inspiration: November 2011

I cannot believe that December is here and that Xmas is just around the corner! All of a sudden I find myself buried in xmas cards, wrapping paper, xmas decorations and a huge to do list!
The kids are really excited, we are finally going to decorate the house this weekend. I've decided to rearrange furniture, well I have to really as I need to find a spot for our xmas tree...as the kids grow older, we seem to accumulate a lot of"junk"- I'm not sure if that is the right word but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, games, toys and so on. When everything begins to feel a bit too tight then I say it's time to "de-clutter" and I'm incredibly good at it! And also now that they are not so small anymore they are great helpers, Lucas for instance looks after the tree (bought from DJ's a couple of years ago) and he does a great job of it! I still love the idea of a real tree of course and I tend to make arrangements out of branches in pots or vases which last for two or three weeks and make the house smell lovely and festive.
The girls look after the decorations and other bits and pieces, I look after the lights...it's such a happy time!
Somehow though that word "happy" doesn't sound right...I am thinking of all those children that sadly are not going to have a special time this xmas. I think that the best thing I can do as a parent is to make my children aware of what goes on around us and to teach them to give back to the community especially at a special time like this.

On a completely different note I would like to add a "Happy first day of summer" to everyone in Oz...it's finally here and hopefully it will be an enjoyable and happy one for everyone :)

all images pinterest

Wish you all a wonderful day

Claudia xo

Wooden Doll Nativity

I fell in love with this Spool Doll Nativity from {Holes in my Shiny Veneer}. Here's {part 2} of her adorable nativity, in case you're interested. So, I set out to make my own.

Within a week, I came across this wooden nativity backdrop at Target for only $2.50! I was seriously so excited! Then, I went to get some wooden spools and doll heads at the craft store and while I was looking I saw these little unfinished wooden doll bodies:

They already have a head and I love skipping steps, so I bought them. They have two different sizes, too. Perfect for a nativity, since you need a smaller one for baby Jesus.

Anyway, I spent an hour one day cutting scraps of fabric and ribbon and hot gluing them onto these dolls. The link mentioned above has a great tutorial which I looked at just to get ideas and see how she did things. For me, it was as easy as cutting strips of fabric and wrapping them around the doll bodies, and in some cases their heads. Then, putting on embellishments to create different characters.

I'm absolutely in love with the way they turned out!! And my son was very excited with each new addition I put out for him to put in his "house".

I might eventually paint faces on them, but I'm kinda worried I'll totally mess them up, and I kind of like them faceless...

It's a perfect little durable nativity that my little guy can play with to his hearts content without me worrying about him breaking something. And even if he did, the whole thing cost under $8.00, so it wouldn't be a big deal. I think this is a really cute and easy way to help my 3 year old understand the real meaning of Christmas. We love playing "Baby Jesus" with them, and I hope we will continue to play with them year after year.

Risqué Penélope Charmosa Kit in "Momento Penélope" Review

SPRING	SUNNY
20ºC~26ºC	OMG today is so hot ¬¬

Hello girls!

Today I'm going to review this sweet make up kit from Risqué! I love this Penélope Charmosa (Penelope Pitstop) collection since the release of cute nail polishes. I just had to buy the make up for trying.

Picture when I just bought

It comes with 1 lipstick, 1 nail polish, 1 lips highlighter and make up bag! The package is really cute and surely nice option for gifts.

Let's talk about the lipstick first!

Swatch

I already tried a lot of lipsticks and glosses brands and I can tell you for sure this is the best product for lips I ever tried.
This is very very moisturizing, you can feel your lips being treat, but this isnt gummy at all.
The pigmentation is very nice , I don't need more than one layer because it sticks perfectly to lips.
It's a pity there's only 4 colors available and I'm interested only in 2 colors which is "Momento Penélope", a light pink, and "Charminho Nude" (I never tried yet), a coral nude.
The smell is low and so nice, so you'll never get sick of this. It also lasts enough for a moisturizing lipstick, if you don't eat, drink or kiss boyfriend it will last for hours.
The texture is perfect. Not gummy, not dry. Is kinda creamy.
The price is nice too. With this kit, around R$30 (about 15USD), and individual the price is around R$20 (about 10USD).

On lips

Moisturizing: 5/5
Pigmentation: 5/5
Smell: 5/5
Endurance: 5/5
Color variation: 1/5
Texture: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Thats my favorite lipstick ever, I hope this collection is never over.

Now highlighter

The instructions is for adding this above lipstick. It doesn't work at all, it feels really uncomfortable and isn't beautiful. But if you ignore instructions ans use it anywhere else - cheeks, eyes, body, anything - it's so nice! I love to add some at eyes inner or external corner. I already tried as eyeshadow and it was so cute too. It's very shine and has cute delicated glitter. Other day, my boyfriend opened the package and some fell at his backpack... until now it shines a lot hahahaha

Hope he learned

I won't give any rating because I don't belive glitters have a "bad point". This is my second favorite glitter, the first is white/silver from Contem1g, but only because of color and how it looks on me.

Wearing nail polish (the darker pink)

About the nail polish, as any color of Risqué, this is also so nice. The application is really easy and you can keep same nail style 'til 2 weeks without peeling off. My favorite brand for nail polishes ever. Some new collections is released for summer so I bought 4 new nail polishes this weekend

Colorama is more nice for nail treatment and Risqué for nail polish color and endurance

I always use this make up bag, it's very useful because it's transparent so I can see what I'm carrying with me or where is a product I wanna catch

Thats all today!

Thank you for reading

inspiration

Blog Archive

25 Things Dogs Ruined

10 Incredible Tales of Interspecies Nursing

Name This Octopus

Invasive Ants Wave White Flag in New Zealand

Chimpanzees Self-Medicate With Food

Some xmas inspiration...

Wooden Doll Nativity

Risqué Penélope Charmosa Kit in "Momento Penélope" Review