Monday Musings (First Holiday Look)

Hello Gorgeous!

Happy December, my favourite month of the year, so let's start it off with my first holiday look of the season. My son recently went for his Christmas photo shoot and since the photographer is a friend of mine, we took a few shots. Check out this gorgeous red skirt, this was one of my last purchases from White House Black Market after I won that great contest from Mapleview Mall. The fullness is perfect and the colour is so lovely paired with this lovely pink shirt. Please let me know what are you planning on wearing this holiday season? Share a comment and/or share a picture in your favourite look.

Shop:
Skirt- White House Black Market
Bag- Kate Spade

Sunday School (Christmas Edition One Direction Giveaway!)

Hello Gorgeous

To keep on the topic of kids this week, if you have a pre-teen or teenage girl at home then I have a great present for you to get them. I am sure you know all about One Direction, you know that British boy band that the 'tweens' just love. You now have a new gift to buy, the One Direction makeup kits. I was fortunate to receive a few kits as a sample, more specifically the Liquilights Glow Gloss, and the Rock Me Nail Kit. The lipgloss colours glow under UV light, while the nail polish featuring NEON UV-REACTIVE Nail Varnish and UV-REACTIVE GLITTER nail toppings that add even more sizzle to your mani, for nails that light up day and night. This post has been sponsored by Markwins and BrandBacker.

Check out the unpacking of these products below.

The boxes for these products have an outer plastic covering and then the box. These would be great stocking stuffers.

The nail polish colours are bright and included a pot of glitter to sprinkle on the nails for extra sparkle. The lip gloss colours are also very bright and glide on quite nicely.

You can buy these products at your local Macy's or Lord and Taylor stores. 

NOW for the best part! You can enter to win the giveaway below to win your own One Direction makeup kits. Follow the link and good luck!

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How To Thursday's (Dress Your Toddler Boy for the Holidays)

Hello Gorgeous

Now that the holiday season is beginning, what will your children be wearing? As a mom of a boy it is more challenging to find fantastic boys clothes. Most children's stores have an amazing girls area with the most beautiful dresses, sweaters, and coats. The choices for girls seem endless, but what about the boys? Yes, it is harder to find stylish boys clothing, so I decided explain how I love to dress my son for the holiday season, and I included some of my favourite items.

My son is getting close to three years old now, and every holiday season I love to buy him something new and a bit more 'dressed up'. This year I decided to shop at Gap Kids, and Joe Fresh. Gap Kids always seems to have great items and yes the price point is more than some stores, but the quality I really like. Joe Fresh, has such a great clothing line for children, and the price point is so incredible that many times I buy two of the same item.

This Gap Kids coat is right on trend with the fur trimmed parka in a camel colour. The black cords are always a wardrobe staple, and Gap usually includes an adjustable waistband if your little one has a smaller waist. When I dress my son I love layering a sweater on top of a plaid or bold coloured shirt, it instantly dresses up any outfit. Either of the shirts I picked would be great with the blue cardigan or fair isle print grey button sweater. I decided to add a great pair of mittens and a fedora hat, because who doesn't love to see a toddler boy in a fedora? A great pair of simple classic Converse are so fun and my son loves wearing these shoes.

Monday Musings

Hello Gorgeous!

Welcome to the start of the last week of November. I am so excited for the holiday season that I baked an early batch of sugar cookies yesterday. Remember last week I mentioned the holidays are my favourite time of year, well the first snowfall is another one of my favourite yearly occurrences. It was so nice last week to see a little snow on the ground, even if it is all gone today due to the warmer weather. Think about your favourite winter coat, why do you love it? Is it the colour? the warmth it gives you? a sentimental attachment? This yellow Gap coat has been a favourite of mine for a few years now, although it is not the warmest coat, it is great for the changing temperatures. I love it because of the colour and the peacoat style is always classic. The gold buttons on this coat add that little something 'extra'. The blue plaid dress is so flattering, and blue and yellow is always a nice complimentary pairing of colours. What are you doing this week?

Shop
Dress- Eshakti (here)
Coat- Gap (love this)
Bag- Rebecca Minkoff (here)
Shoes- Town Shoes  (here)

Sunday School

Happy Sunday! I apologize for not having a classroom update last week, I was at Spark Sessions in Toronto and I ran out of time. This week's Sunday School will be two weeks in one. We have been hosting parents in our room for student observations, and it has been very busy. We started off last week reading the book "Mix It Up"and students had the chance to experiment with mixing colours at our creative table.

Last week our class got some great new letter construction pieces. This week we have students creating names with these pieces. I was so impressed.

We finally brought out our "Melissa and Doug" work toy. The students love it, this is a great tool for building fine motor strength.

Our students are continuing to build using the inspiration pictures we put up on the shelf below our blocks. These two lovely girls worked together to create this amazing structure.

Have you played Bananagrams? I have had this game sitting in a drawer at home so I decided to bring it in and use it as an invitation to play.

We read the book "I'm Bored" this week, about a little girl who is bored and meets a potato. We then explored what potatoes look like, feel like, and wrote about what we would do with a potato.

 We got some fancy carpet rule soccer balls for our classroom this week.

I hope you all had a great week in your classrooms. Leave a comment and tell me all about what your students did.

How To Thursday's (Teacher Gift Guide)

Hello Gorgeous!

My gorgeous friend Jenna requested a post about the best teacher gift ideas. First off, please know that we as teachers do not expect gifts, as we love our jobs and your children. With that said, if you are wanting to buy your child's teacher a gift for the holiday season here are a few helpful tips and some great gift ideas.

Tips:

1. Ask your child what his or her teacher likes. The age range of my students is four to five years old and any one could easily tell you that every morning I have a Starbucks or Tim Horton's drink in my hand. Children observe far more than we give them credit for, so whatever your child says the teacher likes start from there.

2. Decide if you will be buying a gift that will stay in the classroom (books, art supplies, games for indoor recess), or if the gift will be for the teacher's personal use.

3. Try not to buy a gift because it is 'trendy'. When candles grew in popularity, I think I received ten of those wonderful smelling objects. Unfortunately, I did not use the candles due to an over active cat in my house.

Gift Ideas
Disclaimer: the gifts mentioned below are in no particular order.

1. Remember my first tip, what does the teacher like? Create a personalized gift basket, the one shown below is tea, but you can customize it to be, a variety of chocolates, a snack basket (sweet and salty choices), or bath products (yes we like bath products).

2.If you have decided that you want to get a gift that will stay in the classroom, this is the way to go! Look at this art supply cake, decorated with glue, calculators, paint, markers and more. A teacher would be thrilled to receive this because we can always use these items in our room.

3. Include some home baked good with your gift, or make your whole gift baked goods. I know I do not get enough time to bake during the month of December. Stick to simple but great tasting treats such as sugar cookies, the easiest cookie recipe I have found is here.

4.I know you're all thinking, " but I don't want to buy a gift card", honestly teachers love it! Feel free to get creative with which gift card you choose. One year, a few of my students' families collected money together and bought me a day at the spa. Gift cards for the grocery store or local mall, are ones that we do not receive as frequently, making them a great gift!

5.Finally, the one thing all teachers really want is a thank you card written by your child. I have a special box that I keep them in (yes all of them!), and every school year I like to go through it and remember the students I have taught over the years. It doesn't matter if it is the holiday season we always love a thoughtful note.

I hope this sheds some light about what to buy a teacher for the holiday season. What will you buy for your child's teacher? 

Try This Tuesday- Glitz and Glam Giveaway

Hello Gorgeous!

Have I told you that the holiday season is my favourite time of year?  To kick off the start of the 2014 holiday season, I have teamed up with six other fantastic bloggers to help you get GLAM! For my first Try This Tuesday installment, I am introducing you to six blogs (you may have not read yet), and giving you the chance to enter the Holiday Glam Giveaway.

We have collected some of the most coveted products for you to win! The Too Faced makeup carousel includes, three pretty eye shadow palettes (4 colours each), two blush and bronzer palettes, and a tube of 'better than sex' mascara. I have been obsessing over this carousel since it was released at Sephora, and I eye it every time I have been in the store. The green eyeshadow palette shown in the picture below is a personal fave because it includes the perfect shade of holiday evergreen.

This giveaway also includes a gorgeous statement necklace from Aldo and the perfect evening clutch from Aldo.  Here is your chance to get that perfect holiday GLAM look!

To take part in Try This Tuesday,

1. Take a look at the blogs below:

Courtney -La Belle Sirene

Amanda-  Latest- Wrinkle

Dee - Liner Glitter Gloss

Sharon-Under The Blush

Samantha-Gemstone Beauty

Kelly-Glitter Diaries

2. Enter the giveaway below using Rafflecopter! GOOD LUCK!! The contest runs until December 2 and is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday Musings (Spark Sessions)

Hello Gorgeous!

This past weekend was the annual Spark Sessions conference in Toronto, Canada. This conference is for fashion and beauty bloggers who would like to learn more about how to grow their blog audience while attracting brands. I admit I had been looking forward to this weekend for a few months now, and I left with more excitement than ever about my blog. I had the chance to meet some lovely bloggers, including one of my personal favourites Jenny from Crazy Style Love. The blogging community is very supportive and I had the privilege to meet so many great people this weekend. 

You will notice some changes to Teach In Fashion this week because I will be starting some weekly columns such as this one, which is Monday Musings. There will now be a Try This Tuesday, a How to Thursday, and a special Sunday School column on Sundays. I always love when you have a content idea so if there is a topic you would like to see on the blog, please send me a message or leave a comment.

Below is a recap of my amazing weekend at Spark Sessions.  You can see the sponsor list in the picture below, what an amazing group of companies that came together to make this event possible.

Benefit Cosmetics had the most lovely table display set up for us browse and try products at. The 'Porefessional' powder was definitely a favourite of mine because I have struggled with large pores since my teenage years. The Benefit team understands that every woman is beautiful and offers a wide range of products to meet all skin colours, tones, and needs. Stay tuned for a Try It Tuesday featuring one of my favourite makeup products ever (and yes it's from Benefit).

Vitabath offers luxury in a bottle. The shower gel and body lotion scents will tempt you to stay in the bath or shower longer.

This macaron display was just divine. The colour palette is so bright and fun, there was a lineup all day at this table to get a picture of these delectable desserts.

The MicroNail line offers an instant pedicure product, and an instant nail buffer product. I was very interested in the pedicure product because like many of us, I am on my feet all day. I will be looking for the MicroNail line at my local drugstore. The instant pedicure allows you to buff the areas of your feet that need extra attention before entering the shower. After your shower, you then can apply moisturizer if you like, and your feet will feel refreshed.

Did you know that the blue pot of Nivea creme has been around since 1911? That is remarkable! The Nivea line has changed and grown since then, but the blue pot of creme remains their best seller.  Next time you are in a local drugstore, take a look at the Nivea line, it will surprise you. The products are fabulous with a great price point.

These are some of the lovely ladies I had the chance to meet this weekend. Amanda the girl on the far left lives very close to me. I am sure we will be meeting on a regular basis.

Finally, here is my second day outfit. This skirt is from White House Black Market, and I received so many compliments on it. The fullness is so girly and fun. 

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you had a splendid weekend!

Spark Sessions

This weekend I will be attending Spark Sessions in Toronto. This is a two day conference for bloggers who want to learn more about the blogging world. There will be many guest speakers attending, such as Vanessa Craft (from Elle Canada), and Isabella Randez (from L'oreal Luxe). Spark Sessions is offering many informative sessions such as how to use Pinterest and Google + more effectively, as well as, how to work with public relations companies. As I am new to the world of business and public relations, ( I can teach your child to read, write and generally be a good person) this will be great learning for me. I am very excited to meet new bloggers and hopefully, some amazing companies that can provide me some insights about next steps for my blog.  The sponsors of this conference are incredible, from Benefit Cosmetics and Bench, to the one company I am most excited to meet, Clarisonic. I am sure this will be an amazing weekend, and I admit I have been contemplating my outfits. Here is what I have decided on for Saturday, this gorgeous pink coat, and a denim dress with a statement necklace. I feel great in this look, and the style of this dress a perfect reflection of me. If you are going to Spark Sessions please come and say, "hello", I would love to meet you.