Christmas Curate Special // Gift Ideas for Friends

Aw, we have reached the last part of the Christmas Curate Special! That was really quick but then again, Christmas is fast approaching and you should really get down to shopping.

With less than two weeks to Christmas, let us give you a little inspiration if you are getting stressed about gift shopping.

Here are our eight gift ideas for your beloved friends!

1 //  For the creative soul who wants to start crafting: Operation Overhaul DIY Starter Kit – Our lovely friends at Operation Overhaul has a really nifty DIY Starter Kit that would be perfect for your creative buddy who has been dying to get her hands dirty but just didn’t know how to. Encourage your friend to unleash her DIY goddess with all these essentials in the cutest little bag.

2 // For the scattered-brain girl who is always on the go: honey&gazelle Design Studio Jiffy Jots Notepad – There is nothing better for a lousy memory than immediately putting pen to paper and jotting down passing thoughts, ideas and sketches. Convince your friend of that theory and her notes will save the day! This handy notepad is super compact and great for a friend who has a short-term memory.

3 // For the natural skincare addict: Handmade Heroes Super Duper Nourishing Rice Scrub (Christmas Mint) – All natural and vegan, this scrub smells of Christmas and would probably put your friend in the best of moods. Just be prepared to wait a little longer for her to get ready. Support local makers and share the love!

4 // For the girl who loves to smell everything: The Besotted Things Jasmine Soy Candle – In general (and pretty stereotypical), most girls love great-smelling anything. This candle has a beautiful lingering scent that will fill your friend’s room quickly and make her really happy. Just don’t keep it for yourself once you catch a whiff of it!

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Christmas Curate Special // Gift Ideas for Significant Others!

This is a three-parter series on Christmas gift ideas. If you are looking for some inspiration on what to get your family members for Christmas, read Part 1!

Part 2 of our Christmas Curate Special zooms in on gift ideas for your significant other. Asides from tangible presents, we have a couple of suggestions that would make meaningful dates and/or benefit the less-fortunate.

Let’s jump right into the male territory!

1 //  For dressing up the boy: Two Guys Bowtie Company Doc Wooden Bow Tie – Cloth ties or bow ties? How boring! Add a little quirk into your man’s life by introducing this wooden bow tie to his repertoire. We showed it to our boyfriends and they thought it was pretty cool!

2 // For the (wannabe) coffee connoisseur: Tom Dixon Brew French Press – If your significant other can’t start the day without “good” coffee, let him brew his own! This gorgeous copper French Press is functional, practical, and an absolute statement piece for the kitchen.

3 // For the man whose childhood dream was to be a spy: The James Bond Archives: SPECTRE Edition – This book contains the record of every single Bond film made. It is filled with cool behind-the-scenes stuff like unseen stills, set designs, storyboards, production memos along with an oral history recounted by cast and crew members. A must-buy for the James Bond fan!

4 // For the guy who is always hungry: A Great Slab of Meat Cooked By You – The foolproof way to win him over and melt his heart over Christmas? Cook a super yummy cut of his favourite meat and have a fantastic dinner date with him! If you are tired, make him do the dishes. (Pictured and linked: Angus Beef Fillet Steak from Huber’s Butchery. Looks so good!)

Christmas Curate Special // Gift Ideas for Family Members!

If you have been scratching your head and wondering what presents to get your loved ones, this week’s blogposts will be just perfect for you!

This week is dedicated to gift guides for Christmas and we are kicking things off with the ones closest to us, our family members.

Our gift ideas range from functional to decorative. You may not purchase these exact items but we hope to give your present-searching brain a little zap. May you have an “eureka!” moment 🙂

1 //  For pampering Mummy Dearest: Tata Harper Elixir Vitae: Limited Edition SuperNatural – Mothers tend to save the best for their children so we thought it would be nice to treat them to some luxurious natural skincare. Tata Harper has been on the lips of many beauty insiders and definitely worth a try!

2 // For the tea-loving mom: Aynsley Period Crinoline Lady Teacup and Saucer – If your mother is an appreciator of tea sets, we bet she will love this vintage teacup and saucer from the 1930s. It is in pristine condition and the exquisite painting paired with the lime green trim is just darling!

3 // For the dad who is trying to get back on the healthy train: Fitbit Charge HR – As a form of encouragement, purchase a fitness tracker for your father! This one measures the heart rate (really important for older folks) and we bet your dad will love a handy new gadget to play with 🙂

4 // For the masterchef father: Ozeri OZK1 Elite Chef Ceramic 3-Piece Knife Set in Black – Any avid cook would adore this set of ceramic knives. The Ozeri knives boasts 100% ceramic blades that are close in hardness to diamonds and weighs half the weight of a metal knife. Preparation would be a total breeze.

Curate // Pumped Up Kicks (aka My Sneakers Wishlist)

I am a shoe addict.

Here is a fun fact about me: I grew up wearing heels! Yup, no kidding. I had my first pair of 3 inches heels way before the age of 10. I can still remember how it looked like. Two thick brown suede straps that crisscrossed and a thick chunky black heel.

Obviously, wearing heels everywhere since a tender young age was a terribly bad idea. My friends had a running commentary that I was able to even climb mountains with my heels. In all honesty, I climbed The Great Wall of China with heeled boots. Sigh, I love the extra height of heels so much! However, three consecutive tumbles and sprains within a span of two years ended my love affair with fake heights.

My doctor ordered me to wear sneakers for at least six months while my left ankle heels (couldn’t resist the pun). I was initially really aghast. I had to wear those ugly boyish-looking sneakers?! I remembered my sister buying my first pair of casual sneakers. They were a pair of black base with thin white stripes Le Coq Sportif sneakers.

That was about 7 years ago. Fast forward to present day: I love my kicks! My left ankle never fully recovered and it still hurts if I wear heels for a long period of time. The Le Coq Sportif sneakers are long gone and replaced by my burgeoning collection of Converse kicks. I used to wear white Chuck Taylors while I was in school, so I went back to Converse after accepting the fact that heels were no longer an acceptable daily footwear choice for me.

With my birthday and Christmas fast approaching, I have kindly compiled a wishlist of kicks that I really really want. This post is dedicated to my family, friends, and boyfriend. Wink wink. 

1 //  Chuck Taylor All Star Dual Zip in Deep Bordeaux – I have a pair of zipped hi-tops and I really love the ease of getting in and out of the shoes. This suede hi-top had me falling in love at first sight. It is divine perfection and right at the top of my wish-list. I need it!

2 // Chuck Taylor All Star ’70 Andy Warhol in Lichen Green – My boyfriend and I visit our local Converse store at least twice a month. I have seen the rest of the Andy Warhol collection but strangely have not seen this in person. I love the aged and poppy fun vibe of this. The best out of the Andy Warhol collection for sure.

3 // Chuck Taylor All Star Hardware in Silver – If you can’t already tell, I have a weakness for suede shoes. This is so gorgeous, especially with the row of spiked studs at the heel! Definitely a shoe that will go with everything.

4 // Converse by John Varvatos Leather in Turkish Coffee – I have seen this in the stores and I absolutely adore it. I love sneakers that look worn in and this has the appearance of weathered leather with a touch of luxe. I would want to change the laces to a cream colour though.

Curate // Cool Laptop Sleeves from Society6

I don’t use laptop sleeves to protect my laptop. Say what? Ahem, yes. I do not use laptop sleeves to protect laptops. I don’t even own a laptop because I have been a desktop girl my whole life.

With that being said, I do love good laptop sleeves! I use them as a cushioned file for transporting stuff. I’m one of those picky people who dislike having their papers crumbled or their book covers bent. Normal plastic files can bend easily in slouchy bags which totally defeats the purpose of keeping your papers in a file. I don’t even remember when I started using laptop sleeves as files (probably in Uni?) but it is now my main system for transporting honey&gazelle’s art prints to and fro from the printers.

The laptop sleeve I have been using is getting pretty beaten up, thus I have been on the lookout for a replacement. Society6 has tons of amazing artwork that are reproduced onto laptop sleeves and I am getting close to picking up a couple of them. Here are the laptop sleeves on my wish list !

1 // The Fox and the Forest – Love the focus and colour pop of the fox in the midst of a gloomy forest. This laptop sleeve reminds me of a fairytale.

2 // Magical Wood – Very fun and cool with so much to look at! I love the colours and the randomness of the elements.

3 // Papa Don’t Peach – Since I have the mobile phone case of this, I was thinking of owning the laptop sleeve version to expand my collection!

4 // I<3you – Awww, the kitty is too cute and kind of reminds me of Boba. This speaks to the crazy cat lady in me. Meow.

Curate // Current Hats and Caps Crushes

One of the strangest things about living in Singapore is the lack of headgear-wearers. You would think that an always sunny island would be full of cap and hat wearing citizens, but nope. It is a pretty rare sight!

Now, I am a fan of hats and the occasional caps! I don’t really wear earrings or much makeup; hats help to dress up my look and also add some interest to my face.

I have been online window shopping these days with the intention of expanding my headwear collection, and I thought to share some of my favourite finds with you! You will see that I tend to favour bigger floppy hats. I think they are super pretty and very functional as a wider brim shades better. I have also picked two caps that I think Jia would love. As you can probably tell, I’m so eager to shop!

1 // ONE by Artesano Classico Hat – A portion of the proceeds will be donated to TECHO, a youth-led NGO that promotes community development in Latin America and the Caribbean. This fedora is great for all outfits, sharp or casual!

2 // Market HQ Summer Floppy Hat – A classic hat that will never go out of style. Makes me feel like going on a beach vacation now!

3 // ASOS Straw Tie Back Visor – I think this is one of the cutest visors I have ever seen! I think it will look great with casual outfits.

4 // Janessa Leone Juhl Hat – I am digging the leather ties on this straw visor. This visor looks so elegant and chic! As you can probably tell, I am pretty into straw visors these days!

Curate // Cool Under-The-Radar Singaporean Brands To Know

As you can probably tell, we are on a roll here with our Singapore-themed posts. Since the whole country is buzzing with celebratory vibes, we thought we ought to fly our flag high too!

There have been many successful Singaporean brands (that you may or may not know) to have come out of our little red dot. Examples like the fashion label Raoul, gamers’ favourite Razor, and our favourite tea brand TWG come to mind immediately. They do cool stuff too, but we prefer talking about emerging independent brands.

Here is a list of our favourite brands that we think you may enjoy as well! International readers, do not fret as worldwide shipping exists in this day and age.

1 // In Good Company – I was introduced to this fashion label when I was working for the first online retailer to ever stock their inaugural capsule collection. My ex-boss has a great eye for fashion as she has been in the industry for years. I really love their quietly cool minimalistic style and their clothes fits great!

2 // Ying the Label – A friend of mine is the head designer and founder of this new label. The clothes have simple evergreen silhouettes with amazing quirky details and colours that shines through. Love her work!

3 // By Invite Only – A jewellery label that creates stylish and modern pieces often with gorgeous minerals and crystals. I have a few of their necklaces and found them great everyday accessories that can match with everything. I have my eye on the bracelets featured in the collage above!

4 // Goood Pet Collars – I have previously mentioned this brand in one of our Sunday Stickies posts. These guys make awesome comfortable collars with adorable designs for cats and dogs. With every purchase, they donate 5 cans of cat food to their adopted animal shelter. It is a brand filled with love and respect for animals, and I love that about them!

Curate // Tote Bags for Lazy Summer Days

Canvas tote bags. Everyone has one of these.

They are perfect for those lazy days when you just want to throw things into a bag and rush out of the house. Roomy and spacious, they are the best choice for people who overpack (i.e. me) and like to bring everything with them, except for the kitchen sink. Well, just because you never know when you will need that particular something right?

Min and I have been toting our honey&gazelle bags around these days because:

1 – it is free promotion (hey, we are being honest here!);

2 – we love our designs;

3 – they go with everything (well, we like to think that);

4 – we are plain lazy to change our bags (the utmost truth).

We have a re-ignited adoration for these super portable bags and thus, have been online window shopping for more bags to put in our wish list. Today, we’d like to share with you our favourite finds!

Curate // Furnishing Crushes

One of my favourite categories of items to window shop for is furniture and decor.

My dad used to work in interior design, so I was always exposed to the magic of the endless possibilities in an empty room. With honey&gazelle’s tiny studio and my own home office to makeover, I have been seriously browsing for interior inspiration.

I thought it would be fun to share some awesome finds that caught my eye, even though they aren’t necessary items that I will purchase for the studio and office (mainly due to budget constraints).

Read on for my cool furnishing crushes!

Curate // Fun gift ideas for Father’s Day!

Hands up, if you are guilty of frequently buying a typical dad gift for your father! You know what I’m talking about – shirts, ties, cologne, handkerchiefs. I am definitely guilty of purchasing the same gifts over and over again.

This year, I decided to look around the interwebz for fun things that would be sweet gifts for fathers! There are really many choices available, if you stopped thinking of your dad as a fuddy-duddy old dude.

Here are some of my favourite picks!