Nanny to Mommy

With the Holidays quickly approaching, I don't know about you but I have been thinking about what gifts I want to give. And my go-to gift for friends, other moms, or the Hubby has always been wine. I recently had the opportunity to review a few wines from Winc.com with the Hubby. We were very impressed.


I have tried a few different brands and types of wines, but finding what I like can be difficult. Winc is not your traditional wine club: they are a direct-distribution global wine company that personalizes the entire wine experience. They are perfecting how wine is made, distributed, perceived, and purchased. I have never been a sweet wine drinker. That's what I love about Winc. They personalize your wines based on your tastes called the Palate Profile quiz. They ask you questions like, "How do you like your coffee?", "How do you feel about salt?", "Do you like citrus?", etc. It then will recommend wines based on your profile, but you can then select different ones if you'd like.

I have been trying to make more time for myself. It has been getting a little easier now that my kids are getting a little older. When my kids were babies, I kind of lost myself a little. I love makeup and dressing up. I also think it is important to not only make sure you take care of yourself, but spoil yourself a little when you're a mom because you do deserve it.

If you are like me, then you don't have time to keep reapplying your makeup all day long, but traditional lip sticks and glosses tend to fade throughout the day, like when you drink your morning cup of coffee. I recently had the opportunity to try out LipSense color and gloss thanks to RedGateBeauty.

Is anyone else already starting to think about their Holiday Shopping Lists? We have a big family with a LOT of little girls, so I think very early in the year. Today we are starting our Holiday Gift Guide off with a bang and introducing SmitCo LLC.

Started in 2006, SmitCo LLC is a Kansas based company owned by Francina Smit. She is a mom to two daughters and a grandmother to three granddaughters. And she loves all things "girly". SmitCo LLC's mission is to provide affordable products like gifts for girls to their customers in their online store. They do this through custom made orders and direct orders from suppliers, then sell it to you at great prices.

Welcome to our Annual Holiday Gift Guide!

We are gearing up for our this year's and looking for sponsors. If you would like to participate, please contact Diana.n.chastain@gmail.com. Looking for ideas for babies, toddlers, preschooler, kids, parents, spouses/significant others, grandparents, adults, etc! Including stocking stuffers!

If you would like to see our review policy, stats, etc., please feel free to check out our media kit. Here is an example of our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide and 2016 Baby Shower Gift Guide. Thanks!

My son is adjusting to his new bedroom and I have decided to get him some kind of light to go in his room because it is very dark right now. He also has almost zero décor in his room. It's because we really didn't have a decorated nursery for him like we did for our daughter. I am terrible and never got around to it. BUT we have decided to a chic Star Wars theme for his new room.

I have known about 3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Lights for a while now and since we have just now decided on a theme for his room, what better time to get him one of these! 3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Lights are the perfect gift this holiday season. They have a full range of comic book, super hero, Disney Princess, sports and car lights that look as though they are popping right out of the wall. We chose the Darth Vader light because our son loves him.

It's hard to buy gifts for grandma and grandpa. What do you buy for someone who has everything or limited space?

GrandBox is the original monthly subscription box customized and curated specifically for seniors 65 and up. Every month, the GrandBox team creates a new theme to build each box around. Every theme and product is meant to bring joy to your loved one. From Route 66 to Back-to-School to A Day at the Spa, they make sure that each box will be a delightful surprise. Their team has the experience and knowledge to know what grandparents will love. It's the perfect gift to bring a smile to the older loved ones in your life and have them talking about their GrandBox for days.

Hammacher Schlemmer has unique gifts for everyone on your shopping list. I was so excited when I received the opportunity to include them in my Holiday Gift Guide. I was asked to pick an item from their HUGE selection for products. There were so many things I liked. Last year I chose The Award Winning Dump Truck, but this year I decided to get something for the hubby and I. So I picked the Ultra Slim Wine Refrigerator.

The Ultra Slim Wine Refrigerator is a dual-temperature wine refrigerator that secures 18 bottles yet measures less than 10"-wide. Ideal for narrow spaces—such as the end of an apartment’s buffet or island—while providing the convenience of a fully stocked kitchen cellar, it stores Bordeaux-sized bottles with seven chrome shelves that pull out easily for readjustment when storing larger bottles from other appellations. A built-in shelf supports upright and preserved wines.

Who doesn't love personalized jewelry? It makes a great gift especially for family that lives far away. With pictures so close to their heart, they can treasure these memories for years to come.

"PicturesOnGold.com creates the finest Photo Pendants and Charms, Gold Lockets, Silver Lockets and other Personalized Photo Jewelry in the industry. We create lasting photo lockets and photo jewelry keepsakes using only the finest 14k gold, white gold and Sterling Silver. You send us your photos and using our patented technology we laser engrave your pictures in color right on our gold lockets, silver lockets, locket charms and most of our custom jewelry. The results are gorgeous gold lockets or silver photo lockets that open to reveal your photos and can be worn as a beautiful photo or picture locket."

My daughter just started to swim over the summer. Being a mermaid is her new goal in life. She could live in the water everyday, if it were possible. She loves to pretend to be a mermaid, but what if there was a way for her to BE a mermaid?

Fin Fun is the maker of the Monofin and although I think those are SO COOL, my daughter is not quite a skilled enough swimmer for one yet, so I am excited to get the chance to include the Bikini Beach Cuddle Tail Blanket in my Holiday Gift Guide.

My daughter has LOVED My Little Pony for a few years now and she still does! She has almost everything so it is getting more difficult to find great gifts for her. I thought I would share some ideas that can help you think outside the box of the MLP world. No matter what age, there is something here for the My Little Pony fan in your life!

My son is obsessed with trains. When we are driving in the car and he spots tracks, he says "choo choo" and "look train" over and over again. I love to play with trains too, so I'm very excited he is starting to get into them. But he doesn't really have a nice train set. My in-laws plan on giving him a Thomas set, but I want to expand his collection with a high quality set too.

The Whittle Shortline Railroad is a family owned, 20 year old, wooden toy train company. They hand craft realistic toy trains that are compatible with Thomas, Brio, and Chuggington. Their toy trains are modeled after real trains you would see in your neighborhood. As a part of their 20th anniversary, they released over 20 new trains for August 2016. In December 2016, they will begin a program of releasing a new train each month and expanding their offering to trains around the world! Visit their website right now to watch video's and learn more. Seriously my son LOVES the video below.

MAM has the perfect holiday gift this year for your baby from festive holiday and personalized pacifiers to perfect stocking stuffers and a range of gift sets that include everything parents need to give their baby a healthy start.

Today is Cyber Monday and you can get 50% off select Hasbro toys on Amazon! I was sent some very fun toys to feature in my gift guide and I thought there's no better time to share them with you.

I love fresh flowers. I love how they can give your space a little something extra. I have been buying flowers pretty regularly since we moved into our new house from our local grocery store, but they haven't lasted at all. I would rather spend a little more to get some flowers that last longer, so in the long run I'm spending less.

BloomsyBox.com is a subscription-based service in which they send monthly flowers fresh from the farms to homes and businesses’. They enable customers to sign up for fresh and unique flowers with convenient delivery (monthly) at really affordable prices. A basic subscription costs $34.99 per bouquet for a monthly delivery. Customers can suspend service when they’re out of town.

I received complimentary products to provide this review. All opinions are my own.

National Geographic Kids Books is the leading nonfiction publisher for kids and the only publisher with the world’s premier scientific, education, and research organization at its core. They publish more than 100 titles each year and have more than 600 titles currently in print worldwide, with many award-winners, including the best-selling National Geographic Kids Almanac, a leveled readers series, their popular Weird But True series, many STEM-centric titles, and more. Colorful graphics, beautiful photography and rich informative content are hallmarks of our books. Their mission is to inspire kids to learn about the planet and empower them to make it better.

This post contains affiliate links.

If you are looking for something absolutely adorable to give the budding jewelry maker in your life, ALEX Toys has done it again! My five year old daughter loves jewelry and I think this
Lil’ Lockitz Memory Studio by ALEX Toys not only lets you express yourself as never before to create something truly personal, but it makes a great gift!





Lil’ Lockitz supplies you with gems, backgrounds and charms of your favorite things to float in a wearable collage that tells a story. Memory Studio is your super deluxe design studio for creating Lockitz.

I love subscription boxes. They are my thing! I love getting a surprise box curated to you each month. Who doesn't? There are so many different ones out there. There is something for everyone. I recently was introduced to Vellabox which is a candle subscription box.

Every month they send you quality, small-batch, toxin-free, hand-poured candles. Vellabox has 3 different levels of subscription that recently changed names: the Lucerna (formerly Standard), the Ignis (formerly Aficionado), and the Vivere (formerly Luxe). I received the Vivere to review. The Vivere is $30 a month and includes an 8oz and 4oz candle with about 75 hours of burn time plus one surprise gift and always free shipping.

Here's what my box included:

Looking for personalized gifts for the little ones on your list? I See Me! has you covered! They have something for everyone and every occasion Lunchboxes, Puzzles, Coloring Books, Placemats, Stickers, and Growth Charts! My niece is kiddo number three in her family and has a December birthday too, so I really wanted to get her a personalized children's book. I decided to get her the My Snuggle Bunny Gift Set.


In this heartwarming personalized storybook, your child will hear all the ways that Snuggle Bunny loves him or her throughout the day. From a hug in the morning to snuggle time in the evening, the Snuggle Bunny counts ten ways that it expresses affection for your child. Written by award-winning author Maia Haag and illustrated by John Butler. Includes the book plus a cuddly plush bunny to snuggle with and a matching placemat!

Pigskin Rapture: Four Days in the Life of Texas Football by Mac Engel and Ron Jenkins is a first-ever, one-of-a-kind, 360 degree look at the athletic and cultural phenomenon that is Texas football, and launched the new Lone Star Books imprint this fall. In a magical four-day period in autumn 2015, both of Texas’s NFL teams played at home on different days (Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans and New England Patriots at Dallas Cowboys), a major high school rivalry was set for Friday night in West Texas (Midland Lee at Odessa Permian), and a fierce regional rivalry came to the Cotton Bowl on Saturday afternoon (Oklahoma vs. Texas).

Pigskin Rapture captures not just the action on the field, but all of the sights, sounds, and smells of a state smitten with football: