Birchbox Man

I’ve told you about Birchbox Man before, you can see some of  Kevin’s swag here, and here. I get just as excited each month when his box comes as I do when mine comes.  Ladies, I’ve said it before, but this is a great gift to get your guy, and if you’re like me, you’ll end up using some of the products too. From Kevin’s Birchbox I’ve used chap stick,  shampoo/conditioner, face wash, shave cream, toothpaste, and I’ve benefited from the gadgets such as a cord holder (so charger cords don’t fall in the floor) speakers, beer koozies, bottle openers, and socks.

Here is what we he got this month.

Clark’s Botanicals Smoothing Marine Cream, this is a face moisturizer.Jack Black Supreme Cream triple Cushion Shave Lather                                                                   Yes To Mint Lip Butter (Kevin prefers to call it chap stick)                                             Richer Poorer Socks, these are already in my drawer…

Birchbox man is a bit more expensive than my Birchbox, $20.00 compared to $10.00, but it is a bigger box with the products as well as lifestyle products such as the socks.

With Birchbox and Birchbox man coming to our house each month, we do accumulate lots of products.  We just throw them in a glass vase in our bathroom (his/hers) and you have everything in one place.  Plus, these would be great to put in a guest bathroom for your visitors to use.  We’ve been happy with our boxes, you should try it!

P.S. Our Baby girl turned 2 months old yesterday.

Steals and Deals from Kirkland’s

You all know I love a good deal, (remember all my finds here and here?)  I mean, who doesn’t like a good deal?  We all like to find good quality, stylish, up to date products for our home without having to pay a ton of money for them.  Plus, styles and tastes change, so if you’re like me you’re always changing out pillows and accent pieces.   We all love Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and stores like those, and make our wish lists from the catalogs we get each month, but I’ll be honest, I never buy…too expensive for me.

You guys are gonna love this…I’m about to show you some items for your home from some of those other stores, and compare them to similar items from Kirkland’s.  This will make you visit your nearest Kirkland’s or jump online to do a little shopping.  Here we go!

Pottery Barn – Jute Braid Pillow Cover $29.00 – $39.00

Kirkland’s – Blue Jute Linen Pillow $15.99

Pottery Barn – Glass Drink Dispenser $59.00 – $79.00

Kirkland’s Loop Beverage Dispenser $39.99

Crate & Barrel – Pavilion Black Wall Mirror $249.00

Kirkland’s – Black Bead Mirror, 30×42 $29.99

Crate & Barrel – Folio Ebony Leather Side Chair $249.00

Kirkland’s – Brown Parsons Chair $63.99

Crate & Barrel – Davis Leather Ottoman $594.15

Kirkland’s – Brown Faux Leather Ottoman $199.98

Pottery Barn – Emery Linen Drape $89.00 – $139.00

Kirkland’s – Turin Blue Curtain Panel, Set of 2 $19.99

Pretty amazing don’t you think?  You can see from these items that it’s very possible to style a room for less.  We recently got new furniture, and we’re still shopping for items to finish up the rooms from pillows to wall art, and things for the nursery.  We’ll be shopping at Kirkland’s.  

November Birchbox Man

Kevin received his Birchbox and as I normally do, I opened it.  I do pack everything the way it came so he can enjoy opening it too.  Turns out he really doesn’t care about me packing everything back in the way it came…

The box is bigger and I like how it slides open.  I use these to hold jewelry when we travel.

This is what he got this month.

American Crew Shave Gel, Evolution Wash and Buff (this is a face scrub), Peter Thomas Roth Mega-Rich Shampoo and Conditioner (he doesn’t use conditioner, wonder if he’ll start or if this will be mine…), Atelier Cologne, and Old Calgary Oxford Card Sleeve Wallet.

He always likes what he gets and normally tries everything.  Just like my Birchbox, many of these items are great for travel.  This would be a great Christmas present for a Dad, Brother, or Husband.  I like that they normally include some type of gadget, or non “beauty” product.  Guys love gadgets.

May Birchbox Man

Kevin got his second Birchbox Man today, so clearly I opened it right up and will proceed to blog about it!

As I mentioned last time his box is a bit bigger than the ladies Birchbox, and it slides open.

(I went out-of-town this weekend, and his Birchbox was perfect for my jewelry.)

This month had a bit of a poker theme, so first up he got not one, but two sets of playing cards.

He also got this popcorn that I can’t wait to try with him…

I’ll let you know.You see it says spicy bacon right?

He also got this Kerastase shampoo.

I received an email from Birchbox saying they should have sent travel sizes instead of samples, so they’re gonna send the correct size out.  Great customer service right?

Finally he got some John Varvatos cologne and Zirh Shave Gel.

So then I packed everything up as it came so he can experience the fun of opening it.  (He really doesn’t care, he told me to open it!)

He’ll like all of these items.  Did I mention the popcorn had beer-infused caramel?

Have any of you ordered Birchbox for your man?  Kevin likes it because it’s considered lifestyle (cards, popcorn) as opposed to just products.  Plus he travels all the time so he has great travel sizes to take with him!  You should try it, or at the very least get Birchbox for yourself!

Side note that has nothing to do with Birchbox…I went out of town this weekend with my sister and had the best time!  I saw some of her college friends that I haven’t seen in a really long time so here’s a shout out to all you girls (Kelly, Heather, Ashley, Mandy, and the beautiful bride Dawn), cause you all better be reading my blog!!

Sleeves

I wanted to do a quick shirt transformation, so I had this shirt…

And this fabric…

And after a little cutting and sewing made this.

This made me think of other things I can do with existing clothes in my closet. Stay tuned.

Update: Thanks for all the advice on what to keep from Stitch Fix. I ended up keeping the peach wrap tank…

May Stitch Fix

I came home to this today….

You can read all about Stitch Fix here, and see my last few fixes here, and here.  All you need to know is you get great clothes delivered to you, keep what you want, send back what you don’t.

I always get my fix on a Thursday and have all weekend to decide.  Monday I ship it back (at no charge to me) in this bag.

Okay, so this time I’m gonna show you everything as I tried it on, and I want your input.  What do you like?  What should I keep?

First up…

This sweater is navy stripe.  It’s short (see my belly?) but is so soft.  I normally don’t wear short tops but I kinda like it.

I love the color.  Love the wrap, and think it falls pretty…

I love a good maxi skirt, but this is too similar to my pleated skirt (which I kept from one of my fixes).  This was really cute though.  It was a bit longer in the back,

And had cute pockets.

Okay, up next be ready for a little leg…

This is a faux suede tunic dress.  Tall girls can’t wear tunic dresses without leggings.  Okay let’s move on.

Crinkle dress.  (With bra showing).

That’s all.

No wait I also got this.

They always send you a little gift.  A girl can never have enough chap stick.

And this is me after I changed out of all these clothes.  I show you this because this is what I will have on every afternoon, on weekends, while blogging, um, yeah, all the time.

Oh, and to work out.

So what should I keep?  I think I have an idea but I’m not telling.  I want opinions!

Go check out Stitch Fix, and schedule your fix.  You know you want to…

Here’s a link to get you started… http://stitchfix.com/users/signup?referrer_id=3008438
 

I Made This (aka I Made A Dress)

Obviously I can’t pull myself away from the “ I made a _____” title.  I tried in the above title… baby steps right?

So I ordered this great fabric from Mood.

You know Mood, it’s where they shop on Project Runway.  I wanted some stripes, couldn’t find what I wanted locally, so I searched online.  I came across Mood, found what I liked (was happy with the price) and a few days later this arrived in the mail!

I had plans with this fabric.  I wanted a striped dress to wear with my Hunter Boots.  I had a look in mind, so I thought “why not just make it?”

And so I did.

Like my shirt, I just used an existing dress to make my pattern.  I always make it a bit bigger for my seam allowance as well as some extra room to work with.

After getting it cut out, I sewed it together.  I always just try it on and make adjustments from there.  I’ll have to show you this process sometime, cause it can be funny…

I decided the sleeves weren’t going to work so off they went.  I was a little bummed cause I wanted some flowy sleeves but I didn’t allow enough fabric for that.  Boo.  But next time I’ll know.  I also decided on a V neck since the last shirt I made was rounded.  Just for something different.   And I wish I would have gotten a pic of this.  To make the V neck I put the dress on and used blue painters tape (which has become a sewing staple for me, remember I used it here?) to mock up the neck.  Then I knew exactly where to make my cuts.  Worked beautifully.

I had to keep putting the dress on, make adjustments on length, etc and I was finished!

I can’t really say how long this took to make.  No more than a few hours.  But this is how I work…

I cut my pattern, sew it together.  Next I try it on and take some mental notes.  Then I leave it for a while and go do something else like laundry, TV, whatever.  I then put the dress back on and sew some of the adjustments.  Take it off, leave it, do something else.  I repeat this step a few more times until I am happy with the result.  Even when I’m finished I keep trying it to make sure I’m happy with it.  I think this keeps me from making mistakes.

Oh and the best news, it rained like crazy here today so I got to wear the new dress and my Hunter Boots!  Good Day!

What title would you have given this post today?  (Although I realize it’s hard to beat “I made this.”)

 

 

 

 

May Birchbox

I received my latest Birchbox and wanted to share it with you!  I love to see what other bloggers get in their Birchbox, so I guess I am assuming you all want to see what I got in mine!

First of all, the box this month was inspired by Gossip Girl.  I don’t watch Gossip Girl, but it doesn’t matter, my loot was good!

Here you have Bvlgari Eau de Toilette Spray.  Smells pretty good, and with all my perfume samples I’ll never have to buy perfume again.

Fresh Tinted Lip Treatment.  I actually already have this and I love it!  I was happy to receive another to throw in my purse!  It’s seriously good.  Feels like chap stick with a tint!

Kiehl’s Abyssine Cream.  I’m excited to try this.  It’s an anti-aging moisturizer, and as a 30ish something, I need to pay more attention to these types of products.  (Although I did recently get carded twice in one weekend…)

Miracle Skin Transformer.  This is a tinted treatment that erases blemishes and scars on arms, and legs.  Also excited to see how much I can erase on my body…

And a cute notecard.  (Birchbox extra)

So I added my empty box to the stack I have in my bathroom cabinets (great storage cause they are all the same size) and set all my products out to get ready to use.

If you don’t have Birchbox you’re missing out.  It’s so much fun and only $10.00 a month!  Now they have Birchbox Man, which you can read about here.  Kevin enjoyed getting it and likes his products.

In other mail related news, along with my Birchbox I also received my InStyle mag!  And then UPS came and delivered my new fabric from Mood!  Good mail day!  (Stay tuned for what I’m making with the fabric…)

Happy Friday!!

I Made Another Shirt

I promise if I continue to make clothes I will change the title.  I haven’t gotten any more creative than I Made a Bag, I Made a Scarf, and  I Made a Shirt…

So as the title suggests, yep, I made another shirt.  Sewing something I can actually wear has not only been amazing, but addictive.  Now that I’m getting more comfortable with my machine and sewing, I constantly think about my next project.

I found this tutorial and this was my guide.  It’s from Make it-Love it, which has a ton of great ideas and tutorials.  Her directions are much better and more detailed than mine are about to be, so jump over there if you want good step-by-step instructions.

I’ll attempt to give you my run down though…

I bought this great fabric at Jo Ann’s.

It’s from April Johnston’s collection, and it’s just great.

I used an existing shirt, and cut out the shape a bit bigger than the shirt to give me some room for seam allowance and error….

Then I sewed it together.  Next, I cut a band of fabric for the bottom of the shirt.

It looks wide, but you fold it into itself to make the band.  I also cut the band a bit smaller than the bottom of the shirt because you want that to be smaller and a bit tighter. I sewed the sides together and had a tube.  Fold the tube in half and pin.

The next step was the most difficult part for me.  You slide the tube up around the bottom of the shirt, matching up the raw edges.  The problem for me was that the shirt was bigger than the tube so getting it just right, and the fabric smoothed out was difficult.  Pin and sew.

I guess I was concentrating too much, but I didn’t get too many pictures towards the end…

I used some bias tape to sew around the neckline.

And I sewed a nice edge on the arms.

And I created this…

(Kinda crazy hair huh?) Semi curly hair problems….

Anyway, I love it.  The fabric is a stretchy cotton type that feels so good.

What do you all think?

I know my next project is going to be a new makeup bag, and then I may make a skirt.  I also have some ideas on things I can do to some of my existing clothes.  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Birchbox Man

Kevin received his Birchbox in the mail this week.  I have to admit I was pretty excited.   Since I receive Birchbox I was curious to see what they would send the men. It arrived in a slightly bigger (bigger than my Birchbox) blue box.

And inside was the same information card like us gals get.

Here’s his loot.

Kiehl’s Ultimate Man Body Scrub Soap, Billy Jealousy Liquid Sand Exfoliating Facial Cleanser, Costume National Scent Intense (cologne), and Richer Poorer Socks

He used the soap and facial cleanser last night.  Both got a good rating.  (The soap smells really good…)

The sock really aren’t his thing.  I know… cuffed pants with colorful socks is the “in” thing, but my guy is more of a “I’m never ever cuffing my pants ever” kind of guy.

I’ll wear them.

So yay for Birchbox Man!  I know he’ll enjoy being able to try some new stuff each month as much as I do.  I’ll give you another Birchbox Man report next month!

Be honest, would your guy wear the socks?  Or, if I have any men reading, what’s your take on the socks?