I do not know many people who do not like birthdays! Yes, it signifies another year passed and getting older but for me, it means getting to act like a kid again! Blowing out candles, opening gifts and best of all bossing everyone around for a day. I probably do that anyway, but at least now I have a licence to do it! I thought it would be fun to share a few of the things on my Birthday Wishlist. [Read more…]
Fathers Day Gift Out The Box
You may remember me sharing my post on Gift Out The Box recentlty, which you will find here. Well I thought I would share the Gift Boxes they recommend as Fathers Day Gifts:
18 holes for 2 : Western Cape
This package offers you and a golfing partner a round of 18 holes + a lunch, golf cart rental etc. at one of our pre- selected prestigious golf courses.
o Devonvale Golf Club
o Durbanville Golf Club
o Mowbray Golf Club
o Paarl Golf Club
o Somerset West Golf Club
Gift for Him : Western Cape & Gauteng
Offering a variety of experiences specifically for men, from spa treatments to surfing and archery lessons, absolutely perfect for any man…
Western Cape :
• Anura Vineyards – tasting experience
• Creation Wines – tasting experience
• Glasshouse Rejuvenation for Men – spa experience
• Morgenster Wine & Olive Estate – tasting experience
• Paarl Archery Academy – archery lesson
• Personal trainer – training session
• SA Golf Institute – golf lesson
• Saggy Stone Brewery – brewery experience
• Surf Emporium – surf lesson
• Van Ryn’s Distillery – brandy experience
• Winelands Fly Fishing – fly fishing lesson
Gauteng :
• Alex Dlamini, Personal Trainer – Training session
• Bikram yoga -Yoga session
• Doppio Zero @ Rosebank – Food experience
• Floyd’s 99 Barbershop – Barber experience
• Paintball City – Paintball session
• Pepe Charlot – Tasting experience
• Scad Freefall SA – Adventure experience
• Sundowner Adventures – Fly fishing lesson
• The Green Bean Coffee – Coffee tasting
The Cellar experience : Western Cape
So many Cellar experiences in the most beautifully situated areas. Try out wine, brandy, champagne and relaxing picnics…
• Die Bergkelder – wine & cheese experience
• Klipdrift – brandy & food experience
• Nederburg – wine & cheese experience
• Plaisir de Merle – wine & cheese experience
• J.C. Le Roux – bubbly & canapés experience
• Van Ryn’s Distillery – brandy & cheese experience
• Nederburg – activity experience
• Durbanville Hills – wine & tapas experience
• Drostdy Hof – wine & tapas experience
• J.C. Le Roux – restaurant offering
For more info visit the Gift Out The Box website or their Facebook page.
Re-fined
As you know I am a bit of a shopaholic and was particularly fascinated when I heard about Re-fined.com! Re-fined is a new-comer to the on-line shopping scene and the brain child of Georgina O’Connell.
Re-fined has just recently launched to the public and offers shoppers a unique, on-line, shopping experience. It is a place where enjoying and acquiring beautiful things is effortless and pleasurable. You will find items for him, her, for little people and your garden and home, giving you far more variety to make your shopping experience that much easier! Re-fined stocks one of my favourite local jewellery brands, Silver Fig, which you may remember me blogging about – I absolutely love their designs!
“We understand that people have limited time and don’t always have access to the physical shops but still want to acquire desirable product and design to express their sense of style, hence the creation of a cyber mall with one check out point” ~ Georgie.
With a background in design, a love of beautiful things and an appreciation of talent, Georgie became acutely aware of the magnificent products and design items, that come out of South Africa. She also saw the need to make these Proudly South African products, more easily accessible to the world. The main purpose of Re-fined is to showcase South African products and designs, both locally and internationally.
What more could you ask for beautiful stylish products all available from one on-line destination and all this at the click of a button!
Please pop over to the Re-fined website and browse their growing, range of gorgeous goodies!
Gift Out The Box
We all know how difficult it can be to buy the perfect gift for someone! Especially for friends and family that seemingly have it all! I have often spent many hours wondering around the stores trying to find that elusive gift, that ticks all the right boxes! Well imagine you could, at the click of a button, have it all sorted out for you!
Gift out the Box is a wonderful concept, which offers you an exciting and fresh take on purchasing gifts for friends, family or co-workers. Life is so busy and we are confronted with so many special occasions such as: Christmas; birthdays; anniversaries; Father’s and Mother’s day; Valentine’s Day – the list is endless, and most often we have very little time to shop.
So what exactly is Gift Out The Box and how can it make your life easier? The concept is the creation of thematic boxes offering the recipient a variety of experiences, beautifully presented in a box and delivered to their door! The gift box contains a guide book and offers multiple choices depending on the experience you have chosen for the lucky person, who will be receiving the Gift Out The Box!
Gift Out The Box offers a choice of different suppliers and choice of establishments, where the customer will be able to go, to enjoy their experience. The recipient, also has the pleasure of selecting the supplier, place and with whom to enjoy the experience.
Gift Out The Box is the first company on the SA market to implement this type of concept, providing consumers with elegant gift solutions, priced between R249.99 to R2000, which offer variety, to both the purchaser and the recipient. This service offers a new complete gift option for consumers and it is innovative, quick and easy to buy and use. Essentially it is a revolutionary gift coupon, offering a choice of suppliers and venues, without a retail value being disclosed to the recipient.
Gift boxes are divided into four categories:
- Wellness
- Getaway
- Food and Wine
- Leisure activities
Instead of buying the same gift or giving generic gift vouchers, Gift Out The Box offers specific‘experiences’ within various genres, i.e. well-being, escapes and culinary treats. The packaging of these new generation of gift vouchers are stylish and upmarket and allows its holder to select between a choice of destinations or activities around a given theme within a maximum of 36 month period.
Other gift boxes which are new to the Gift Out The Box family are:
Gift for her for 1 or 2: (Western Cape & Gauteng):
We are always looking for gifts for the women in our lives, whether it is your sister, mom in-law or a special friend! They certainly deserve to be pampered from time to time, with this Gift for her, women will have the opportunity of escape reality, even if only for a little while, alone or with friends. They can select from experiences which include a cooking class, a surf lesson, a hairdressing experience or tastings. The experiences can vary from 1 to 2 people.
Gift for him for 1 or 2: (Western Cape & Gauteng):
Some of the unique experiences which this gift box offers are brandy tasting, an archery introductory lesson, wine tasting, a Spa experience for men only… All experiences proposed by Gift for him are designed for men and whichever experience they select they will enjoy doing something they really want to do. The experiences can vary from 1 to 2 people.
The Cellar experience for 2 (Western Cape):
There are many wonderful Cellar experiences to choose from, in the most beautifully situated areas. This gift is a great opportunity to try out some interesting tastings combinations, such as relaxing picnics, tapas platter, all combined with either wine, brandy or champagne tasting. Cellar tours are also available at selected outlets. This tastings experience if for 2 people.
I will be trying out The Cellar Experience soon, with my hubby and I will share my review with you afterwards. I am really looking forward to trying this out – the hard part is deciding where to go! 🙂
If you would like to find out more about the Gift Out The Box choices and how to order pop over to their website by clicking here. Gift Out The Box is currently available in the Western Cape and Gauteng. You can also connect with them on Facebook.
Top Gift Choices for Little Girls
In my opinion little girls are the easiest to buy for but then I don’t think I ever fully lost my inner child. I know there are others that will disagree with me and say it’s easier to buy for boys. Either way, today’s topic is all about young girls and what they like. I’ve done my research and found out what the latest crazes are in this category and I am ready to share with you. Hopefully this will be of help to you for an approaching birthday gift for that precious little blossom of femininity!
- Fairies – It seems that anything fairy is the rage. There are fairy dolls, fairy houses, stuffed fairies, fairy figurines, fairy costumes, fairy jewelry boxes, fairy books, fairy gardens, fairy castles, and even fairy terrariums! In the past few years the Tinker Bell movies have been coming out one right after the other which I suppose is why little girls love fairies so much. If you have ever seen one of those movies you can see why it’s appealing, it’s such a magical world with bright colors and sweet music.
- Weaving Looms – I’m so glad to see that the weaving looms are still around. The potholder weaving loom was one of my favorites as a child because it was so easy to use and I felt like I was making something great for mom to use in the kitchen! They have many different kinds of looms made for children, a couple which are easy for a six-year-old. I ran across one for this age group that can make scarves, purses, and handbags. Little girls love to create and this would be a great gift.
- Shrinky Dinks – I love Shrinky Dinks! What fun it is to design your own jewelry and accessories and then bake them and watch them shrink in the oven! Of course mom and dad will have to be on hand when the baking is done but this is something that is fun for some of us older folks too. I’ve even seen adults making creative tags and other items from Shrinky Dinks. I read where one mother helped her daughter in making friendship necklaces as Christmas gifts for her friends. Great idea!
- Stickers – Stickers and sticker books are always popular. I ran across one sticker set that was a mosaic. Similar to the paint by number paintings this one had you matching up the sticker to the appropriate number on the picture to create the final creation. There are many different sizes and shapes of stickers and books.
- Hidden Picture Books – I remember with my children these were always a hit. We would get a new book and see who the first person was to find the hidden pictures. I always loved it because as they start to grow up it gets harder to get them to sit quietly with you and share. My kids loved the Where’s Waldo books, the I Spy, and the Highlight’s Magazine.
- School Sets – Little girls love to play school and they have sets out there just to do that! This set will make her feel like a proper teacher. The sets have grade books, stickers, a clock, a bell, hall passes, a hand pointer, dry-erase board, calendars, maps, crayons, and more. All she will need is the students! I have a cousin with a young girl and she tells me that often times the family dog is her student!
- Bead Kits – There are some wonderful bead kits for girls. They can make bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and you name it. The kits come with everything you need to get started and keep you busy for hours. Girls love to create, especially things they can wear or give away to friends.
- Art Sets – The portable drawing sets that you can take with you on the road or to grandma’s house are a good idea for a child that loves to draw. Many sets come with the paper, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, stencils, and more.
- Barbie Dolls – Always a favorite of girls over the years these dolls are still at the top of most girls lists. These dolls have all the clothes, shoes, and accessories to keep your Barbie in style. Here is an endless gift possibility since they are always coming out with new clothes, cars, houses, and carry cases. You can seldom go wrong with a Barbie.
- Dress Up Clothes – I recall my daughter putting on my heels and carrying around one of my purses at this age. Now they have the most adorable dress up clothes for little girls including tutus! They have cases full of clothing if you want to splurge or you can buy it piece by piece. They have fairy wings, magic wands, jewelry, shoes, and of course purses. The princess dresses are very popular as well which topped off with a crown completes the outfit for your little princess!
- Tea Sets – I do not know of a little girl who has not wanted to sit down and have a proper tea. There are all kinds of tea sets that are just precious. One I ran across in my research was a tea set that came with paints to paint your own tea set. This would be nice for the artsy child. We’ve all seen the pictures of the little girls having tea with her dolls or stuffed animals. This is a sweet gift to give any girl.
- Stamp Sets – All children love stamps and they have some really great stamp sets that come with multiple stamps, paper, and ink pads. It’s so much fun to decorate letters to family members and notes to friends with a cute stamp. Some of these sets actually come with stationary as well. If you are a grandma or aunt giving this gift you can be sure you will probably get a very sweet letter in return.
- Paper Dolls – Or should I say plastic? I loved paper dolls growing up but they were hard to work with sometimes. Now I see that they have plastic clothes that stick to the shiny surfaces of the dolls. These are like the Colorforms we used to play with. They still have the traditional paper dolls as well. There’s something about paper dolls that most young girls love.
These are just a sample of some of the gifts that little girls would like. Don’t forget about jewelry and jewelry boxes, these are always a hit. I spent quite a lot of time last year looking for the perfect jewelry box for my young niece. It came with a key necklace that locked the box so it was her secret treasure. Along these same lines little girls love diaries that lock especially after they learn to write! Some girls like taking pictures and keeping scrap books and there are some great scrap-book sets to be had. Finger nail and toe nail polishing kits are a hit but that’s a gift that needs supervision for sure! Any kind of clay or dough is popular at this age as well as sidewalk chalk to play hopscotch or just create a work of art. Books are always great gifts for any age. Oh, and I recall both my children loving memory games when they were this age. I know you remember these games; it’s where you turn over two cards and try to remember where the matching card is.
I hope this list has been helpful in finding that perfect gift for the little girl in your life. I know it stirred up some wonderful memories from my youth and my children’s. Most of these toys have been around for many years; one’s we have played with and loved. Times change but children stay the same, especially when they are this age.
Author Bio:
Amanda Carlson, a blogger as well as a former newborn care nurse contributed this post. To stay connected to her previous career and share the knowledge she gained, she began writing for Newborn Care. You can reach her at [email protected].
*Images courtesy of Free Digital Photos