DIY Sugar/Salt Scrubs

I know I have posted my own scrub recipes before but I thought it would be cool to share some of the scrubs I have seen others make.  They are super super simple, most of the ingredients you should already have on hand, they are easy on your wallet, make great gifts and....boy do they ever leave your skin feeling super soft!  I cannot say enough good things about them.  So, without further ado:

Chocolate peppermint scrub

Pumpkin spice sugar scrub

Lavender sea salt scrub

Vanilla brown sugar scrub

Not that I would suggest doing so, but some of these sound good enough to eat.  Enjoy!

Peppermint Mocha Lip Balm

One of my favorite drinks of the season is Starbucks peppermint mocha.  I love it so much that I order it all year round.  Well, even when you order the 'skinny' version of this drink, you still have to be careful as to how much you consume.  The calories still rack up quick!  So, how can I get the 'sensation' of drinking those lil' yummies without consuming the calories?  Make my own lip balm of course.  While this recipe does call for alot of ingredients remember that, in most cases you can substitute oils for what you have on hand.

Recipe:

.5 oz. almond oil

.5 oz. shea butter

.5 oz. cocoa butter

.5 oz beeswax

1 tsp veg. glycerin

1 tsp.  shaved or chopped semi-sweet chocolate

1 tsp. of powdered sugar

10 dr. peppermint oil.

Melt the butters and beeswax over low heat or in a microwave until melted.  Add chocolate and sugar. Stir until dissolved or continue to add a little more heat.  Once all combined and melted, add peppermint oil and glycerin.  Pour into sterilized containers.  Allow to cool.  Use as often as needed or whenever you want to enjoy that mocha freshness.

*one option for purchasing containers is www.specialtybottle.com.  I have nothing but good things to say about this company.



Fab Formula No. 3- Hair De-tangler

I'm going to make a broad assumption here that a good majority of you have kids.  And, I'm going to assume that you struggle some mornings with said children's hair. 

I have two girls; one with bone straight hair and the other with curly thick hair.  I used to battle with curly Q every morning combing her rat's nest of a head.  No matter what I did, it hurt her.  I was just like everyone else buying bottle after bottle of detangler.  That stuff adds up quick!!!  Now that my daughter can do her own hair, she would go thru half a bottle at a time without even blinking.  I wanted a smarter solution that was going to save me a little cash yet give her the freedom to do it herself.  Hence, formula no. 3!



photo source

Hair de-tangler

8 oz. distilled water

1 tsp. aloe gel

1/2 tsp apricot oil

essential oil (optional)

Place ingredients in a spray bottle and shake to combine.  I just use one of the many spray bottles I already have from the store bought kind.  This formula, however, will cost you mere pennies.

There are many other formulas floating around the web but, so far, this one has been our favorite.  My daughter also loves a little tangerine essential oil in hers.  It smells nice and fruity like the store bought kind too. 

Fab. Formula No.2- Liquid Vapo Rub

Seeing as how the sinus bath bomb recipe was a hit, I wanted to share something similar for those who just don't have the time to put together a bomb:  Vapo-rub.  While this recipe is simple, it is very effective and contains ZERO petroleum products.

While you, most definately, could turn this recipe into a salve, I chose not too for a few reasons.  Beeswax is just one more ingredient that you have to buy and, honestly, I hate the sticky feeling left on me from the salves.  Its just a personal preference.

You will need a dropper bottle for storage.  The one pictured here is from specialty bottle.  You can usually find them in drug stores by the medical section as well.  You do not want clear glass.  Clear glass allows light into it which can make the oils go rancid much quicker.  O.k.  Enough of the talk.  Here is the recipe.

Vapo-rub

20 drops peppermint essential oil

50 drops eucalyptus essential oil

4 drops tea tree essential oil

6 drops rosemary essential oil

4 tsp.  Almond oil

Funnel these ingredients into your dropper bottle, replace the cap, and shake gently.  That's it!  To apply, just place a small amount onto a cotton ball and rub on your chest and neck.  My kids love this stuff cause it smells so much better than the store bought.  I hope you have success with your own as well.

****I am not a doctor/expert nor do I pretend to be one.  I am sharing personal information only as to what has worked for us. Essential oil benefits listed for informational purposes only and are not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any of your ailments.  If you have any concerns about the ingredients listed, please seek a physicians advice.****

We have a WINNER!

I used random.org to calculate a winner for the sinus bomb giveaway.  And the winner is.......

IAMLOVD!!!  I have sent you an email notifying you of your win.  Thanks to everyone for playing.  :)

Brand New Series

back image credit

Get ready for a brand new series coming next week.  Stay tuned......

Sinus Bath Fizzy Recipe and GIVEAWAY!!!

I have had quite a few requests for my sinus bath fizzy recipe because of this post.  While I have made my bath bombs whole, most of the time I like to make them in halves.  They get stretched a little bit further and it leaves me the option of adding more if I need it while not wasting any if I don't.  So, here ya go:

My Basic Bath Bomb Recipe

8 oz. Baking Soda
4 oz. Citric acid
4 oz. Corn Starch
4 oz. Epsom Salts
4 Tbs. Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp. Vitamin E. Oil (optional)

Mix all the dry Ingredients except the citric acid.  In a separate container melt your coconut oil if it is in its solid state and combine it with your vitamin e. oil if you choose to use it.  Its a great skin conditioner but not necessary for the bomb to work.  Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and start to combine.  Lastly, add the citric acid.  The reason you wait for the citric acid is so that it has less opportunity to react and begin to 'fizz' when you don't want it to.  When you pick up a handful of the mixture in your hands and squeeze it, if it stays in its form, it is ready to mold.  If it crumbles, you may need to add more oil, no more than 1/2 tsp. at a time.  Pack very tightly into your molds and release gently.  Let them sit for at least 24 hours to harden. 

For the sinus aspect you add:

1 tsp.  Eucalyptus Oil
1 tsp. Menthol Crystals.  (can be purchase at http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/.  They offer free shipping with a minimum order.  You can also purchase smaller amounts from etsy sellers)

The menthol crystals will need to be melted.  I do so with the oil.  If you are melting with the microwave, DO NOT take a huge wiff when you open the door.  The menthol will smell really strong and you will clear your sinuses faster than you want to.  Don't worry though.  The finished product isn't nearly as strong.  The eucalyptus oil would be added at the same time as the vitamin e. oil or in place of it.

I hope my directions are clear.  Please email me if you have any questions. 



 To go along with this post, I am having a GIVEAWAY for a set of 4 half size sinus bath bomb fizzies!  All you need to do is comment on this post.  You can earn an extra entry if you like me on facebook as well.  Just let me know in your post that you did so for the extra entry.  It is best if you are already a follower so you will be up to date if you win.  Otherwise, please leave me a way to contact you.  Contest will close Saturday night and I will draw a winner on Sunday February 19th.  Good luck!

Linky Features No. 3

Here's my top three projects of the week from Make it Yourself Mondays:

Ode to Inspiration

 Valentine cookies: Oh how I wish I could be this talented with icing.  Check out the Eiffel Towers.  Too cute!

Homespun with Love

Marshmallow Candy heart arrows.  Cute and simple and great for a last minute project for the school kids.

Laughter and Grace

Free printable displaying the fruits of the spirit.  I am always amazed at the decorating ideas that stem from a single piece of paper.

Thank you to everyone who participated.  Please grab a feature button if you see your projects here.  I'm looking forward to another great week.  And, get ready, new giveaway coming soon!  :)

Make Your Own Storage: Recycle

The first few months of the year tend toward a 'spring cleaning' of sorts.  I guess not so much a true 'clean' but a purge....clothes, craft stuff, bags, shoes, dishes, towels,  (did I mention craft stuff?) etc....etc.  We all have our weaknesses (craft stuff) in the things that we pile up on.  Aside from throwing everything out and regretting it later, I really have been trying to utilize the items I already have on hand for storage of said 'stuff'.  Sure, matching boxes from the container store sound wonderful in theory, but is it really practical for me to spend all that money on boxes/containers (when it could be more craft stuff) ? 

I am not the most organized of persons.  Call it right-brained or craft-craziness or whatever, the mess just comes back.  I work best in chaos when all of my tools are right in front of my face.  I want to see everything I have to help spark more creativity.  I'm weird that way.

I really do enjoy making all sorts of bath products.  I've shared some of my recipes and have many more to come.  But, honestly, I can make them much quicker than I can use them all.  And, I dont want to throw them away when I can use them as gifts.  Hence, the storage issue.  Well, low and behold, I picked my brain and started hanging on to some containers of items already purchased/used.  Our family devours cashews and I knew this plastic storage was going to be perfect for my bath bombs.

How easy is this, and why haven't I thought of it before?  I think I used a half sheet of scrapbook paper total on this project and a piece of computer paper.  Cute storage, and free! Now, I get to think up other trinkets to store in these containers and have more fun decorating them with supplies I already have on hand.  Fabulous.

If you would like to download this font you can do so here: betty noir

And, FYI, the sinus recipe will come at a later date.  Stay tuned.......

Linky Party Features No.2

Happy Saturday Everyone!  What are your big plans for the weekend? We are on an organization kick this weekend.  I've been slowly going thru closet after closet after pantry after spice rack to get my house back in order.  I thought this process should have ended with January and all those other crazy resolutions we seem to make?!?!?!  Anyways, I digress.

On with this week's linky party features:

Artsy Vava Created this beautiful belt buckle.  I have never even thought of such a project myself and my eyes are bulging just dreaming of this possibilities here.

Maria at Just call me Maria

shows us how to put hearts inside our cupcakes.  These look almost too cute to eat!

Amy at Sisters of the Wild West  gives you step by step instructions as to how to paint a houndstooth table.  This is not as complicated as I thought it would be and am so grateful for it.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated.  I feel honored that you are my followers and are willing to share all of your creativity with me.  Keep 'em coming!  And grab a feature button if you were featured this week!  Looking forward to more amazing links on Monday!  :)

Valentine Photo Frame

As my profile says, I have a hubby who travels ALOT for his job.  He misses many a birthday and special occasion because of it.  This year is no exception.  He is overseas right now and will be missing Valentines Day.  I know its not necessarily a major holiday but its still time away from the family.  I try and do what I can to keep our relationship front and center, even with the thousands of miles between us.


I don't know about you, but I always seem to have these little wooden dollar frames from michaels hanging around my house. I wanted to use one to showcase me and my hubby this V-day.  We were very fortunate to go to Jamaica kid free about a year and a half ago.  While there, I convinced my white knuckled man to go zip-lining with me.  My husband hates anything where he is not in control so this was B-I-G, and most certainly memorable (and monumental on his part). I couldn't think of a better picture of what love is than doing something you are afraid of or incredibly uncomfortable with just to please your spouse. (insert the cheesy aww's here, I know) Here is the final Result:

Supplies:  Wooden frame from Michael's
                2 Sheets scrapbook paper plus word art
                Mod Podge
                2 different colored pieces of felt
                Scissors, heart punch or cricut cartridge
             
I wish I could take credit for the tutorial on the flowers, but I can't.  You can find detailed directions for these rolled flowers here.  I used mod podge to glue the paper down onto the frame and also to seal it with a top coat.  Once dry I added the embellishments.  Easy peasy.  One little hint about the frames.  When you buy them, they come with a cardboard piece in the middle with the dimensions on it.  DO NOT throw that piece away.  It is perfect to add stability and backing to whatever picture you decide to frame.  That's about it.  Now go and display your crafted glory!

Fabulous Formula No. 1- Foot Scrubs

Fab Formula No. 1

As promised, I am starting my fab. formulas series.  My first formula is so simple its ridiculous.  And you probably already have everything in your house already.

I’m talking about Foot Scrubs:

1/2 C. Oats, ground in blender or processor

1/2 C. Cornmeal

1/2 C. Coarse salt

1/2 C. Olive oil.

Another way to look at this is, equal parts of each.  You may add essential oils if you would like but I think this recipe is perfect on its own.  All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together until well blended and you have the perfect foot scrub.  It will leave your feet super soft.  And, within one week of using it daily, you will notice a huge improvement on callused heels. 

Linky Party Features

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope all of you have had a fabulous week!  I wanted to share with you some of my favorites from my first linky party.  Please be sure to grab a button if you are featured. 

This process was much more difficult than I thought it would be.  I really do enjoy being inspired by others in so many areas.  Thank you for participating.  Here we go:

Her-Ballistic Garden

Wendy shows us how to take one pillow and transform its looks to fit the season. 

Homespun with Love

I am a sucker for decorated mantles.  This is done beautifully and on a budget.

The Messy Roost

I admit that out of every craft project I have ever done, I have yet to decoarte a glass block.  This one certainly has me motivated to do my own.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you have been up to this week!

Yummiest Lotion Bar Ever!

For those of you that don't know me, I make ALOT of my own beauty products along with household cleaners.  I feel soo much better about using them when I know exactly what is in them.  While I have made lotion bars before, they just seemed either too heavy or flat out too hard to mess with as an every day moisturizer.  I kind of gave up on making them rather quickly because of this.  Well, after doing a little more research, I think I finally came up with my own recipe that I am really happy with and that smells SUPER!  The essential oil I used is called litsea cubeba.  This oil is refreshing and uplifting with a citrusy smell, close to lemongrass only sweeter.  I love citrus but I don't want to smell like furniture polish!  The sweetness in this fragrance stops all of that.  You can read more on this essential oil here. The recipe follows:

1 part beeswax
1 part coconut oil
1 part grapeseed, apricot or almond oil (I chose grapeseed)
1/4 part shea, mango, or cocoa butter (I used shea)
1 tsp. of essential oil per pound of product
1 tsp. Vitamin E oil per pound.


I chose to make a small batch and used 1/4 cup each of the oils and 1 Tbs. of the shea.  I used a 1/2 tsp. of both the EO and the Vit. E oil. 


Basically you take your top 4 ingredients and melt in a double boiler or microwave.  If you choose to use the microwave, check after one minute and stir contents.  You do not want the oils to boil and burn.  If it still needs more time, choose 30 second intervals or less.  Once they are all melted and combined you can add your EO and the Vit. E oil.  Stir them gently together again.  Place the melted oils in molds.  I used these two little massage bar molds that I found on etsy and they were the perfect size.  Wait for the oils to harden and then remove.  The lotion bars should pop out really easy.  Once they pop out, place them in a container or on a plate.  You do not want to handle them for long lengths of time as the point of them is to melt when coming in contact with body heat (unless, of course, you are wanting to put lotion on right away).  Then, voila!  You are finished.

You can find the ingredients for these bars in many places.  I've listed some links below to get you started. 

32oz. African FILTERED CREAMY Shea Butter from Ghana
Sundown Pure Vitamin E Oil 70,000 IU, 2.5 oz
Now Foods Grape Seed Oil, 16 Ounce
Nature's Way Organic Coconut Oil, 16 Ounce
BEESWAX PELLETS YELLOW 1-LB
Litsea Cubeba 100% Pure Essential Oil - 1oz

Bath Fizzy Pizza Gift Boxes

I am always looking for new and creative gift packaging ideas for all of my homemade goodies.  I get bored easily and enjoy challenging myself with new designs.  So, when I made a batch of heart shaped bath fizzies to give to my friends this valentines day, I wanted something that was the perfect size to contain them.  If you are looking for a bath bomb/fizzie recipe, you can go to my post here.  Aside from changing up the essential oils and choosing a smaller mold, the recipe is the same.

I wanted something small and flat, like those little mini chocolate boxes.  I found this tutorial on one of my favorite 'papercraft' idea sites and ran with it.  Here is the finished product:

They were super quick and easy.  I know I will make a few more.  Enjoy!

Rag Quilts Revisited

A couple months ago I published this post on rag quilts and how easy they are to make, even for a non-sewer like myself.  Rag quilts are sooo forgiving and, once I made my first one, I am now addicted to them.  I have since made two more with slightly different patterns/measurements to them.  You really can do whatever you want with them so long as you sew all of your fabrics right side out and to the front.  1/2 inch seems were used for both.  1 inch would work as well.

For this one, I cut 12 inch squares to work with and used fleece for the backing.  One of my daughters was given a quilt kit over a year ago that has just sat around in pieces.  I made good use of the cotton fabrics and really had no pattern with the colors, just random.

For the pink one, I cut 6 inch squares and used solely flannel fabrics.  You really do want to stick with softer fabrics.  This is a blanket/throw after all.  While this was a little more time consuming due to cutting 4 times the amount of squares, the finish is a little more fuller because of the extra frayed seams. 

My next adventure will be for my own bed.  I dont even want to think of how time consuming cutting squares will be for a queen blanket when these two are merely throws.  I may meet in the middle and shoot for 8 inch squares instead.

Being shared with:

New Linky Party Monday!

Yes, you read that right.  I will be starting my own linky party on Monday. While I have had my own 'make it yourself' series, this one is for you.  I can't wait to get it started and be inspired by your creations.  I am still working on a feature button but will have everything set up on Monday.  I will feature my top 3 every weekend.  Stay tuned.......

Easy Valentine Decor

I have kids.  Big suprise there.  They keep me super busy with all of their extra activities.  Especially when my hubby is overseas.  I still want to do a little decorating, even if it is minor and I'm short on time.

I'm all for quick results in craft making and this project really couldn't get any easier.  We have all seen the pre-cut letters in ever craft store.  For the most part, they aren't that expensive, especially when you get them on sale.  They make for quick and easy decor for any holiday amongst other things.  Combine those letters with some scrapbooking paper, mod podge, and a few embellishments and you are ready to go. 

There is a little trick too if you don't have any mod podge lying around.  Simply take your regular old glue and mix equal parts of glue and water.  Instant mod podge!  If you want a high gloss finish, I wouldn't suggest this method though.  Just my personal opinion. The 'extras' are really what makes these projects pop!  Just use what you have on hand.  Flowers, eyelets, ribbon,buttons, jewels, tags, pins; it all can be coordinated into this project. 

My First Diaper Cake

I have a baby shower this coming sunday for a young woman who is in need of many of the essentials for this new bundle of joy.  She is starting out with NOTHING.  I really wanted to spoil her but wanted to be creative with it at the same time.  I have seen diaper cakes done for quite some time, I have just never attempted one on my own.  For whatever reason, they looked time consuming and I have always seemed to be getting gifts last minute.  Not this time!  I had a mission and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

As you can see by the colors, she is having a lil baby boy.  Her colors are green and brown.  To me, that says monkey, giraffe, circus stuff.  And let me tell you, I packed this puppy with goodies.  You just can't see them as they act as center supports.  She's got blankets, sleepers, bottles, etc. in there!  This project was fun and alot less difficult than what I thought it was going to be.  I only wish I would've taken pictures BEFORE I wrapped it.  That's a lesson for next time. 

Please don't think this project cost a fortune.  I am on a budget too.  I was fortunate to find what I was looking for on clearance at target and spent $30 on this project.  Quite the bang for my buck.  Next time you think you can't do something, for whatever reason, push through that urge and give it a shot.  None of us ever know if we are good at something until we try and try again.