Visions of Sugarplums dance in their heads | Gift Guide 2013

Happy Christmas Eve! There are just a few more hours left before the big day, Christmas and everyone is still busy sprucing up, grocery shopping and gift shopping. Fir those of you still at a lost for what you should gift, here’s a round up of my Gift Guide for 2013 along with some last minute suggestions.

For the guys in your life click here to see all the fabulous things you could get them.

If there are a couple ladies on your list, then I would definitely click here.

Then there are those gifts that might not have crossed your mind.

Finally for the crafty or those who try to be, here are 15 DIY gift ideas.

I don’t know if you had noticed but I completely omitted Makeup and beauty items from my ladies’ gift list this year. Truth is, I forgot, and then got just a tad too busy to post it. There were so many beautiful and interesting gift sets from the makeup world this year I can’t wait to see next year’s! I hope to get a head start on posting about them too! It would be a shame to post it know as so many of them are already sold out and since it’s Christmas Eve people are probably going bonkers to find them.

BUT, a great last minute gift idea is to get someone a gift card to one of their favourite stores. I’m sure I’ve mentioned gift cards before on my blog too. I think the least nonchalant way to give a gift card is to put it along with something else, like a stocking stuffer, a smaller gift or a very sincere greeting card. That way it doesn’t scream, “I didn’t know what to get you, so here…”

Also doing the smaller things like getting the person’s favourite movie on DVD, or perhaps buying the lip balm/ deodorant/ lotion they always use or lose or run out of, shows you appreciate the person for the little things. Just replacing batteries on one of their watches is a good way to show you are paying attention and care. Christmas shouldn’t be only about giving the “best gift”, but also about realising the persons who are vital in your life, just as God is. He sent His own son as our gift to be a bigger part of our lives than persons back then even understood. So in celebrating with all of the gifts, food, and parties, let’s not forget the greatest gift that has been given to us, Jesus Christ. I’m not a close to God as I should be, but if it’s one thing, I always remember at Christmas and Easter, there was some one who cared so greatly for us, that He sacrificed his one and only son for me (and you too).

I probably won’t have the time to post tomorrow with all the festivities going, but I want to wish you all a Happy, Safe and Blessed Christmas!

PS: Check back Thursday for another Healthline guest post on Preventing Shingles

15 DIY Gift Ideas | Gift Guide 2013

Hey all! Around Christmas time it always seems like our budgets are the tightest. There are so many people we appreciate in our lives that we want to get them all a gift or two. However we can’t always do that with the price of some items. Here are a few affordable DIY gifts that can be small tokens of appreciation for the people in your life. Great for us students who have limited budgets! Many of them seem pretty easy, even for persons like me who can’t draw any fancy designs.

Apologies that this post is so late, I really did not get the chance to post this earlier today, but I hope you do enjoy it!

Personalised mugs/ candle holders

Message Candle Holder

Mason Jar Mug Cozies

Personalised Mugs

DIY Jewellery

Flower Earrings

DIY Mineral Rings

DIY Bangles

Knick Knacks

Button Bookmarks

DIY Ring holder

DIY Air Freshener

DIY Chevron Coasters

Beauty

DIY Glitter Polish

DIY Glitter Lipbalm

DIY Lemon Soap

Magnetic Makeup storage

DIY Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub

Treats

Rum Ball cookies

Perfect Hot Cocoa Gift

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

DIY Lip Scrub (RW) | Beauty

Hey all! Here’s another Rewind Wednesday for you. But before we get to that, I wanted to inform my Bajan viewers that Cherish Cosmetique still has the deal on with the Clearasil PerfectaWash sets available and even cheaper than before. So now you’ll be getting it for $10.99 rather than $15.99! Mine lasted me just over 6 months, so it’s really a good buy. I just have to figure out how I can refill it with something else, since the refills aren’t sold here.

Since it’s the beginning of the colder months, we want to keep our skin since and supple, especially our lips. My lips used to be chapped all the time especially in the cold A/C of uni classrooms. Luckily after using this lip scrub and a my Maybelline Baby Lips, I’ve seen way less flaky lips. Thank God!

Of course you could change up this recipe to suit your tastes and budget, or what you have at home too.

What you will need:

2 parts Coconut oil or Olive oil

1/2 of lemon/lime

2 – 3 parts Brown sugar

1 – 2 parts Granulated sugar

1 part Golden syrup, or honey or any liquid sweetener

Instructions:

1. Mix the brown and white sugar together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl (or cup), combine the cocnut oil (I used 2 capfuls), half of a lemon, and a teaspoon of Lyons Golden syrup.
3. Add your liquid mixture to your sugar and mix until well combined.
4. If your product is too liquid, then add more brown sugar, if it is too stiff, add more liquid (either oil or juice).
5. Store your scrub in an airtight container, or use right away to exfoliate dry lips.

Video Tutorial

Click here to view the original post.

DIY Lip Scrub for the softest most kissable lips!

With Valentines day on the horizon, us ladies want to have the softest most kissable lips for our significant other.  During the colder windier months, the environment takes a toll on your lips.  Applying lip balm frequently may remedy the problem for a short time,  but sometimes lips need a bit of exfoliation to allow them to absorb moisture more effectively.  Today I’m going to show you a simple do-it-yourself lips scrub that isn’t expensive and all of the ingredients are probably  in your cupboards.  The texture of my scrub is more of a liquid, especially since the sugar settled to the bottom, which I didn’t like, so I added in more brown sugar a day after. The best part about this scrub is that it’s edible!

Source

The lemon juice give a bit of a sour taste and citric acid is supposed to be a natural exfoliant. Remember, the more juice you use the more your sugar will dissolve, so add more sugar to suit. I like to mix the sugar because I find that brown sugar alone does not get everything exfoliated, but with the smaller granulated crystals, you get a lot more work done with less product. Honey is a hmuectant so it helps with keeping things moist, a good substitute for honey is golden syrup.

As you all also know by now I love coconut oil over olive oil and thus I used it in my scrub, but feel free to use olive oil. I went with measurement in teaspons and eye-balled the rest. I wasn’t being very specific and you really don’t need to be.

What you will need:

2 parts Coconut oil or Olive oil

1/2 of lemon/lime

2 – 3 parts Brown sugar

1 – 2 parts Granulated sugar

1 part Golden syrup, or honey or any liquid sweetener

Instructions:

1. Mix the brown and white sugar together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl (or cup), combine the cocnut oil (I used 2 capfuls), half of a lemon, and a teaspoon of Lyons Golden syrup.
3. Add your liquid mixture to your sugar and mix until well combined.
4. If your product is too liquid, then add more brown sugar, if it is too stiff, add more liquid (either oil or juice).
5. Store your scrub in an airtight container, or use right away to exfoliate dry lips.

Finished results! Yes silly face. I’m wearing Maybelline Baby lips and LORAC Lotsa lip plumping gloss in Foxy.

Video tutorial: