Your Holiday Gift Needs Answered!

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Your Holiday Gift Guide Needs Answered!

Friends!  You asked and I’ve answered! It was so fun to read your holiday gift needs.  I assembled a very simple list to answer your needs.  Let’s go!!

Husbands

A common theme most of you need is a gift idea for your husbands.  Believe it or not, this one is pretty easy.  My most important piece of advice is to not overthink it.  Most men are big kids, right? So my suggestion to you is to nonchalantly ask your husband about his favorite childhood toy. Next, get on eBay and try to find it for him.  eBay has everything, and you will be sure to find your husband his favorite gift.  Christmas is magical; it’s not practical.  So go for it! Let your husband feel like a kid again!

I asked my husband about his favorite childhood toy and his answer was “slot cars.” I didn’t have to look on eBay.  It was so easy to find a brand new set!

holiday gift needs

click photo to shop

Parents and In-Laws

Several of you mentioned that you give gift cards to your parents and in-laws.  I’m going to hold you to the same gift this year but add a creative twist to the idea.  First, come up with your budget. To  make it easy, let’s say your budget is $125 per person, so for your parents, that would be a total of $250.  During the holidays, several restaurants have gift card specials where if you purchase $100 in gift cards, you receive an additional $25 gift card for free.  Instead of purchasing one $125 gift card, purchase five $25 gift cards at two of their favorite restaurants.  When you add on the two free $25 gift cards, you will have a total of twelve gift cards to two restaurants for a grand total of twelve cards and a total of $300.00 in gift cards (but remember you only spent $250.)

The above monetary denominations is just an example.  The goal is to purchase a total of twelve gift cards.  Let me show you why.  You’ll need to purchase the following items in addition to the gift cards:

holiday gift needs

I bought the above journals and mini envelopes at Michael’s.

Here is what you need to do:

  1.  Label twelve pages with the months of the year
  2.  Adhere a tiny envelope to each month’s page
  3. Insert a gift card into each envelope
  4. That’s it!

holiday gift needs

holiday gift needs

Now your parents/in-laws have a gift card to use once-a-month for the entire year!  This is so much more fun than just giving one gift card.  Spread the cheer throughout the year!!

Teens and Family Gifts

A few of you asked about group gifts for kids and of course you asked about ideas for the teens in your life.  First, who doesn’t love Harry Potter, right?  You MUST check out this fabulous collection of every Harry Potter book in brilliant hardcover editions, boxed in a collectible cardboard trunk. This is a gift that will be treasured for a very long time.

holiday gift needs

click photo to shop

For teen boys, the answer is simple:  an iTunes gift cards.  This is a great deal because you get four $25 gift cards for less than the $100 value. Just make sure to use fun packaging!

 

holiday gift needs

click photo to purchase

holiday gift needs

cute gift card holders from tjmaxx

holiday gift needs

cute gift card holders from tjmaxx

Teen Girls

I always need to have a theme for Christmas.  Several years ago, our girls received money from their Oma in Canada that we used to purchase their first iPhones. I really struggled that year to come up with a theme, but when I finally did, I hit it out of the park!  Since we purchased their phones from the AT&T store in the mall, I came up with the idea to make their Christmas a “Tour of The Gardens Mall.” I went into each of their favorite stores in the mall and purchased one thing.  In the higher end stores, I bought the least expensive items, like key chains from Kate Spade and flip-flops from Tory Burch. I wrapped each gift in the store’s bag instead of with Christmas paper, so when they came out of their rooms on Christmas morning, they saw nothing but mall bags under the tree. They opened each gift and then hidden under the tree in the back were their iPhones.  It was the most creative and exciting Christmas for our girls!

You can do the same thing! After you decide what their big present is going to be, like a huge makeup gift set from Sephora, or perhaps even a new iPhone, just go to all of their favorite stores and purchase gift cards or some of their favorite items.  For example, you could purchase them a pair of earrings from MadeWell and include the earrings in a small MadeWell bag with a gift card.  I’m sure you get the idea!

Hostess, Teacher, and Friend Gift Ideas

subscription greeting card box

click photo to shop

How could I compile a Gift Guide and not include some shameless self-promotion?!  One of the best gift ideas for hostesses, teachers, and friends is a single box or a subscription to eWillow.com Greeting Cards. It’s a very popular gift idea and the card collections sell out quickly every holiday season. Currently, there are two promotions the expire at the end of the year:

Offer One:

  • Order our quarterly card package subscription for $59 and receive $6 off.  That’s only $53 for a total of 40 cards over 4 shipments.
  • No limit
  • Free shipping (USA only)
  • Enter shipping addresses in special instructions area on checkout page
  • Ship to your home or to the recipient’s address
  • Card will ship to arrive the week of December 19th
  • Enter coupon code XMSAVE6 at checkout

Offer Two:

  • Order a one-time greeting card box for $24.95 and pay only $20.00
  • No limit
  • Free shipping (USA only)
  • Enter shipping addresses in special instructions area on checkout page
  • Ship to your home or to the recipient’s address
  • Cards will ship to arrive the week of December 19th
  • Enter coupon code XM2017  at checkout

Have fun shopping! Be sure to leave a comment so I know what you ended up giving your husbands, parents, in-laws, and teens!  I want to know if you used any of these ideas and if the results were a hit!!!

Shopping Slideshow with Clickable Affiliate Links:

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holiday gift needs

disclosure:  if you purchase from an affiliate link, i’ll receive a small commission (like enough $ to go to the dollar store,) but in keeping with FTC guidelines, I need to tell you that.

The Only Dress You’ll Need This Holiday Season

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Holiday Style Guide: The Only Dress You’ll Need This Holiday Season

Friends!  For my “Holiday Style Guide” I found the only dress you’ll need this holiday season!  It’s by Calvin Klein, and it comes in a variety of colors and a few different styles.  I bought it in winter white and red, and I plan on changing the accessories and wearing both all holiday season and beyond.

holiday style guide

I absolutely love, love, love the bell sleeves!  (You know how I feel about covering the arm flab, right???!!! It’s just so much easier to wear 3/4 length sleeves than it is to work out!)

holiday style guide

I added a fun faux collar to dress up the winter white version.  It’s always funny to me when women in south Florida wear fur – faux or otherwise – because it’s always so darn hot.  However, there are times when it drops into the thirties, so I always have some faux fur things in my closet to keep me warm.

holiday style guide

holiday style guide

I decided to focus on this dress for my “Holiday Style Guide” because you don’t have to go crazy buying several different holiday pieces.  Just buy this dress in a couple of colors, add different accessories, and you’re good to go!

I decided to jazz up the red version of this Calvin Klein bell-sleeved dress with some over-the-top earrings!  I love this fun look!

holiday style guide

holiday style guide

Maybe one day they’ll make contact lenses that double as sunglasses so I can finally take pics without my shades!!

Have fun shopping for the holidays!

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”2887921″]

 

holiday style guide

Rock The Pink

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Rock the Pink

Don’t be afraid to wear bright colors!  Rock the pink!  Banana Republic currently has some fabulous pink items that they call “Pop Pink” and I love them all!  Our wedding colors were hot pink and white, so I think I’m subconsciously automatically drawn to anything bright pink. You know, now that I think about it, hot pink just might be my favorite color!!

The best part of Banana Republic’s “Pop Pink” is that some of the items are an extra 50% off the clearance price with code BRTREAT. Take a look at this little outfit I picked up yesterday:

rock the pink

 

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And yes, that’s gray in my hair!  Don’t panic! It was an experiment for an upcoming project.  It’ll wash right out!

National Consignment Day!

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National Consignment Day!

TheRealReal has designated today, October 2nd, and National Consignment Day!  You can read about it on their website HERE!  With the holidays coming, NOW is a great time not only to shop consignment and save money but also to consign your items and make money, too.  🙂

When I started college many moons ago, I was a Fashion Merchandising major.  I didn’t know that business courses would be a part of it all.  Let’s just say that I got a D in Economics and an A in Personal Clothing Selection.  I quickly changed my major.  Economics and all that went with it was not for me.  I decided to stick to fashion, and only to fashion.

national consignment day

There is one concept about economics that I do understand:  economics is mostly linear.  An item is produced and put up for sale, we buy it, we use, and then we dispose of it.  There is so much waste in the process!  Just because something is no longer of use to us doesn’t mean it isn’t of use to someone else.

Example:

Look at this cool mini roll-top desk that my husband found in the trash pile at his office building.  It’s in absolutely perfect condition, but it was destined for the garbage.  What?  What a waste that would have been!  He knew I would absolutely LOVE it, and I do!  I’m planning on using it to keep track of all of the paperwork that has come about from my blog and Instagram and my resurrected modeling career.  It’s important for me to stay organized so that I have more time to focus on the things I love to do.

 

national consignment day

Consignment stores are a great way to repurpose everything from furniture to clothing to accessories.

TheRealReal is an online consignment store that is based on a cyclical economic concept instead of a linear concept.  Instead of disposing of items that we no longer want or need, we can consign them and allow their life-cycle to continue. There are so many benefits to consigning:

  • less waste of goods and services
  • less waste of textiles to landfills
  • extra income
  • great prices for buyers

Check our TheRealReal before you head out to splurge on a new designer item.  The offerings are plentiful and like-new from the designers we all love like Chanel, Celine, and Gucci, and the prices are fabulous.

TheRealReal has designated today, October 2nd, as National Consignment Day.  If you don’t have any furniture or clothing to consign, you can still participate!  Here are some ways:

  • donate your unwanted items
  • use reusable shopping bags
  • tell your fashionista friends to visit TheRealReal
  • be mindful of your environmental footprint before you dispose of large items  

My Picks from TheRealReal:

national consignment day

national consignment day

national consignment day

TheRealReal has home goods, too.  So many gift ideas!  Too many to list!!

I don’t understand much about Economics, but I ended up marrying someone who not only understand it, but has a degree in it.  Yikes.  I guess opposites really do attract!

Thank you to TheRealReal for sponsoring this post.

New Makeup! from Urban Decay!

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New Makeup from Urban Decay and a Fun Day in NYC

I know, I know!  Not too long ago, I wrote about how I only wear MAC makeup.  I have a confession to make now, though.  I cheated!  I tried some new makeup from Urban Decay and I LOVE IT!  Take a look at my “MY MAKEUP” page here for all the products. I broke it down into different slideshows to make it a little more organized.  Each picture is clickable and will take you to the product’s detail page on the Nordstrom.com website.  If you order that way, most of the products are at a discounted price.  🙂

When I was in NYC at the beginning of September, I did a photo shoot for 10/10 Optics (you need to visit their store on Madison Avenue the next time you’re in NYC!) and I also shot some personal photos for my resurrected modeling career.  I really needed some casual headshots without my glasses. It’s always been a challenge to shoot outside because I squint so badly, but the lighting was perfect!

I wore some fabulous clothes from Zara and Uniqlo.  I remember when Uniqlo first opened.  We were in NYC for Erica’s 16th birthday and there were people out on the streets handing out cards for the grand opening of the store. We were a little bit confused over the coats they were showing…you know, their signature lightweight thin quilted jacket.  Little did we know they would become one of the biggest trends that season and continue to be even now!

Let’s talk about Zara for a minute, too, shall we?  They had a huge store in The Gardens Mall before they caught on in America, but they closed the store several years ago. Why would they do that?!?!?! Come back, Zara, come back!  Does anyone know how we can make that happen?

new makeup urban decay fun day nyc

photo: mike allen

new makeup urban decay fun day nyc

photo: mike allen

new makeup urban decay fun day nyc

photo: mike allen

new makeup urban decay fun day nyc

photo: mike allen