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Roxymandy January 21, 2015

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for Her

When I say I’ve complied a gift guide for “her”, I secretly mean a gift guide for moi!

I think most girls would like some of these fun items on this list, and I am one of those girls.

Some people really dislike Valentine’s Day since it’s a little commercial, but I will take any holiday where I get presents! Pair that with hearts, the color pink, and half price chocolate the day after Valentine’s Day, and it’s easy to see why this holiday is one of my favourites.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all to fill your significant other’s head with gift idea’s that you would love. It’s a great way to avoid disappointment, and take some stress away from the gift buyer.

Here are a few of my favourite Valentine’s Day gift ideas for this year.

This Kate Spade Love Birds Heart Tote is complexly ridiculous, and I love it. Who wouldn’t want a heart-shaped tote bag? It’s perfect for a Valentine’s Day date as well!

This Tuck Shop Trading Co hat looks like it would be cute in even the warmer months! There are dozens of hats for areas of Toronto from Yorkville to Scarbrough, but I like the Beverly Hills hat the most (hint hint Valentine!).

Tory Burch has a cute heart-shaped key fob in celebration of Valentine’s Day, amount other heart-themed gifts on their website.

16 macarons come in this special Toronto-themed box by artist Matthew Del Degan. Macaron’s from Nadege are some if the best Toronto has to offer, plus they ship online to make it easy for your Valentine!

This Love is all you need tote tote from from Chapters would be easy to wear all year long.

These Original Adjustable Gloss Wellington Boots by Hunter would look cute for Valentine’s Day, and every other rainy day of the year. Sometimes I wear my Hunter Boots on sunny days just because they are so comfortable.

These cute fingerless gloves from Etsy shop KernalCrafts are adorable! I love the one-of-a-kind gifts you can find on Etsy.

This Tiffany Notes “I Love You” Ring is so pretty, and it would be an excellent reminder that someone is thinking of you.

Roxymandy January 16, 2015

West Elm + Kate Spade Saturday Collaboration

West Elm has launched a collaboration with Kate Spade Saturday, and I have to admit it’s got me tempted to redecorate my house. I’m often tempted to redecorate my house, but in this case I have found multiple items in the collection seem to be exactly my style!

Kate Spade Saturday is known for being a bit more casual and free spirited than the regular Kate Spade fare, and it basically screams fun.

The collaboration includes furniture, bedding, rugs and accessories to add a pop of colour and fun to your home.

I have bought many items from West Elm, and they were all made with great quality and has lasted me without an issue. I love shopping at West Elm, so adding Kate Spade Saturday to the mix means I’m going to have to hide my credit card bill from my husband. That is until he notices the new rug on our living room floor, and then I’m pretty sure he’s going to figure it all out.

Take a look at some of my favourites below which may or may not already be in my online shopping cart.

To see the rest of the collection, click here.

Roxymandy January 15, 2015

How to Make a DIY Pin Board + Workspace Makeover

A lot of things in our house are under transition decor-wise right now. There are few projects in our house that I can actually do other than choosing throw pillows and pictures, but there was one I could pretty much do on my own and that was redecorating my workspace.

The challenge to this is that it is in our kitchen, so I had to make sure it matched the surrounding room, and also I couldn’t make it too girly since I live with three boys (a husband, son and dog).

This workplace was previously created by Style at Home Magazine last year, but since then we have changed the colour of paint they used in the room from blue to grey, so the pin boards they created no longer matched. It was time to revamp the space!

Before photos:

The pin boards themselves were very easy! I chose some fabric from Fabricland that I liked to re-cover the pin boards. I picked a stitched leather just for fun. It was a more costly choice at $18 a meter (I needed two), but most fabrics were half the cost so you could do this project with only $20 worth of fabric. I also purchased fabric pins for $2.95, and a roll of ribbon for $2.99 that I would also need.

Luckily I already had cork boards which I covered in the fabric, and stapled it onto the back of the board. It was really easy! Next up I used the fabric pins to attach the ribbon to the board. The ribbon would be how I could place photos on the board as well.

The last thing I had to do was hang it on the wall – that was it. A very easy project.

I needed to revamp my space a little so I purchased some notepads for the desk detailed in gold from Chapters that you can also find here and here.

My favourite new piece is my Kate Spade Stapler! It’s also from Chapters. I really wanted the tape dispenser too but it was sold out everywhere.

Instead I found a pretty fabulous dog tape dispenser ($12.99) that seemed like a pretty awesome replacement. I also picked up my letter sorter ($6.99) from Target as well.

I kept my Louis Vuitton and Dior hardcover books because I love them, and I brought in a gold tray (previously purchased from West Elm) and some fresh flowers. I also kept the Poppin pen holder and pens I already had from Chapters.

Voila! Workspace makeover complete. It’s actually encouraging me to work a bit more at my desk instead of the couch.

Roxymandy January 5, 2015

Trendy Winter Weather Hats

I love my new hat! I always wanted a chic winter hat. I felt like there was no practical purpose to me owing a hat like this, but once I actually tried one on I realized practicality didn’t matter. This hat demanded to be part of my winter wardrobe.

This one from H&M is made of wool and it actually keeps my ears really warm, which I didn’t even discover until I travelled outside wearing it. Wait, so now it’s sort of practical, right?

It’s not the kind of hat I would wear on a play date or for grocery shopping, but for lunch with the girls or a shopping trip? Absolutely! Here are a few more of my favourite stylish winter hats below.

Tory Burch Wide Brim Hat

Zara canvas wide brimmed hat

Forever 21 Wool Fedora

Asos Heart Band Felt Floppy Hat

AEO Wide Brim Fedora

Roxymandy December 31, 2014

My At-Home Gel Manicure With SensatioNail Fuse Starter Kit

For a girl who tries to stay on top of the trends, I’m embarrassed to say my first time doing a gel manicure was for this blogpost. Crazy right? I’ve heard rave reviews about them, but I’ve never really looked into doing one myself.

I do my own nails a lot. Like one to two times a week! I’m constantly changing my polish because I’ve either chipped it, or I feel like a colour change.

The hard part about my at-home manicures has been the presence of my toddler. I am always waiting for his nap or bed time to do my nails so they have a chance to dry.

I was a little worried that a gel manicure would be too time consuming for me to take on with the limited time I have to spare.

The SensatioNail Fuse Starter Kit is so pint-sized that it’s hard to believe what it includes. A Fuse Gelnamel colour, nail file, manicure stick, Gel Cleanser, cleansing cloths, and a high-powered Fuse LED lamp is included in the kit.

The Fuse Gelnamel polish formula ensures you don’t need a base or top coat which makes life even easier!

Since this was my first time doing a gel manicure, I read the instructions very carefully. I usually skip the whole “instructions” part of a project, but I figured I’d better play by the rules this time around. It was pretty easy because there weren’t many (part of the reason I was following them). Basically I had to wipe my nails with the cleanser, then add the polish. It was important to do very thin coats! The tiny LED lamp easily plugged in, and the button to turn the light on would stay on for 30 seconds, which is all you would need to set the polish on each nail.

The final step was to cleanse the nail again, and that’s it. I was surprised how easy it was. Each nail had to be painted and set with the LED lamp one nail at a time, and that was actually a good thing for me because the first time I tried the kit my son woke up with a nightmare (of course) during his nap! Luckily I was able to run upstairs and soothe him without getting my new manicure all over him.

I decided to try one of the SensatioNail colour kits because it included a matching sparkle polish. Fuse also sells individual colours as well which you can use once you buy the starter kit.

The real test for me would be how long this polish would last without chipping. My nails are the worst – they are always breaking, and I chip my polish all the time. I kept track of my progress to see how long the manicure would last over the holidays.

Eight days is a new record for me for sure. I’m used to making it three days without a chip if I’m lucky! On the 9th day I finally chipped a nail, and decided it was time to remove the polish.

I used the SensatioNail Gel Polish Removal Kit and SensatioNail Gel Polish Removal Tool for this part. The foil had pads inside that I saturated with acetone, and left on for fifteen minutes. Once I removed the foil, most of the polish slid off as well. I used the removal tool to remove the rest of the polish easily.

The whole process ended up being a lot easier than I expected! It gave my nails a chance to grow as well since the gel manicure prevented my nails from breaking. The best part was how quick the process was. Thirty seconds for each nail to dry was very impressive, and was perfect for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of time to work on their manicure.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to try a gel manicure, but now I get what everyone is raving about. This home kit couldn’t have made it easier for me!

You can find the SensatioNail Fuse Starter Kit, and other SensatioNail products at most major drug stores (including Shoppers Drug Mart), and online here.