LifeStyle: How to get the wax out of used candle jars

For today I wanna crack into a helpful “LifeStyle” post. When I go shopping at some of my favorite boutiques I always end up getting adorable candles with the most beautiful jars and lids. But once the candle runs out what to do? I’ve got a helpful trick on how to get that extra wax and wick out without using a knife and scratching the jar (or throwing the jar away).

I love using the jars with lids to store travel size/sample beauty products, jewelry, and small trinkets. They also make great Christmas gifts too! (Imagine, a super cute jar with some Holiday candy and a gift card to Ulta <3)

Super Easy Steps:

Step One: use the candle till it can no longer burn.

Step Two: Boil water (enough to fill the entire jar) and pour into your candle jar (make sure to fill it to the top).

Completely used up candle. As you can see there is some wax left.

Once the water is boiled; pour into the jar to the top. Wait a few minutes then put the top on the candle.

Step Three: Let the water sit over night to loosen up the remaining wax and the wick base.

Water is filled to the top. You can already see wax loosening/melting from the bottom.

Once you let the water sit you’ll notice the wax makes a film on top. Just pop the film and remove the water.

Step Four: Next day, pour the water out and remove the wick base (properly dispose the wick base), and clean the inside of the jar out with some dish soap.

Pouring out all the water. And I dispose the wick into the trash can.

Clean the jar out. If you need extra help getting the wick out of the jar (mine was glued to the bottom) use some Dawn! It works wonders.

Step Five: Dry the jar out with a dry cloth or paper towel. Vola! You now have a cleaned out candle jar! 

Sista + Gals Gift Guide

Today’s post is a gift guide on what to give the girls in your life! This could be your sister, your coworkers, or even your best friends.
I really really enjoy shopping for my girlfriends gifts. Each one is so uniquely different and I try my best to shop for their style but also purchase similar items so no one will feel out of place. I’m big on getting one particular item that all of them get and then add on little items that fit her style. When it comes to my sister I like to spoil her as well.
Below you’ll see a gift guide of all the different types of girls in your life as well as some other ideas (like gifts for her doggie!)! Enjoy!

For the gal who loves “Girls Night" - this wine night kit (pictured above) is perfect! It has tons of fun games and activities for wine + girl time. You can find this at Francescas. You can also find other cute girl night gift sets at Urban Outfitters, World Market, and Etsy!

The “Joanna Gaines” gal - If she loves “Joanna’s” style; gift her Joanna decor! Some amazing room spray and candle set from Target will have her home smelling amazing. Also, Joanna's “Homebody” book is a perfect coffee table book (can be purchased where books are sold).

The gal with the green thumb - if she has a cute balcony, back yard, or window box where she loves to plant her own herbs; these adorable garden sets from World Market will make her holidays bright! You can also find other cute herbs at Lowes/other home improvement stores.

The gal who loves to pamper - If she loves to pamper herself there’s TONS of options. Lush has these Ah-mazing gift sets stuff full of fun treats. Also stores like Ulta, Sephora, Aerie, and World Market are packed with fun spa treatment sets - from bath bombs to foot scrubs.

Makeup gal - Luckily; all our favorite makeup stores (Sephora, Ulta, department store beauty counters, etc) has countless options for beauty gift sets. If your girlfriend is into lip kits grab her a lip set. If she's all about her eyes grab her a set with tons of mascara options. 

Dog- Mama gal friend - If her dog is her first born child; really give her a sweet surprise by purchasing some cute doggie gifts! All pets stores have the cutest holiday toys and treats. But you can also go on Amazon or Etsy and find designer inspired pet toys (like a Chanel doggie purse plush toy!)

Other Amazing gift options - Book a spa day for you and your bestie (or even just a trip to the nail salon). Take her out for dinner and pay the tab. Go on Groupon and purchase a fun activity like a helicopter ride or even sky diving (those would be some cool instagram bestie pics!). If she’s struggling to pay off her student loans gift her the sweetest gift of paying one of her monthly payments! Surprise her with a build-a-bear. Purchase custom tumblrs or custom best friend charm necklaces. 

Holiday Gift Guide For Him

While I review beauty and skincare products that are perfect Christmas wishlist/stocking stuffers; I plan to do a few posts on gift guides that are perfect for Him, Mom, and for Her! On these gift guides I’m going to keep the prices very affordable with one or two high ticket items. Cause lets be real, we’re all on a ‘shop and save’ kind of budget! These gift guides are to give ideas and help guide you in the right direction on what to shop for... Enjoy!

Today’s gift guide is all about that special man in your life. It could be your boyfriend, husband or even dad (yes, some of these gift will be perfect for dad too!). When I’m shopping for my husband I know what he really likes but I also try to think out of the box and get him something creative and fun. 

For the tech + guy: if your guy is into the tech world grab up a cool apple pencil to go with his tablet or stick with a fun retro game. Both of these can be found at Bestbuy. Or be super creative and custom design him an Xbox remote from the Microsoft website. Shopping for a tech guy can sometimes be difficult which is why I sometimes opt to the gift card option.

For the trendy guy: If your guy is into the style and trends try Quay sunglasses! Quay is super hot right now or some Urbanears Jakan wireless earbuds (these come in trendy cool colors); both can be found at Nordstorm. For me, trendy guys are easy to shop for but always remember stores like Nordstrom have amazing stylist that can help select the perfect items for your trendy guy.

Some simple he will DEFINITELY love: When in doubt, go simple. Art of Shaving kit is perfect. Your guy will definitely use it. Boxers and socks are always a hit with my husband. He loves his boxers from American Eagle and socks I always try to grab up some Ralph Lauren when I see them at TJmaxx. 

Creative and heartfelt: If you want to do some thing extra creative Etsy is the place! This wooden Valet box is just under $40 and perfect to charge his phone, keep his change/keys, and watch displayed. Also, custom leather belt or wallet is a great option too!

Little bit of luxury: The newest Apple Watch is perfect if you want to splurge on him. Or a nice Yeti cooler if he’s into the outdoors or in charge of bringing the drinks to the next outdoor event! 

Other gifts worth considering: sign him up for dollar shave club, grab tickets to the next home game at his university, purchase some prepaid LIVE gaming codes for him to use on his video game time, concert tickets to a show he wants to see, and my personal favorite; book a “mini home” cabin near the mountains or by the beach for a fun weekend trip!

Christmas Gift Shopping Tips

For this post I want to focus on a topic that I always seem to struggle with during the cooler months. Setting up a Christmas shopping budget without going in debt. We all want to purchase gifts for family members (and of course our best friends), but the hardest part is making sure you have money to pay your monthly bills. Here are some of my tips I’m using this year for Christmas shopping and avoiding going into debt.

1. Start Shopping Early, Like today.
Shopping early for Christmas isn’t a bad thing. In fact it’s a smart and good thing. In fact, I try to start doing small gift shopping as early as July for family that I know will want and keep the gift I purchase. 

2. When you see something on sale, get it.
This is something I enjoy doing on items for my girlfriends. For example, when Bath and Body Works does a special promo on travel size hand sanitizers I will do the promo and grab up some for my girls stocking stuffers. Another Example: When I see some nice prints in American Eagle Boxers and their 50% off promo is going on I’ll grab up a pair for my husband.

3. Write a List and keep it in your wallet.
A list is perfect for making sure you know what to get for who and having it in your wallet for easy access. In my cars dashboard I have a pen so when I do purchase something off the list I strike it out.

4. Set a FIRM budget per person and stick to it.
I cant stress this enough. A budget is a must for buying gifts and sticking to it. With my family we all talk about how much we plan to spend on each person. My girlfriends its a bit all over the place so I try to stick with a odd number like “3 small items ranging from $25-30” that I can wrap or place in a gift box. 

5. All else fails, gift cards.
I like to do gift cards as a last resort. I enjoy wrapping items and I enjoy getting the ‘perfect item’ for someone. But at times if you have a hard person to shop for getting a gift card to a specific store must do

6. Under $10 homemade gifts for those you’re not aquatinted to
I also enjoy the homemade gifts for family friends I’m not too familiar with. I spark ideas from Pinterest and try to stick with a super low budget. A fun homemade gift is the hot cocoa mug set (you can buy most of the items from the dollar store). 

******* What about Regifting?***** 

I’m NOT a big fan of regifting. I’ve seen moms regift their kids toys to others (for Christmas and Baby Showers) and it’s OBVIOUSLY clear it was an item they didn’t want. I personally think its rude and lacks the thoughtfulness and individuality of the receiver. If you’re regifting; make sure its an item the person will want and appreciate (Example: someone says they want a wine glass set. AND you received an extra set as a wedding gift, win win). But regifting is a touchy subject and during the holidays I feel you should think more about the person you’re giving the gift to instead of trying to hand off something you don’t want. 

Unique Wedding Gift Registries

Everyone has received wedding invitations with registry ID numbers to Bed Bath & Beyond or Target. But in today's day and age, most couples are already living together before marriage. And most likely already have all the home items they need.
So what do you ask for??? Today I rounded up other options for the Newlyweds that doesn't want a set of handtowels as a wedding gift.

1. Honeymoon Fund
Everyone is having to pay utilities, pay rent-car payments-medical-student loans- etc. Its hard to save up for other things. Like the Honeymoon.
Consider asking for "honey funds". There's many websites that you can set accounts with where your wedding guest can select what part of the honeymoon to pay for! Like a massage, a dolphin tour, a bottle of Champagne at dinner, or rental cars.
For Bryce and I we haven't set money aside for a Honeymoon and its the one thing we truly need help with. If you want to view our Honeymoon Fund you can by clicking here! Or if you were wanting to donate.

2. Charity
Many couples want to use their celebration as a moment to give back to others. Charity gifts is becoming a big trend. It can be giving to a foundation the couple supports, helping a go-green project within the community, or supplying a elementary classroom.

3. A New Home
Just like the honeymoon fund, there's couples who are hoping to ditch the apartment and find the forever home. There's many funding registries where guest can help pay closing cost, insurance, taxes, etc on the couples dream home.

4. Becoming More Well Rounded
Something seriously amazing is having a registry to help fund learning something new. Like a new Language. To truly grasp a language it's not just a full collection of Rosseta Stone. It's also traveling to that languages homeland and learning the tongues from the natives. Many are requesting this as a unique gift option.

5. Future children college funds
Some are requesting help in creating a savings account for future children to have funds for college. The account can be locked for X-amount of years and as you have children you can divide the money into smaller accounts. Then when each child graduates high school he/she will have collected some interest as well.

6. Help teach the Newlyweds how to cook
This is a super fun idea. Have your wedding guest help fund cooking lessons and/or with online sites like Blue Apron! Then the happy couple will learn how to create unique dishes for meals and become more well rounded in other cultures meals.