fiber, they're the perfect for whenever you get a snack craving and want a healthier option or for fueling up after a workout. They're also pretty perfect for filling up stockings for Christmas.



Coffee is one of my favorite gifts for my husband, because let's face it, you can never go wrong with coffee, especially when it's a hand crafted artisan roast made right here in the USA, plus I'm a sucker for great branding and packaging and Canyon Coffee's packaging is on point. When I opened the box, the smell of delicious roasted coffee beans wafted out at me and I can only imagine that it will taste even better than it smells. My husband starts every single morning off with a hot mug of coffee, so not only is coffee the perfect way way to wake him up in the mornings, it's also a great reminder that I love him! If you want to make this gift of coffee even better, sign up for the subscription service (you can choose to have your coffee shipped every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks, depending on what your coffee needs/wants are), truly the gift that keeps on giving (plus you save 10% off of the one time purchase list price by subscribing)!



Wallets are another favorite item to gift to my husband, and this No. 52 Buck Brown Vertical Leather Wallet from Stock & Barrel Co. is such a fun and unique take on a wallet that I know he's going to love. Crafted from high quality vegetable tanned harness leather, this awesome wallet will only get better with age as it ages with a lovely patina and gets softer day by day. It contains 4 card slots, 2 hidden pockets and the edges of this wallet are neatly burnished and have the signature bison mark that Stock & Barrel is known for. It's perfect for gifting or keeping for yourself. Stock & Barrel also offers a DIY kit so if this wallet strikes your fancy but you're like "oh! how cool would it be to make this myself", well now you can, find that fun DIY kit (which also make a great gift idea) here and you can learn all about leather working and crafting your own items from leather!



Wooden Wristwatch