Gift Guide - Homebody

This is part of a series of gift guides I am putting together and posting up until Christmas. Please be sure to check out the others Here! 

Homebody may be a slightly misleading description of this person, Houseproud might do it better! We all know someone who takes great pride in maintaining their home and filling it with gorgeous little knick knacks and treasures. Perhaps these might suit their style?

I don't feel like a house is truly a home without at least a few books kicking around. I don't care much for the new electronic reader technology, give me the smell of old books over strained eyes and something that feels utterly fake any day! Cute bookends add the finishing touch to any collection, here are a few goodies.

Vinyl Record Bookends from Typo

The End Bookend from Lark

People who love their homes often want to show them off, so why not give them some gorgeous servingware for the next time they're entertaining? (Gives them more reason to invite you over too!) Platters for me are something that are to be used to frame your food. What may perfectly complement a table full of colourful salads and BBQ cooked fare may not work as well for a more classy afternoon tea affair or even a make-your-own taco fiesta.

22 cm Hand drawn Lacey Serving Bowl by Yvonne Ellen

37.5 cm Fiesta Round Platter and 35 cm French Bull Melamine Platter both available at Peter's of Kensington

Another cute idea you won't find everywhere are these unique wire wall art Sculptures. I admit, my eyes may have done their little "dawwwww!" thing and widened when I first spotted the bunny sculpture. Each of them are handmade and differ slightly to others, so like hand blown glass no two are the same.

Owl, Bunny and other designs available from Life on Wire

Loving this week - Giant Freckles & Squishy cats

I've had a massive few days, after going and seeing the latest James Bond Movie, (the boy and I made a real nice date night out of it, Gold Class cinemas, fancy dinner, loved it.) and then the day job's Christmas party last night has made me  feel like I've hardly had any sleep all week. Thank goodness for weekends and lazy Sundays.

I'm currently in the midst of crocheting a massive floor rug out of t-shirt yarn for my house, and no doubt I'll still be making it in the months to come, but look what I found for sale! These awesome rugs are handmade in Nepal and no two are alike, they're also 100% wool, gorgeous quality and would look great in homes with a handmade and cheerful aesthetic.

Little Lamb Freckle Rug available from Lark

I may also have been hunting homewares like it's going out of style, (Pssh! Materialistic? Me?? Never!) There's just so much cute stuff out there. I am also a cat lady, I've never tried denying it and limit myself to my two babies. This minor crazy streak is finally meeting with my odd collection of what I called 'item' cushions, (I have some prior additions here.) In the form of this Squee worthy cushion from the hilariously cute Pusheen Website. I just want to hug it!

Pusheen 20" Plush pillow available here.

Gift Guide 2012 - Foodie

This is part of a series of gift guides I am putting together and posting up until Christmas. Please be sure to check out the others Here! 

Shopping for foodies is probably one of my favourite things to do, there's always a new gadget, or book to look at and in my opinion food styles and hot items can change just as quickly as fashion! Cupcakes, Whoopie pies, Macarons, etc they've all had their moments recently and opened up the idea of cooking and baking being a worthwhile skill to have to a younger generation who otherwise may never have learnt!

Cookies are a great way to open up the kitchen to novices and the results are great for spreading the love, I found these cute cookie stamps, hopefully there's something for all kinds of bakers! Cookie stamps in a variety of cute, hipster, indie and creepy.

A - Baked with Love Stamp available from Portmans

B & C - Munchstaches and Gingerdead Men Stamps available from Mighty Ape

D - Home Made stamp available from Lark

An idea for someone who likes to play with cocktails and liquid concoctions would have to be this nifty Zoku quick pop maker. It has the ability to create icy poles in minutes! Imagine the possibilities, you could use it to make a nice cooling after workout healthy treat that freezes while you exercise, or you could turn all those favourite summer cocktails into frozen treats. Not only do you have treats in minutes but you know exactly what went into them. It comes in various types that can make anywhere from one to three Zoku pops at once (I think the three would be great for someone who has people over a lot!) and come in a range of colours to match various kitchen decors.

Zoku Pop makers in single, two or three

Unfortunately the official website only ships to the USA, but you can also buy them in Australia here or here.

Rimmel BB 9 in 1 Cream Review

BB Cream by Rimmel

So I picked this up in store the other day, because the one thing I really need in my bathroom is another BB cream (Ha!) but for the price, I couldn't bring myself to say no.
What stood out for me most in the advertising would have to be that it has the highest SPF out of all the BB creams that I've seen on the market, at SPF 25 you get a level of protection that is usually reserved for products that are designed only to protect you from the sun, and not improve your appearance instantly.
Another point that I like about this product from Rimmel over others is the shade range. Yes it's only three but that's still more then other ranges, and the light is actually light! It works on my pale porcelain skintone and may even work in Winter when my skin goes completely void of colour.
The claims are that this product is 9 in 1 which is a very impressive number of tasks to roll into just one product. The list is that this product Primes, Moisturises, Minimises Pores, Conceals, Covers, Smooths  Mattifies, Brightens and helps Protect. for me, I could say that it does most of these, but I'd say it has more of a dewy finish then a mattifying one, but that's good for those who want that finish. Also conceal and cover are kind of the same thing to me...
Texture wise I found it a lot like zinc sunblock, it took a bit of work to spread, and you had to work quickly with the product before it began to set, but once you had waited a few minutes afterwards it was quite immovable.
My ultimate test with BB creams is whether the coverage is good enough to not need foundation afterwards, and I'm glad to say that this did the job nicely, I still put some powder on afterwards as the dewy finish doesn't work for long with my oily skin.

Of course I accidentally deleted the picture I took of the close up swatch spread on the back of my hand ...

Lets go shopping!

Well I'm taking the night of from blogging to go shopping. You'd have to be living under an internet-free rock not to know about the epic sales going on in many Australian retailers today. Some are even starting before the 7 PM EST official start so go get clicking!
Also worth noting is that it's not just the retailer listed at Click Frenzy, lots of others are getting in on the action so be sure to check out your regular favourites!
Personally I'll be hanging around Priceline, Myer, Target, Review, Glassons, Dotti, Diva, Lipstick Shoes, and Bardot (Phew!) I'll be tweeting anything phenomenal I find through my feed here.

Go score yourselves some bargains and let me know what you found!