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CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE FOR HIM

Following my previous post, Christmas Gift Guide for Her, this post is going to be a Christmas Gift Guide for Him. It is a suggestion of what I consider great Christmas presents for the special guys in your life. I am so excited for the gift guide posts, because I love sharing lovely things I would definitely get for the people I care about. You guys already know how much I enjoy getting gifts for the people I love, so these posts are really fun for me and hopefully for you too! I always found shopping for a guy much harder than for a girl, mostly because I am quite unfamiliar with what a guy might like, plus guys have a smaller variety of categories of products they use. However, in this gift guide I have picked out some pretty cool things that I believe they would put a big smile on that special someone’s face.

A perfume set is always a lovely and safe choice of a present. I love perfumes, especially the male ones, because I love strong scents just like my mom. I absolutely love Dior’s Sauvage Coffret gift set. It features Dior’s newest perfume (yes the one with the Johnny Depp ad), which just happens to be amazing. Also it has the aftershave lotion, which is perfect for grooming and a small pocket spray you can actually refill. It is great for carrying around or travelling. I know it’s on the pricey side but it is truly an amazing and luxurious gift. Dior perfumes are among my favorite ones!

art of shaving-horz — *Photo credit: www.sephora.com*

Another gift I consider very important for a guy, would be a shaving kit. I love getting my boyfriend different shaving kits so he can try out a few products from the range of different brands and decide the one which works best for him. The 4 Elements of the Perfect Shave Carry-On from The Art of Shaving, is one of my personal favorites. I got this for my boyfriend and he really enjoyed it. This kit is the carry on version which is half price from the regular one, and the products are travel sized. I believe it is a good introduction to the brand and in case it doesn’t work 100% for your guy, he can just keep the set for travelling purposes. The set has a pre-shave oil, a shaving cream, an after shave balm and a shaving brush. It basically is a complete set of everything necessary for the perfect shave! I really love the shaving brush; it adds such a splash of luxury and pampering. The set comes in an unscented version and in a lavender-scented one. But just to be fair, if your guy is on the beardy side, you could get him a beard grooming kit. I would recommend Jack Black’s Beard Grooming kit which contains an all over wash, a beard oil, a beard conditioning lube and a beard comb. My boyfriend has used Jack Black’s products before and he always was satisfied. The price is a plus as well!

While we are still in the grooming-pampering area, I believe another great Christmas gift would be a skin care set. A good skin care routine is not only a female issue; men should take good care of their skin as well. I would recommend Aesop’s Collective Care for Combination Skin. It’s a lovely set that consists of a face cleanser, a balancing toner and a rehydrating cream. Aesop is a skin care brand with plant-based products. I haven’t tried the brand yet although I am about to get my first product soon and I can’t wait. It has amazing reviews and it is highly recommended. I know it is quite pricey, but it will be a luxurious set that your special man will definitely enjoy!

*Photo credit: www.playstation.com, www.amazon.com*

Moving on from grooming products, I don’t know a single guy who does not love video games. I know it may sound such a cliché, but boy oh boy do they love video games! Mine does for sure. So it goes without saying that a video game related gift would be amazing! Since I am totally clueless when it comes to video games (I only have a Wii and Mario games), I would recommend 2 different game related gifts. First a Playstation Plus subscription sounds amazing. For a yearly subscription, he could get free games, discounts and game trials. I don’t know much but this sounds quite lovely! My second recommendation would be a 2-part gift; a game of your choice and an extra controller. How cool would that be right? I have no idea about games to recommend one from personal experience, but Fallout 4 is quite hyped and I really like the DualShock 4 Wireless controller in black color. This little duo would be an excellent gift for a PS lover.

Another lovely and vintage style present would be a Polaroid ZIP Mobile Printer. This little gadget that I have been lasting over for ages, allows you to print pictures from your phone on paper like an instant camera. I am really into the whole self-printing technology that is quite trending lately. I have a Fujifilm Instax camera and I absolutely love it. I like how all the pictures we snap on a daily basis on our phones, instead of keeping them in our computers or phones forever, we can print them out and put them around us so we can cherish the memories they bring. I find this gift really amazing. Just don’t forget to get a little pack of paper to go along with the printer!

The list gift I would recommend, as I did in the Hers gift guide, would be a big stocking filled with lovely smaller gifts. Imagine his surprise when he opens the stocking and finds all the little goodies inside. You could fill it in with Selfridges Men Grooming Kit, which 8 travel size products, a razor and of course the travel bag. This kit is so cute and it has everything a man needs when traveling from shaving to showering and moisturizing. Another lovely gift would be a leather wallet-phone case like Urban Outfitter’s Understated Leather Wallet Case. You can carry your phone, cards and cash plus I really like the color of it the design of the moon on the front. Such a pretty and masculine case. Or how about his own Makerskit Mason Cocktail Kit by Urban Outiftters which includes everything needed to make your own cool cocktails! As a huge mug lover, there are so many lovely mugs you could get as stocking fillers like this cool Star Wars mug from Urban outfitters. I love Star Wars and I have to admit Darth Vader is ultra cool! Or how about this Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Kit by Urban Outfitters, which includes almost everything he needs to make his own beer. Now how cool does this gift round, right? There are so many amazing things out there you guys could use to fill your big stocking; just don’t forget the Christmas candy!

I absolutely love Christmas; it is my favorite time of the year. I love the gift giving spirit and how happy people are once they receive their gifts. All the above gifts sound so amazing and I would love to get my special man something from above. As a matter of fact I have already decided which one I will get him 😉 I hope you enjoy my gift guide for Him and if you have a special girl and you are looking for gift ideas, you should check out my Christmas Guide for Her post. Are any of those gifts on your wish list or do you even have any of these and if so what do you think of them? Also don’t forget to pop over Twitter (@vickyinlalaland) and Instagram (@blueberrylover) and say hi!

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky

DIY CUTE PRINTS-HOME DÉCOR

A few of my favorite things :) — *A few of my favorite things 🙂*

I don’t know where I have been living these past years, but it must have been under a rock, as I just recently discovered the magic called Pinterest! Or should I say I “re-discovered” it. Although I have a Pinterest profile for years, I never really understood it, until recently. One day I decided to look for some home inspiration and that was it: I got hooked. One thing that caught my eye in many amazing home décor pictures, it was the beautiful paintings and prints which were hanging in bedrooms, offices and living rooms. Prints of makeup, clothes, cute pastel items as well as inspirational quotes. I did some research and found out many of these prints on Etsy for sale. However, there was one problem: I wanted them all! But I couldn’t or didn’t’ want to buy all of them, which really made my sad. So an idea came to me: why not make my own lovely printed wall art!

You may think that it is a complicated idea but trust me – it’s not; all you need is a good printer (or at least a descent one), some paper and lots of frames! The first step is to search online and find free printables of your choice. There are so many sites where you can find amazing free prints that are very similar to those sold on Etsy. Once you find and save your prints, there are two ways to create lovely wall art:

1^st way

A4 regular paper

Thick carton paper

Glue

Scissors

Frame

Print the design of your choice on a plain A4 paper (cheap option). Get your paper and measure it based on the size of your frame. Cut what’s exessive. Put the new sized print on the thick carton paper and mark it down. Cut the carton paper in the size of the print and then glue them together. Let it sit for a few minutes with something heavy on top (like a heavy book). Then your print is ready; all you need to do is to place it in your frame and hang it on your wall. Easy peasy and at a very low-cost. Just remember that a light-colored print (like pastel), once printed on a plain A4 paper it will appear much paler, therefore, before printing it out you must enhance the color a little bit and make it about 2 tones darker. All you need is a Photoshop software. I use Photoscape which is a free one and very user-friendly. How cute are those two prints right? (pictured below)

2^nd way

Glossy photo paper or inject paper

Frame

Here, all you need – except the frame – is better quality paper. You can use some inject paper, which is thicker than A4, or some photo glossy paper. You don’t need the premium glossy one, just a little glossy. With that paper you will get the quality and result of the prints sold on Etsy. Just print your design on your glossy paper, after changing the settings to accommodate the new paper. Just change the paper option to photographic paper. Once your print is ready just place it in the frame and hang it on your wall.

Here there are some links to site with amazing free printables. I am sure you will love them like I do 🙂

I love everything about this site: http://chicfetti.com/decorate/download-printables/page/8/
This site has 50 amazing prints: http://www.fabnfree.com/2014/01/29/50-gorgeous-free-wall-art-printables/
This one has some lovely printable quotes: http://www.the36thavenue.com/free-printables-2/

I know that this is not the typical crafty handy DIY, but if you love those pretty prints you see on bloggers’ and youtubers’ channels, but you can’t afford or don’t want to buy them, then these free printables are a great way to get your hands on them. They may not be the same but I have found some similar enough. And the best thing is that they don’t really cost much. So get some paper, turn on your printer and let’s do this! I would love to see the prints you hung on your walls and how you decorated your space, so please upload a picture and hashtag #myframedprint!

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky