Saturday, May 10, 2014

Grapefruit Peppermint Hand Scrub

It's that time of year where we want to be outside as much as possible.  And usually that involves yard work and gardening, which can make your hands seriously grimy.  I found this great hand scrub from Kate over at The Gaines Gang.  It really helps get embedded dirt and muck off of your hands after a day of working in the yard.  And it smells amazing!  Make up a batch of this for yourself and your garden loving mom.  She'll think it is an excellent Mother's Day gift. :)

Here are the 3 ingredients you will need:
  • Sugar
  • Method Pink Grapefruit Dish Soap
  • Peppermint Essential Oil

Fill your container 2/3 full with sugar.


Add dish soap to the sugar and mix with a butter knife.  Go easy on the dish soap when you first add it.  I put way too much in and ended up having to split my scrub into two containers.  Which was okay, since I then had one for my mom and one for me. :)


Keep adding sugar or soap until you get to a paste like consistency.  Add 5 drops of essential oil and mix.


I used a decorative candle jar as a container for my scrub.  Since the jar was already so pretty, there was no need to add any extra decoration.  

This scrub worked so great!  I think I may make some for my dad for father's day using regular Dawn dish soap, since it is blue and awesome at cutting grease.  He is a golf course superintendent, so between doing maintenance on machinery and taking care of the golf course, his hands can get really dirty.  I think I will make his a nice lemon orange scent. :)

Friday, May 9, 2014

Scented Bath Salts

While I had good intentions of putting up a post every day this week, you can see that it didn't happen.  So it goes with two little ones demanding my attention.  And that's OK.  Because I only get one chance to enjoy them as tiny little babies.  They change so much every day at this point that I don't want to miss any of it.  The Rowselettes are almost 7 weeks old and one week past their official due date.  They are finally the size of normal new born babies and seem huge to me, although they're still tiny little peanuts.  They're really starting to be awake a lot, and it is so fun to watch them have floor/tummy time.  Here are some photos of them snuggling in bed with me earlier this week.






Now onto another homemade Mother's Day gift.  Bath salts are really easy to make yourself.  Considering how expensive they can be to buy, it makes sense to just make them at home.  And you can make any variety of scent and color you want when you create your own.

Here are the 3 ingredients you need:
  • Mineral & Dead Sea Salts (I got mine from Michaels)
  • Epsom Salts
  • Essential oil(s) of your choice


Fill your container with half Epsom salts and half Mineral & Dead Sea salts.  Pour into a mixing bowl.  Add 10 drops of essential oil and stir to mix well.


 Spoon the mixture back into the container and decorate with a ribbon, label, or piece of fabric.


See how easy that was?  Delicious scented bath salts in 5 minutes for way less than the price of store bought ones.  You can also add pieces of herbs and flowers along with color to make the salts more decorative.  For example, since my scent was rose & neroli, I could have mixed in dried rose petals and used food coloring or soap colorant to make the salts red or pink.

Note:  If you can't find Mineral & Dead Sea salts, you can always use course sea salt found in the grocery store.  Or just use straight Epsom salts, instead of a combination of the two.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Honey Vanilla Bubble Bath

This bubble bath is absolutely luscious!  The honey vanilla scent is wonderful, and the olive oil in it makes your skin feel so soft.  I found the recipe here and decided it would be a great addition to my Mother's Day gift ideas.  It only has four ingredients, all of which you probably have in your cupboard right now.  Combine this bubble bath with the Coconut Vanilla Sugar Scrub and the Coconut Almond Body Wash and you've just created a spa gift basket for your mom.  And who deserves a nice relaxing spa day more than Mom?

Here are the 4 ingredients you will need:
  • 1 c. olive oil (the original calls for sweet almond oil, but olive oil is what I had on hand)
  • 1/2 c. honey
  • 1/2 c. liquid hand soap
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Place the olive oil in a mixing bowl.


Slowly add in the honey, vanilla, and hand soap while continually whisking to emulsify the ingredients together.


Pour your homemade bubble bath into a pretty bottle (this is actually a small tequila bottle that I reused) and add a decorative ribbon or label.


Note:  Because the bubble bath is made of ingredients that normally wouldn't mix together, it will separate after sitting for a while.  No need to worry, just give the bottle a quick shake before you use it to remix the oil into the other ingredients.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is a week away.  If you're still struggling with what to get for Mom, here are some ideas for homemade gifts I'm sure she would love.  Make just one or a combination for a fun gift basket.  These are links to posts I've already done that would make great gifts, and I will also be posting new DIY gift ideas all week.


I'm planning on spending Mother's Day with my mom and the Rowselettes at an annual Mother's Day fun run (we will be walking) put on by the Haven organization.  Proceeds from the race go to support victims of domestic violence.  I can't think of a better thing to support while spending some quality time with my Mom.
My mom and I at the last Mother's Day fun run.  Hoping this year will be just as beautiful. :)