Sunday, November 29, 2009

No Bueno: The Holiday Gift Pressure!


Who came up with the whole... the biggest and most number of gifts win...thing????


What happened to the days where "It's the thought that counts" was what was most important?

Somehow we got stuck in a world where the thought goes out the window and gluttony and greed snuck in (not in an evil way, just in a..."is maxing out your credit card and going broke just to give the most presents a good thing?" kinda way)


There was a time when families would set a spending limit, pick one member each and be forced to be thoughtful and creative.

Great gift idea! Personalized throws from West Elm

We are not saying you shouldn't get the gift you want...we just think going overboard and all of the pressures today of feeling like you have to go nutso should be a thing of the past.




So lets go back to purity...let's make the "thought that counts" the most important thing....put down the flat screen, and the gift cards, and sweaters, and the earrings, and the trunk organizer (wait! i do need one of those!), and the Wii games...
Sit back and think about the person you are giving to...write it down and go from there.

Here is a good book to help you along the way...A Gift For Giving.

Or try going to Etsy for a cute thoughtful gift.

Or a great flea market for something totally unique and special.

Or Martha Stewart has cute ideas for homemade and thoughtful but pretty gift ideas.....


Remember...your friends and families will love you the same amount no matter what happens.

Fun gift idea! Custom door mats!

XOXO- Things-We-Heart
P.S- Do you heart Oprah? We do! And guess what? She hearts us too!
Check out our blog on The big "O's" Holiday gift guide extravaganza!



Thursday, November 26, 2009

Decor to Die for: Thanksgiving centerpieces



So chances are everything is about as ready as ready can be for your big day today..

And we know you are going to be super busy running around town or cooking away the hours in the kitchen, so we are going to keep this one short and sweet... Kinda like the Things-We-Heart gals ourselves.

We put a lot of love into our food on Thanksgiving... And here are a few of our favorite ways to show your table that much love!

These are just some inspirational ideas of ways to pretty up your house for the big day.

Persimmons are so gorgeous and when you mix them with twigs of bitter-sweet, you can get much better!

Love this idea of hurricanes filled with chestnuts and pillar candles, we would keep them like this through Christmas!

We also love the simple cluster of mini pumpkins down the center of this table...
Deconstructed and loose, delicious.

OMG, why didn't we do this before? Paint your pumpkins white and put them on a white table... Done and done! With the silver bird figurine? Perfection!

We also have a crush on mini fruit used as place holders....

Little pears....

Little apples...

Oh my! Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish you all lots of love, tummies full of yummies, and not too much family drama in the kitchen!

Eat lots of pumpkin pie... It's a veggie!

XOXO- Things-We-Heart




Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Random hearts: We want gadgets and gizmos a plenty...who its and what its galore....Funny yet useful gadgets pt.2!!!

Our BF could use this amazing pair of eye dropper glasses...


Oh, how we uber heart a good gadget, invention and gizmo...oh how we long to get one and use it til we get bored or until it breaks.


Today we live for gadgets....as recorded by late night informercials...we have to have the dehydrator, the Snackmaster and that crazy airbrush makeup machine....or anything else they tell us we need.


P.S Why is it that they only sell us amazing things we need at 4am? Let me think...ok I'll think about it after I eat this pint of ice cream and bag of Oreos...legalize it...that's all I'm saying...that way they can run Infomercials 24/7...right? Right?


Anywhoo...

Our last RH post about totally rad and hilarious yet super useful gadgets got sooo much love we couldn't resist another.
And this one is in perfect time for the good ol' season o' presents! Woo hoo!


The perfect job could be right here under our noses...gadget shopping and testing!


Wow!! Sauce dispensing chopsticks...um...yes please!

How fun would that be? The only thing that could top that would be either a Ben and Jerry's taste tester/flavor consultant or a facial laser guinea pig (seriously...you know how expensive those lasers are? UGHH...if we only wore SPF 30 when we were tiny beach bunnies).




There are different levels of gadgets and gizmos from useful and chic to silly and totally trashable...but the ones we are about to show you are riiiight in between and super fun to use and give to the ones you heart.


First up is a super good idea for hiding your jewels...The Sourdough Loaf Safe ;)
Experts say it that robbers usually only look for things for 8 minutes in a house...there is no way they will ever find your goods in this! Well, that is unless they are hungry and feel like making a cheese sandwich. Hmmmmm....

We loooooove this um product...not so much a gadget persay, but suuuuuuper useful for you boys out there...Ritual Nature Calls Toilet Drops!

It's a dropper filled with some weird liquid that when dropped in the bowl (before the deadly deed is done) and voila! No stink!
No more lighting and blowing out matches!
Um..PS... girls don't need this because we don't poop...and if we did, it would be gardenia scented glitter.

Again not sooo much a gadget (shit...do we need to change the title? No because all of these super cute things are totally useful like a gadget...right?) but definitly great to have and give out for the next few weeks.

It's the perfect thing for family and friends that are crazy hard to shop for or just don't ever tell you what they want...Oooops I should probably order one of these "What I want" pads for myself...today!

Oh geez! We could totally use these To Do Tattoos! For some reason, the school girl in us has never gone away and there are many a day when we walk around with ink on our faces from accidentally wiping our nose with hands filled with notes.
It's the perfect gizmo! Stick it on your hand and jot down anything you need to remember. Perfect for your friend who is always on the go.

Ever wonder what Mr Dog and Miss Kitty are doing when you leave the house? Yup...us too..you know they totally conspire when we leave. Cupboards are mysteriously opened...undies go missing and freshly made beds are no longer.
Well...we have a pet lovers dream here! Throw a Pet's Eye View camera on them and you will never be in the dark again!
It takes a pic of the bad bunnycats in preset intervals...pop it in your computer via the USB port and you will probably wish you had never seen it....Yeah..you will never wonder how the cat box was miraculously cleaned every day..."MR DOG...YOU SICK PUPPY!"



Do you have a bestie that you are sick of telling to quit smoking? Love her/him sooo much but every time you tell them how gross and bad smoking is, it goes in one ear and out the other?
Well...yell no more!
This lung ashtray is the perfect gadget for your home and theirs. When ever they light up near this amazing thing...it screams and coughs at them! Sooo rad! They will kiss you for it later.

Hello ridiculously rad Ghetto Blaster High Tops!!!! Are you for real????????? If you are we super heart you and want to hang you on our wall as FArt...(Fine Art).
The only problem is there is no Ipod connection so either these are really old or sooo retro they are really cool now.
Just think how these could have saved Llyod Dobbers arms from falling asleep in Say Anything.





Can't get your kids to eat? Maybe they will when you let them eat with these tractor utensils?
I would totally eat all of my food with these cutie mcgootie gizmos. OMFG...let's go to Yogurtland right now and eat our tub o' yum with these!!!!! FUN!


Holiday time is the best time to give and receive gadgets and gizmos a plenty!
P.S. Restoration Hardware has the best retro and new gadgets around for the best prices!



xoxo t.w.h.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Beauty-fuls: Eye Love You...we heart "Natural" looking eyes hadows!


You know when you see a girl who is TDF gorgeous...like "...Really are you freaking kidding me? That's how you look with no make up on?" ....gorge.


Well lovers of Things We Heart, we are here to tell you...she's wearing makeup.
No really! She is...unless she's Kate Bosworth or Kelly Wearstler...

...she is for sure wearing it.

Pros like to call it the No Makeup Makeup and it's about time that we all get to be that chick who people whisper about (in a good way).


We were inspired to do this post because of 2 incidents...1st when we saw a certain movie this weekend...we are not allowed to talk about it again until June 2010...but we gasped and literally held hands when we saw how we never noticed how unbelievably naturally stunning the lead actress was (OK....OK... we saw New Moon! and loved every F'n second of it...so much one of us changed our Blackberry name to E Cullen...don't tell my BF...OOOOPS..) We digress... sorry...hee hee

Bella Swan's eye makeup in particular was perfection. It brought out her true beauty with out hiding her at all.

Not Bella but a bella and this is the PERFECT example of No Makeup Makeup...great colors!

Then, I went to coffee with one of the prettiest girls around and actually got teary eyed (Hey! I had my period) when I saw her...she looked DDG (Drop Dead Gorgeous)!
After yelling at EF for being soooo pretty, I asked her for her eye makeup tips and she said yes!!!


So we...the ladies of Things We Heart would love to divulge the secrets to the perfect No Makeup Eye Makeup! Woo hoo!

First up is the eye makeup that makeup artist Van Phue gives us the dirt on BS's (Bella Swan) beautiful eyes.


After prepping her lids with a primer from Smashbox, she swept on 3 shades of neutral shadow from M.A.C.

Wedge, Blanc Type an Phloof. The effect was a smoldering nude yumminess.
I wonder if EC will fall in love with us if we do our eyes like her....hmmmmm.












OK, next up are the beautiful tricks of our beautiful friend.

Her glowing eyes were enough to make us fall in love...here is what she uses.
When she is getting gussied up she uses Chantecaille Shine Eyeshadow Powder.

There is a neutral trio that she loves, but she suggests going to the counter to find the best neutral shades for your ojos.
But when she is meeting a friend and wants to be perfectly unmade up, she turns to Estee Lauder's Creme Blush in Nude Light (yes it's a blush and looks like her face and eyes are lit by the sun)

...and lines the upper lid with a soft colored Kohl pencil from Trish McEvoy.
We are FOR SURE stealing her look...

Now for a few amazing "Natural" colored shadows we found..see how much we love you?! Sooo much research...OK it is for us too but we would never do it unless you cared too ;)

We super heart this kit from Too Faced called the Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow kit. Cute!


It comes with all of the colors (9 total!) you need for that perfect natural eye makeup look for any occasion.
And it even includes a how to! You will be a glowing fairy goddess in no time with this palette of cuteness. You're welcome!

Loving this next kit from Stila....the perfectors (sp?) of the natural look bring you their Purrfect Eyes Talking Palette.


Now it was designed for the Cat Eye look that we all suuuper heart but after looking at it, all of the colors included are perfect for a beautiful natural look.
Even the liner pen is great to line your lashes so they look super lush. And the best part? You can create that gorge cat eye for a date and you don't even need any other makeup. That's what we call recessionista chic.
Oh and if that isn't enough? ...It talks!!!! What??? Yup it gives you a step by step!!! Amazing!

Speaking of recessionista chic..while taking a bi-weekly trip into Target we found ourselves once again the the makeup aisles and ran across this great duo from Sonia Kashuk called Leather and Lace (oooh kinky...and that sounds like a great Friday post!).

It has 2 tones that are begging to help you look naturally perfect (not that you are not already...but they will enhance you even more)

Now if you are soooo lazy that you can't be bothered with brushes, primers and application then try these uber bazaar eyeshadow "stickers" from Coloronpro.

Super weird but look crazy cool.

Check out a past post we did that includes so great eye primers to make your new purchases stick and not melt off. (Scroll down a tweeny bit)

Pinkvilla has a great tutorial on the best way to do a natural eye...go here! It's really easy and good.



We lurve that the natural look is back in! What good is makeup if it hides you?
Well yes, it is crazy fun to get all dolled up but it is just as fun to have your lovers and friends say..."Wow...she is sooo naturally beautiful" ...'cuz you are.

P.S. THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO THE "NATURAL" LOOK KIM...sorry for yelling but come on!



xoxo t.w.h.©