15 Gift Ideas for a Merry Christmas

It's 14 days till Christmas and I still haven't bought 1 single present ---- I'm panicking!

I'm usually well organised with this, I think in advance {months and months in advance} about all the things I would like to give to my friends and family...but this year I've only figured out the present I want to give to my Mother and my in-laws {..and I'm not 100% sure about it}!

So I began my online research and I have made a list of 15 gift ideas: all under 50 €! It surely helped me, I hope it helps you as well.

Gifts under 10 €

1. A classic book is my favourite gift -  I love books and I always like to receive this gift. The book here is Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I really like her books and I think this book would be a perfect Christmas Gift for only 8.27€.

2. For the cupcake lover! This Premier Housewares – cupcakes set (48 units)  is so Christamassy and very original!  It contains the 48 moulds and  the price is very good: 4.95 euros.

3. A super Dad could drink his coffee or tea at work in this personalised mug: Jamie Oliver - "Top Dad mug" .  If you don't know any super Dad, I think that a nice and original mug will do, for any kind of friends or family :) I personally love this one ::Stefano look here!!!:: :

                                                             


Gifts under 20 €

4. Everybody knows a sportygirl or two, right? This JVC Pink headphones are the perfect gift for them! When I go to the gym I always have my Ipod with me - and this kind of headphones are perfect since you don't risk to lose them while running on the treadmill - a useful present.

5. Since my family is in Italy, I was thinking to take a nice picture of me and Stefano and give it to my mum and the in-laws for Christmas :) I know my mum would love it, I only need to find a nice frame! This Walther Home – wood frame  is simple and elegant and might be a funny idea to include 3 picture of the family with different facial expressions: funny - serious- super funny. .

6. A movie couldn't miss from the list! This movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas – Special edition  - I've chosen this one because it's Christmas, but there is long list of classic movies you could choose from.

Gifts under 30 €

7. This Dragonfly brooch with Swarovski cristals is absolutely stunning! I own so many scarves and this brooch would be the perfect accesorise.

8. PAY ATTENTION! I highly suggest you to "casually" leave the link of this pair of Sparkling Swarowsky earrings open on your husband/boyfriend/partner laptop so they can "casually" see it and eventually you can get them ;) so this item would enter in the self-bought Christmas present!

9. Do you miss the 70s? Look at this Dutch Woodstock 1970 special edition pack - it also contains a DVD! Love the artists in it!

Gifts under 40 € 

10. Isn't this the perfect present for coffee lovers? but not only! This Bosch Tassimo coffee maker also makes hot chocolates, cappuccinos and has many capsules to choose from! The price is a bargain!

11. Everybody can play at table games..no matter the age! Risk is a classic strategy game that will entertain the whole family.  I'm not good at this game and when Stefano and I play at this, I accuse him of cheating -- and also, it is clearly evident that the dice conspire against me!

12. Perfect gift for kids (especially if you have two: kill two birds with one stone).This Ransome Sporting Goods – Junior rackets are a good starting point for a promising tennis career ;)

Gifts under 50 €

13. This Braun – hair straightener is a must have for every girl in this world {especially if you have wavy hair like me!}. This product doesn't dry your hair, and if you dye it -it's your lucky day - the heat won't make it fade :)

14. Men must own elegant and "manly" watches..like this CASIO . I bought a similar watch for a family member and I hope he found it nice and elegant as I did! {he still wears it, so it must be ok, right?}

15. I know who I could buy this Severin 0026 - Raclette Party-Grill to... seriously, you have a bbq on your dinner table and you don't even have to switch the gas or charcoal on! This is a genius idea!


I hope you'll find your inspiration...and if you have other ideas you want to share..feel free to leave a comment and I will update the post with them.

Until next time,
Daniela

Organised places, organised minds: Walk-in closet organisation

Few weeks ago I opened my drawers on the blog {here} and today I will open the door to my walk-in closet.

My closet is nothing special, it's not big nor small but I am (now) trying to keep it organised in a different way.

Few days ago you would enter in my bedroom and be shocked by the lack of harmony in the closet - basically you would have found this:

What was the problem?  I think I have few:

1. too many clothes - some of them I didn't wear in years;
2. no organisation whatsoever;
3. laziness - always ignored the closet.

I simply couldn't stand watching at my closet anymore and I had to take action.

1st action ::declutter::

I have checked all my and Stefano's clothes and picked the items I wanted to donate. This action has filled 2 big bags of clothes.

Do the same and donate all the clothes that no longer fits or that you have not wear for a long time.

2nd action: ::seasonal clothes only::

When I swapped clothes at the beginning of this summer I had left some long sleeves shirts and jumpers because "Summer hasn't really kicked in and I will store them later".. which I didn't do and they have been in the closet for the whole summer season! It is true that summer is ending, but it is still too hot for those shirts to be there, so I moved them away and let the other clothes breathe some fresh air. If you are asking how many clothes I took out, I'll say 2 medium size boxes... This time I will really make the change when time is right!

3rd action ::hangers::

If you look around for closet organisation projects, you'll see that one of the most popular tips is too buy same kind of hangers...to be honest, I had so many hangers ( some actually new) that I didn't want to spend more money on them - since I'm trying to control my spending habits, I decided to skip this tip and I simply grouped the hangers in order to give some sort of organisation:

Coloured hangers for shirts and work dresses;wood hangers for "smart" dresses and jackets.

4th action ::coloured closet::

I think that the best organised look is given when things are gathered by their colour. Obviously our clothes are not all the same colour and they probably have different shades of colours so it is not easy to gather them in one single bulk. I tried my best to make small groups with similar colours and style and hanged them together {I hope it does look organised to you as it does to me}.

5th action ::tha art of folding ::

This Ikea piece of furniture shouldn't really be there...but I bought it before moving into this house and I wasn't going to spend more money on my closet :)

I had also bought 4 ikea blue boxes and then organised the top row with baskets and paper boxes:

The blue boxes mostly contain jeans and homewear while shirts are nicely folded in the baskets.

I have used some personalised tags so Stefano knows where his staff is :), but the most important thing is folding!

If clothes are folded neatly, you will gain a lot of space. Stefano owns many sport shirts and I managed to fit them all in this pink box {he hates the colour though}:

I fold the shirt in a long band and then roll it neatly until I have a small square.

6th action :: the art of storing::

I always had problems storing belts and bracelets. I own too many -that's for sure - and I never had them stored correctly.

I have organised my bracelets in a box, and used some cartons to make the base:

Now they are perfectly organised and I can choose what to wear withouth ransacking a bag full of bracelets.

The belts are also stored in a box, but tidily folded into a box organiser:

I also need to store scarves...and they are all hanging behind the door [I have used an IKEA organiser...can you tell I love IKEA?]:

Stefano's belts are also organised in a small box {since he only owns 3 belts}:

7th action ::decor, decor, decor::

You can have the best organised room in the whole world, but it will never feel yours until you don't personalise it!

I have used our initials for my closet decor. Some time ago I bought the letter S and D and covered them with some tissue paper - I was going to buy the letter &, but then I decided to make it myself with some hayware and painted it in yellow (I already had the colour).



This is the final result:

Ta - chaaan!

How have you organised your closet? Share your tips in the comments!

Until next time,
Daniela

Organized places, Organized mind: Weekly Meal plan

I have set up a nice and coloured weekly meal plan for my home. My personal opinion is that every home should have a meal plan for 3 reasons:

1. It saves a lot of time thinking about the meal you want to prepare;

2. It saves money, since you plan your shopping ahead and you can make sure there is no waste;

3. It can be healthy! Since you know what to cook and what to eat, you will not be tempted by eating/cooking something you shouldn't! ;)

I use a food list where I have listed a selection of meals I can distribute during the week:

I would like to share 2 tips we have been given by our nutricionist:

*max 2 eggs per week
**max 2 times x pasta/arroz/patatas per week

When I plan the meals, I leave Sunday "free" where I can cook whatever inspires me ;) 

Yes, it's written in 3 languages......

If you like what you see you can download the free templates:

Weekly Meal Plan

Click here for the PDF file or Click on the below image and save it:

Food List

If you want to give my Food list a try, please help yourself :)

Click here for the PDF file or Click on the image below and save it:

What about you? How do you organize your weekly meals?

I hope I have inspired you!

Until next time,

Daniela 

Nail Polish Cabinet

Almost an year ago, I went shopping in a second hand market near my place. 

A nice lady was selling some wood furniture and I bought what looked like a spices cabinet for the kitchen.

Unfortunately I don't have any picture of the cabinet before my painting :( - but I can confirm it was a plain wooden cabinet.

What I can say is that I forgot it in my storage room for months (eh - ehm), until we moved into our new place and I didn't know where to place all my nail polish bottles! I turned around and I saw it: a perfect Nail Polish cabinet!

I didn't like the colour so much, and since I'm decorating the bathroom with white stuff, I have decided to paint it in white as well:

Since the cabinet had never been painted before, it was easy to give that antique style I wanted - without using any sanding block. 

While the cabinet was drying I started organizing my pretty nail polishes:

This is the final result:

Me likey!

I have also added some lipstick, and...

Did I say I was obsessed with owls?

I am very happy about the outcome, especially the way I organized them (by colour)

Hope I have inspired you!

Until next time,
Daniela