Features
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Warrior Princess babyshower theme
A couple of weeks ago we (church family and friends) hosted a totally sweet warrior princess babyshower for Tess, a very close friend of mine. We went with that particular theme because, well, that’s what Tess is. She is a bold, brave heart, not afraid to stand up for what she believes in and that’s what she is trusting for her baby girl, Lizzie.When planning the party, we threw around a bunch of ideas because a babyshower should be as unique as the mommy and the baby we are honoring. We knew that Tess’s favorite color is lilac/purple, so we tried to incorporate that into the overall decor.
The idea of having a warrior tent of sorts totally stuck with us. It later evolved into a gift tent but we had no idea how to make it! Our wonderful party mastermind, Lyda, came to the rescue with a coat hanger. Yes ladies, this is a coat hanger, cleverly disguised with pretty chiffon’s and Chinese lanterns. I quite like the result.
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Win tickets to the Clicks Baby Bootcamp!
Yo, PE Moms! I come with glad tidings of great joy: The Clicks Baby Bootcamp is coming to a town near you!Be honest, do you sometimes feel out of your element when it comes to making decisions wrt baby’s health and wellness? Well, I do. I must admit, I was under the impression that teething and breastfeeding were probably the most complicated parts of mothering a kid. Ha! That’s hilarious, right? I mean, from vaccines to diet (not the lose weight kind… the eat well kind) to what type of infections to look out for, there’s alot of questions that I need answering.
It is with this in mind that I ‘woohoo’d really loudly when I found out that Clicks and Babyline are hosting a series of workshops nationwide, aimed at expectant and new parents. The Baby Bootcamp seeks to provide expert advice, baby related information and demonstrations to these parents.
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#ECMeetUp: We came, we saw, we ate mini cupcakes
Our 2nd #ECMeetUp for 2016 (lovingly referred to as “the mini meet”) took place this past Saturday at The Athenaeum. We called it a mini meet because we weren’t up to pulling off another massive meet, with all the frills and bows, as per the last time. In our heads (well, in Elles head and in my spreadsheet brain) we planned a small get together, with little brand involvement. But our friends over at Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism decided to blow our minds and we ended up having a semi-mini-meet of sorts that resembled a regular major meet! -
#ECMeetUp guest speakers, Colours of You SA
One of my favorite things about the #ECMeetUp (or any of our national meet ups for that matter) is that it creates a cool opportunity for bloggers to learn from industry experts. I mean, sure we have Google, but sometimes we need our Google to have a face. With that said, meet the 5 (very good looking) faces belonging to meet up guest speakers, Colours of You SA.Instagram creative, COYSA, will be taking the stage to teach us how to get max benefit from the app. They will also share tips on how to take amazing pics for your blog and other photography related stuff. (Clue: there will be an exhibition of sorts! Eeek) Did I mention that they look like they could be a culturally diverse pop band? Because they totally do. See for yourself:
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Mani Monday with Essence – Last week to enter!
So today is our last Mani Monday with Essence post – boohoo! I totally enjoyed showing you guys all my favourite picks from the ever growing Essence nails range and am extremely jealous that one of you gets to win a fab Essence hamper! “Wait, what?! I wanna win a hamper too!” I hear you scream in panic and dismay. Settle down, Margaret, there’s still time to enter 🙂 Check out the rafflecopter below, for more deets, mmkay?Right, now that all of that is out of the way, let me get right to it. This weeks Mani Monday unleashed a bit of my creative flair. And I’m not sure if it happened in a good way. My reasoning was that I wanted to see what else I could do with the awesome Essence holo striping tape and tribal nail art stickers. I mean, sure I could use the holo stripes to make a pretty, symmetrical mani or the tribal stickers to create funky looking nail art. But there had to be more. I neeeeeded more! But instead of throwing a soppy story at ya, check it out for yourself:
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Mani Monday with Essence: Holostripes
It’s another Monday and another chance to show you a sweeeeet Mani Monday Essence manicure!Last weeks color, ‘Hope for love‘, is hard to shake if you’re a girly girl like I am. I mean, I would paint my nails this pretty pink like all day, errrrday.
So with that said, do I even need a reason why I decided to go with this polish again this week? I decided to pair it up with the totally legit Essence Holo Stripes nail art stickers.
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Are your kids losers? {Stick2Me can help!}
My kids are amazing, but let’s face it, they are losers. They lose things ALL the time.Are your kids like mine? Maybe your kids are supernaturally gifted in the “coming home with both socks on” department. Maybe you’ve never had to crawl through a sea of tiny shoes, at a kiddies party, only to come up gasping for air, yelling “Has anyone seen a Ben 10 sneaker?!” Maybe your life is different. But I’m guessing that it’s not because, let’s face it, kids are kids and they lose things.
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Mani Monday with Essence
Look, let’s not beat around the bush, I love doing my nails. But man, I am totally enjoying the Mani Monday with Essence series! I now have a legit reason to paint my nails regularly! Heehee!
If you’re not in on the news, Essence is giving away fabulous nail polish and nail art goodies to one beautiful MSB reader, to celebrate Women’s Month. To enter, check out all the Mani Monday posts (just click on “Nail Art” on the top tool bar) and follow the rafflecopter below.
Right, now that all the formalities are out of the way, let me begin to profess my undying love for this weeks color. Aaack! I’m a fan! This pretty pink Essence “I love trends” #07 called ‘Hope for love‘, has totally stolen my heart! The shade is a light berry, pink paint and can be found in The Nudes range.
Armed with a bunch of stickers, my nail art stamps and striping tape, I could not figure out how to dolly this mani up. And then I remembered last week’s star: The Pastels #13 ‘Ice to meet you‘. The 2 totally compliment each other!It just made sense to revert back to my favorite nail art: polka dots! I think that the result is pretty sweet and so fitting for Women’s Month.
You probably get various high profesh nail art tools that you could use for dotting, but I prefer using a hair grip to make my dots. You simply dip the end of the grip into your paint, and lightly apply to your nail, to create perfect polka dots. Easy peasy!
I tried to take another pic to once again show how amazingly shimmery the ‘Ice to meet you’ color is. It’s a beaut!
Would you try this at home? You could… and you should! Pick up a couple of Essence polishes from your nearest Dischem or Clicks stores and give it a go!Oh and while you’re at it, enter our shweet giveaway below. Don’t forget that you get extra points by commenting on each Mani Monday post, this month. Once you’ve commented, simply hit the “Leave a blog post comment” prompt, on the rafflecopter, and Bob’s your uncle. Well, not really. But you know what I mean.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Mani Monday with Essence: The sponge effect
If you’re a big Essence fan (and I’m sure you are… I mean, who isn’t?!) you’ve probably eyed their totally swell ‘I love trends‘ color trend nail polishes. Every time I pass an Essence stand, I swear it’s like I can hear the bottles calling my name! Yes, I agree, I need to get my head checked. But hey, from pretty pastels to sophisticated nudes to alluring darks, the color trend palettes are enough to make any nail polish lover swoon!
This week, I want to show you guys one of my favorite polishes from the color trend ‘The Pastels’ range. It’s the #13 called ‘Ice to meet you‘ – a fitting title indeed! This striking ice white paint is really eye catching and not something I would expect in a pastels range. It goes on easily and has a dope opaque consistency. I likey!
When I did a bit of a smudge on the pinky there I considered covering it up with a glossy top coat but then nahhhhh. Look at how pretty this paint is without any top coat… smudge or no smudge! The finish is rather matte-y with a soft glitter hue. I can’t describe any other way than “It looks icey, yo”.
I felt like pairing it up with last weeks review, a fave from the The Darks collection called ‘Happy New Green‘. Using a nail art sponge (but you could use literally any sponge) I sponged the dark color on top of the pretty white, to give it a grundgey effect. The result:
You could finish it off with free hand nail art, stamping or even some stickers.
I liiiiked it juuuust the wayyyy iiit arrrre. *cough*What do you think? Would you try something like this at home?
Essence will be giving away a fabulous gift at the end of the month, so you need to keep your eyes peeled every Mani Monday for chances to enter!
Gain more entries on every Mani Monday post this month! Simply comment on each post sharing what your favorite thing about that specific mani is. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled to my Facebook page on Monday, 5th September to see if you’re the lucky winner!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Mani Monday with Essence {Enter our giveaway!}
So as you may know, August has officially been dubbed “Womans Month”. And while this holds no specific perks for me, in my household, (gifts. I want gifts), it’s still a pretty darn good reason to celebrate! I am woman! Hoohaa!*cough*
Okay, now that I’ve settled down, allow me to explain the rest of this month’s festivities: For the month of August, I will be featuring special manis inspired by my friends over at Essence. They have a bunch of “I’m not really a nail art expert but I wana try” stuff in their ranges and I can’t wait to show you my favorite picks and also a couple of really easy ways to make your nails look amazing! Acrylic for what?!
Oh and, drum roll: Essence will be giving away a fabulous gift at the end of the month, so you need to keep your eyes peeled every Mani Monday for chances to enter!
