I was definitely a bit of a skeptic when it first came to Jamberry nail wraps. I rarely even paint my nails, mostly because the polish just doesn't last very long, & I hate having chipped polish. I also will never fork out money on a regular basis (or ever) to have my nails professionally done. I have other things on which I'd rather spend money! So when my friend became a consultant, I ordered a sheet of wraps mostly just to support her in her new business. I can say that I was happily surprised by the results. I started out with the mint green chevron print (just wild enough for me).
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| Mint Green |
Pros of the wraps:
- Each sheet is only $15 & you can get multiple manicures out of each sheet.
- They come in so many different styles that you can definitely find something that fits your personality & style.
- They are fairly easy to apply. Just select the right size for your nail & trim them to fit your nail exactly, then heat it slightly with a blow dryer, & firmly press onto your nail. You can file the end to make a perfect fit & seal them on. (I am curious to try out the Jamberry heater, but I just haven't wanted to spend the money on it yet. The mini heater is only $19)
- The wraps lasted at least two weeks on my finger nails & after about three weeks I removed them from my toenails because I wanted to try a different wrap & because they had grown out quite a bit. They were still firmly attached to my toenails, which was also a surprise.
- I do like how easy they are to remove, though. I just used a q-tip with some rubbing alcohol & gently pulled the wrap off while rubbing the nail & back of the wrap with the alcohol.
- After applying them to all ten of my fingers & all ten of my toes, I still have enough left that I could still do another manicure, & probably have more left over to use on one or two fingers as accent nails with polish on my other nails.
- I think I like them best on my toe nails because they last even longer & it's easier to hide crazy toenails than it is to hide crazy finger nails. =)
- So much easier than nail polish, especially since they don't chip or need to be retouched.
- More fun than nail polish because of all the different prints & styles.
- Sometimes if you don't trim the wrap quite right, then the edge peels up a little bit, which is kind of annoying. The rest of the wrap seems to stay on just fine, you just have a little bit of a flapping edge.
- They last so long that sometimes you want to peel them off before they come off just so you can try something new.
- Still more expensive than just a plain old bottle of nail polish.
Pros of Nail Art Studio:
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| I created this minty green set of wraps in the NAS. |
- If you can't find a wrap in a style that you like, you can just create it!
- It's easy to upload your own images to use on your custom wraps.
- There are a good variety of print styles built into the program
- The "Apply to Multiple" button lets you copy your design onto the other wraps in the design very simply.
- It's free to use the software.
- It automatically saves your designs, so you don't accidentally lose it halfway through.
- It saves your uploads for future use & it's easy to delete any uploads that you no longer want.
- The work area is kind of small, so resizing larger images takes a bit more time than I'd like.
- There is no Undo button.
- When uploading files you can only do one at a time, instead of being able to select multiple files & then click open. It just makes the process that much slower.
- You have to use the program in your internet browser, rather than a downloadable program, so eventually it tends to slow things down for using so much memory.
- You can't easily share your designs for others to purchase (though Jamberry says that this feature is coming soon. They also say a designer royalty program is coming soon which would be really awesome!).
- An eyedropper color-matching tool would be really nice
- This is another one of our favorite games. It's best played with a larger group of 6-8 people. Each person is given a role of either Sheriff, Deputy, Renegade or Outlaw. Depending on your role, you are trying to kill certain other players & you use cards to shoot, dodge, punch, or evade. It does take a little bit of brain power to learn how to play, but once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun. You can buy the game in bits and pieces, or you can get the whole set in the bullet for a much better price.
- This little machine has changed my life! I was making bias tape & ironing it by hand when I first started my Etsy shop. I started to feel like an old lady with arthritic hands after a while, and then I discovered this bias tape machine! It's magical! If you know someone that does a lot of quilting, or uses a lot of bias tape, they will love you forever if you give this to them! You still have to cut & sew the bias tape, but then you run it through this machine & it automatically irons it for you. I've made over 2,000 yards of bias tape & it's still going strong! It's a great buy & well worth the price. You can also purchase different sizes of folders that attach to it to make various sizes of tape.
- We really love our Zoku! It really does let you make Popsicles in just minutes. We just keep the base in the freezer all the time, and just pull it out when we want to make a batch. I like to use fruit juice or thinned down yogurt for breakfast popsicles. We've also made pudding pops & fruit juice pops with chunks of fruit stuck to the sides of the base. It's great for summer & my kids love that we don't have to wait hours for the pops to freeze. It's a much better price now than when I bought it.
- My kids love this tunnel! It's great for using as an entrance to a blanket fort, or just for crawling through in the play room. They also like to get inside and roll back and forth. I like that it collapses flat for easy storage & it's held up really well in the 2 years that we've had it.
- Books are always a safe gift for my kids. They love to get new stories, especially interactive ones! This Tickle Monster book is so fun! It's hard not to tickle your kiddos as you're reading the story. The illustrations are adorable, & your kids will beg you to read this over and over. The author also wrote the 
and it's just as fun!
because it's easy to order, especially with the free 2-day shipping for Prime members (
) & I don't have to ship the items I buy to people that are out of town. Now that I live further from all of my family, that's a really important aspect of my Christmas gift buying.
- We are a game loving family. This is one of our new favorite games. It's a card game, also know as a deck building game. Throughout the game you try to acquire better cards for your own deck so that you can defeat everyone else. Just a word of advice if you do buy this game, do not shuffle all the cards together, they are supposed to be separated into those small slots in the box. This can be a quick game, and rarely takes more than an hour after you've learned how to play. It's also great because it can be different each time, based on which sets of cards you use.
- I bought this for myself when I started going to the gym this year. It's held up really well & is the perfect size for a change of clothes. It has nice pockets inside, including a couple of mesh pockets & one that has a soft lining. I also love that it has a separate zip compartment for wet clothes & stinky shoes. It also comes in a variety of colors. The wet clothes compartment just barely fits my size 8.5 shoes, so if you wear a larger size, you may just have to carry your shoes in the main compartment.
- At every family reunion, my dad brings along his water balloon launcher. The grandkids spend a couple of hours filling up water balloons & then the fun starts. Dad is able to launch balloons by inserting a balloon into the pouch, holding one side of the launcher in each hand, & holding the pouch down with his foot. Then he stretches his arms up & pulls his foot out of the strap, launching the water balloon high into the sky & out into a field where the kids wait with T-shirts strung on their arms. The goal is to try to catch the balloons in your T-shirt/pouch without getting smacked by the balloon or having it stolen by one of the other kids. It made for hours of fun! (Warning: Launched balloons are travelling very fast & can cause injury. Read all safety instructions & warnings before using the launcher & do not launch balloons horizontally at people).
- This is one of my favorite kid's gifts! If you have young children that get up at a ridiculous time each morning, then you should definitely check out this clock! You're able to set the clock to light up when it's ok for your child to get out of bed in the morning. It also has a nightlight, & an alarm option. This has really helped my kids to know when it's really morning, especially during the winter when the sun may not be up. It also makes fun faces when the kids press the buttons, which they love!
- I wanted a simple robe that didn't make me look like the Michelin man, or a bath rug. I also wanted it to be ankle length & not made from shiny silky fabric. I was so happy when my husband bought me this one! It's lightweight & good quality. It's definitely a little more pricey than your average terry cloth robe, but it was exactly what I wanted.