Instead of a Cup of Coffee

Making DIY Hot Cocoa Bombs! || VLOGMAS EP 3

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

Hey everyone! Hot cocoa bombs have been popping up on tiktok/IG/etc and I had to try it because it looked so fun and I had the molds already. All you need is hot cocoa mix, melting chocolate, molds, and mini marshmallows (or dehydrated marshmallows)!

What I used:

  • Ghiradelli Chocolate Melting Wafers – Dark Chocolate
  • Ghiradelli Chocolate Melting Wafers – White Chocolate
  • Mini marshmallows
  • Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix – Marshmallow (any mix will do!)
  • Half sphere molds (found mine on Amazon)
  • Utensils: spoon/mixing stick, bowls, a surface to put your cocoa ball shells, etc.

To drink:

  • Use a mug that will fit the cocoa bomb inside (mine were huge so I had to use a huge mug)
  • Heat up the milk (it needs to be hot enough to melt the chocolate!) – I just microwaved mine for almost 2 minutes
  • Carefully pour over and enjoy

It was so fun to make and share with my little cousins!

Watch my other VLOGMAS videos:

Day 1 – Wrapping Presents & Tree Decor: https://youtu.be/-waLUa5L6ek

Day 2 – Storytime & Snack Tasting – Toy Memories: https://youtu.be/bJXPnOyM-ho

Mini xmas trees + DIY tree skirt video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb3ALuv-myc

This is my first time doing vlogmas so even with everything going on this year I’m trying my best to find fun and safe holiday things to do 🙂

xx Sam

Decorating Mini Christmas Trees from Dollar Tree! || DIY

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

Hey everyone! I did a Dollar Tree mini haul of mini Christmas trees, ornaments, and more to decorate for the holidays with my sister! We filmed ourselves decorating our mini trees and I love how they turned out.

I know, I know. It’s only OCTOBER and Halloween hasn’t even passed yet… I’ve been hearing that Dollar Tree’s best holiday/Christmas items–especially for DIYing–sell out by the second week of November!

My tree (the blue one) ended up being around $6 total and Sarah (my sister) ended up building hers with about $4 total.

Items from our mini holiday haul

The only mini christmas tree skirt option from Dollar Tree was red and the bottom side was also showing the red so we decided to DIY our own christmas tree skirts.

It was fairly simple, you’ll only need some kind of material to cut to the side of the bottom of your Christmas tree, good scissors, and patience. Well, if you have better scissors than I did, you won’t need as much patience haha.

Best of luck in your own DIY decor/Dollar Tree holiday hauls and hope you have a wonderful holiday season! xx Sam

COSRX Korean Pimple Patches?! Do they work…

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

Hey there! I recently got my hands on Korean “Acne Pimple Master Patches” that apparently makes your pimples disappear or drastically reduce them overnight!

I made a video demo and review of them on YouTube:

Did it work? YES.

Will I buy it again? YES.

I highly recommend that you at least try this because it flattens out your pimple overnight and the pus comes right off with the sticker instead of worrying about getting bacteria inside and damaging skin cells around your pimples.

The stickers seem to work best on flatter facial features because it stuck on all night on my forehead but was halfway peeling off when I used it on my upper lip overnight.

Feel free to ask me any questions about this product; I’m not an expert and I was not sponsored to review this but I think I know what I’m doing!

 

 

First Planner Stickers Haul! (3 Shops)

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

I use a medium-sized ban.do agenda and ever since I joined a Facebook group called Planners Gone Wild, I have officially fallen in love with planning even more than before! These are a few of the shops that I have bought or received stickers from so far. I have 2 more orders on the way too! (One from FabulouslyPlannedCo again and another from PlanToPlan on Etsy.) I will definitely be making a new post about those.

FabulouslyPlannedCo; (https://www.fabulouslyplannedco.com/), $7 including shipping.

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(left) Closet Organization/Cleaning   (right) Planner Girl Collection Full Boxes

I didn’t realize some of these were common “clip art” stickers that several shops use but I am in love with the cute armoire design. I’m either going to use it for my “laundry day” or days where I clean my room in general. The full boxes are from FabulouslyPlannedCo’s Planner Girl Collection. These are definitely going into my ban.do agenda for a busy college work week.

TwinSixteen; (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwinSixteen), Free via RAK, est Value $15.

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Past Elle Kit (EC Vertical/Happy Planner)

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Birthday Sprinkles Weekly Kit (EC Vertical)

I actually won these kits from TwinSixteen on Etsy through the Planners Gone Wild group on Facebook. I joined in August and ended up winning from Mari’s RAK. They are the only kits I have so far because I am too afraid to commit to a full set for a week or month. I especially love how she named one of them Past Elle instead of just Pastel.

Purple Paisley Prints; (https://purplepaisleyprints.com/), $9.50 including shipping.

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(left to right) Top row: Books, Money, Movie Icon Flags | Bottom row: Laptop, Airplane, Car

This set right here is my first official small-business planner stickers order! Christy was having a $1 sticker sheets sale to help save her house and I ordered several sheets. As you can see, I’m an icon sticker girl, I’ve used at least a few from each sheet already and I love the quality, especially for the price! Christy’s sheets are conveniently hole punched too, I’ve seen other shops who charge extra for that. Even with the good deal, she included a little sampler set and I cannot wait to use those.

Comment down below if you have any sticker shop recommendations. I’m ready to continue building my collection!

Yes to THIS! Yes to Coconut Hand & Cuticle Cream Review

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

As a person who has to wash their hands frequently when heading to grab a bite, working in the school lab, or using the restrooms, I needed a hand cream that would be easy to throw into a bag and actually repair my hands. I’m kind of a picky person when it comes to things I need, and I hoped to find a scent I like that wouldn’t make me go even more broke as a college student. Just wanted to share with you my review if you were interested in getting this or hand creams in general!

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REVIEW OF YES TO COCONUT HAND & CUTICLE CREAM ($5.99):

  • Its purpose: It hydrates and restore your hands. If I’d known how great and fast this worked, I would’ve taken before and after pictures of my hands! They were dry and a little flaky, to the point they stung a bit when applying things or being in the cold (I had to start using vaseline…which isn’t that great to use outside of the home). But now that I’m using this hand cream they’re back to normal and even smoother than before!
  • The scent: very subtle natural coconut scent, you notice it a bit when first applying but once it’s on your hands, you don’t really smell anything unless you actually sniff your hand. I guess you could say it’s like sniffing the outside of a coconut.
  • The feel: It does not feel too thick or greasy at all. But like all lotions/hand creams, it leaves some residue on electronics and other items one would touch… like this keyboard I’m typing on right now.
  • The price: Compared to other hand cream brands, I’d rather pay $6 for what I need than $15+ for a bigger brand name and more product! I got what I wanted in terms of price, scent, portability, and outcome: the extra softness is just a bonus! 🙂
  • Portability: The size doesn’t bother me because I just throw it into my backpack but if you carry a smaller crossbody bag, this may not be the best option for you!

Cups of coffee: 1.2