My Christmas Gift List: Trophy Wife Aprons

As you know I love all things vintage and rarely do I fall in love with something this cute and trendy. It does have the vintage vibe since it is an apron...but let me tell you...these are certainly not your Grandma's apron. Not mine anyway. They are so cute you will want to get one for all the women on your Christmas List. Emmanuella is a true artist with her sewing designs.

Hi everyone, my name is Emmanuella Koenig with Trophy-Wife Aprons.

I started to sew as a teenager on my mom's sewing machine. I bought my very first portable sewing machine at 21 years old. I felt like a queen with my new toy. I worked in an office up to few years ago and made all my clothes. Fabric was less costly then.

I have 2 sons which sometimes, as you know, can take-up quite a bit of my free time. I have the best husband in the world... sorry ladies, he is mine and all mine!

I love wearing aprons and because it was impossible to find nice ones out there, I decided to make my own. I am a perfectionist, so it my own aprons had to make me feel pretty. I bought an old Halloween costume pattern at Value Village last winter. It was a nurse uniform. I changed it, changed it and changed it some more until it became the aprons that I sell now.

I overlap 3 individual skirts to make my aprons. All of it is cut on the bias (sideway), so it takes "a lot" of fabric to make one. I buy my supplies at retail like all of you. One day, I will qualify to buy at wholesale, but for now this will have to do.

My husband came-up with the name Trophy-Wife Aprons.

I opened my Facebook fan page last January 10th 2013. I guess word-of-mouth took off faster than I expected. I now have over 7000 fans and still growing. I hope you all can visit it at www.facebook.com/TrophyWifeAprons.

Thank you for taking the time for reading my story.

I wish you all the very best for the Holiday Season.

Emmanuella XOXO

Artbooking Made Easy: Wintertime Layouts

My Christmas Gift List: Steeped Tea

One of the best parts of Christmas is the time spent with friends and family. Sometimes though, once the New Year rolls around we get wrapped back up in our little cocoons and don't seem to find the time to be social. That is the very reason I love this next gift. Not only is it very trendy right now because of its appearance on TV but also because it is a good hook to remind your friends and family to reconnect with you in the New Year. Imagine this if you will, your sister opens her lovely gift from Steeped Tea on Christmas and is thrilled by the thoughtful collection of teas and accessories. Here is the plus, when she puts the gift away when the tree comes down she is going to think of you. I see lots of post Christmas bonding opportunities with this product. Aside from the warm and fuzzy aspect of the gift it is truly an ideal gift for almost anyone on your list. Spend some time perusing Kareen's website and discover all the wonderful products her company has to offer. If you happen to host a Tea Party in the new year, give me a call...you know I have my own Tea Cup! Better still I think I will see if Kareen is camera shy and we can post a Tea Party from my studio!

My name is Kareen and I am an Independent Consultant with Steeped Tea.

Steeped Tea is a Canadian company offering top quality loose teas and accessories. All of our teas are ethically traded and we only partner with tea farms who are part of the Ethical Tea Partnership (equivalent of fair trade in the tea industry). We do not use any artificial flavours in our teas, only all natural flavours are used. With over 100 varieties of tea there is sure to be a new favourite for everyone! We offer everything from Matcha to naturally caffeine free Rooibos. We sell teas by making a connection with people over a cuppa tea, either at a tea party or small tasting session. Our business was recently (Sept 2012) featured on the TV show "The Dragon's Den" and has been growing steadily ever since. We are in the business of, not just selling tea, but connecting with people over a cuppa tea. We also offer the opportunity for people to build their own business, while still being able to raise their family. We hope to be able to help those around us by discovering their new favourite tea or offering them the opportunity to earn an income doing something they love.

I am a stay-at-home mom of a wonderful 5 year old and Steeped Tea has allowed me to build my business at my own pace and fits perfectly into our lifestyle!
Please visit my website at www.mysteepedtea.com/KareensTea"

My Christmas Gift List: Arbonne

Wow, Christmas gift lists are daunting aren't they? I have been trying to cover all the possibilities for people not only on my list, but your's as well. This is probably the third Christmas out of the last 15 that I have not had an infant or toddler to put gifts under the tree for.  I know it is cute and sweet to load up on every cute baby toy around but honestly, they just don't get enough use. The baby can only use so many toys at once and they outgrow them so fast, you barely get the protective wrapping off it and they are moving up to more advanced toys. I suggest making a cute basket of baby products. The parents will appreciate the relief for their budget and baby will be just as happy with the box anyway. Fill the basket with age appropriate treats like organic baby food, baby cookies and tub time products...if you really feel the urge to include a toy...a rubber ducky is always in style. Check out my friend Deborah's product line from Arbonne for all your baby care products. While you are at it, make sure to check out the full catalogue to cross off the last few gifts and stocking stuffers on your list.

Deborah Tang: Arbonne

Past life: army reservist in an armoured regiment out west (four years), computer engineer in the public service (12 years)

Present: stay at home mom of four selling Arbonne

WHO AM I

I'm a new stay at home mom with four kids, and I say that because I've always gone back to work to my computer-electrical engineer in the federal government after each year of mat leave. However we are a military family and with four kids we decided to move the whole family together for this posting. I've also come to terms with all the things moms have to do all day and all night around the house, including shuttling kids to karate, swimming, and kumon etc. Fortunately I am their piano teacher!

WHY ARBONNE

The whole reason I got into beauty and cosmetics is that I don't sleep well with the four kids, and I needed something to take care of myself and hide the bags under my eyes! As well it's never too early to start thinking about anti-aging! Arbonne has the BEST vegan-certified, swiss formulated, botanically based products, made in the USA and sold exclusively by passionate Independent Consultants. We have what people are looking for with over 450 items in our catalog from skincare, bath and body, baby care to vegan protein shakes and vitamins and even shaving products for men! I LOVE to tell people about Arbonne because we are pure, safe and beneficial - no parabens, no SLS and no mineral oil.

I'm an Engineer with a Masters Degree in Physics and a music background, but I am a woman and I choose to buy the best and most prestigious products for myself and my kids. Sometimes people take a double take, like wow you're a rocket scientist, so why are you selling lipstick? Well that's exactly it, I DECIDED to take time away from my work regular work to be with my family and this is the perfect home business I can do on my own terms. It's like bring your kids to work day everyday!

The perks, wow imagine a job where I can claim my beauty products as business expenses and get a good discount. I also do mobile spa presentations, trade shows, online sales, deliveries and business meetings and recruitment interviews.

My top five favorites
1) ABC Arbonne Baby Hair and Body Wash - the first ingredient is water! Arbonne is SLS free and I really care about what I put on my kids skin, botanically based
2) Sea Source Hair Masque - keeps my hair soft and strong, like a conditioner but you keep it in longer before washing it out. I love the natural fragrance of sea botanicals especially the 24 re-mineralizing lotion
3) It's a Long Story mascara - I never wore mascara before I started selling it and now I love it. The formula helps lashes grow longer too, I feel it
4) RE9 Intensive Renewal Serum - vitamin and antioxidant rich, sea algae extract, apply before the day or night moisturizer
5)FC5 day cream with spf 20- I love the fragrance of five fruit cell technology - kiwi, strawberry, carrot, pumpkin and mango. mineral based spf
6) I love the vegan protein shakes, chocolate and vanilla. A great start to my day full of vitamins as well

Best Christmas gifts
1) Majestic Makeup Palette - for the perfect day to night look with all the colours you need
2) Sea Source Line - ocean botanicals
3) RE9 Corrective Eye Cream

My kids love the products too. They know that food coloring and food dye is bad. They only want to use Arbonne products! Feel great and look great when you join my team!