Christmas gifts: Sugar Scrub

This past Christmas I wanted to make something fun for our neighbor gifts.  So I found a few recipes here and here for sugar scrub and thought it would be so fun and easy to make.  The recipe I used didn't require me to buy anything which is the main reason I used it but I'd love to try some other ones.

Then I realized that we also needed to give a treat to all the kids and husbands so we made pink popcorn for them.

Sweet N’ Spicy Brown Sugar Scrub

1 cup – C&H® Dark or Light Brown Sugar
1 cup – C&H® Pure Cane Sugar
¾ cup – light olive oil
2 tsp. – cinnamon, powdered
2 tsp. – ginger, powdered
2 tsp. – nutmeg, powdered
1 16 oz. – glass container with lid
Cinnamon sticks, optional

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Be sure to break up any lumps from the brown sugar or from the spices. Spoon into the glass container and secure with lid. Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub on your hands and gently massage in circular motions onto your skin. Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes before thoroughly rinsing. The scrub will tighten.

101 Reasons why I LOVE you!

It was the hub's bday and he had already bought himself a bluray player.  Now it was up to me to come up with a cheap gift for him to open ON his bday.  I took an idea I found on Pinterest and ran with it.  You can find it here at The Dating Divas.  I love their site for creative and often cheap ways to show your hubby you appreciate him.  And come to find out, one of my friends from middle and high school is a contributor.  There are a few others I recognize from high school as well.  Go Alta alumni!

Anyway, back to my gift...It only cost about $25 only because I bought Pysch S5 which was still on sale for $15.  Anyway, he loved it and it gave me a little time to reflect on how much I really love him.  He is so important to me and keeps me from going insane.

DIY: Cute clothespin Magnets

This is super cheap.  The only thing I had to buy was magnet strips which cost 79 cents at JoAnn and if you don't have clothes pins, they are only $1 or so.

Supplies:

-Patterned Paper

-Glue

-Scissors

-Magnet strips

-Clothes pins

-Paint brush

-Pencil

Step 1:

 Cut magnet strip to fit pin

Step 2:

 Attach magnet to pin- The ones I got had adhesive, but a glue gun will work too.

Step 3:

Trace pin onto paper and cut out

Step 4: 

Glue paper on to side of pin that doesn't have magnet using glue and brush.  Wait for it to dry and put a coat of glue on top of paper to seal. 

Enjoy!

Magnet boards- not as easy as it seems

My mom got a really cute magnet board for Christmas one year from my sister.  She hangs it in the kitchen and puts pictures of the grandkids on it.  My sister actually made the magnet board at a Super Saturday activity the church put on so when Christmas rolled around one year and I had decided I wanted to start making my gifts, I remembered the magnet board and thought, "it can't be that hard."  Right?  Not for me.

This is my mom's magnet board, or a portion of it at least.  Living so far away, I called and asked my brother to take a photo and send it to me so I could have a reference.  This is what I got.  Helpful.  Anyway, I knew what it looked like but it's so much easier to copy something when you can examine it and turn it in your hands.

I bought some wood that was just the right size so no cutting needed and since I was making 2, I bought one sheet of metal to cut in half.  I borrowed some metal cutting shears, went down to the garage, and stood there staring.  I don't know how long I was down there but nothing got accomplished.  The cutting ended up being done by my hubby who also had no clue but at least the guts to try.  It didn't turn out the way I visualized because the shears did not leave a clean edge.  Oh well.  

Let's just set the metal aside for a moment and focus on the wood.  So, I had no power sander but I didn't need one cuz I had sand paper.  What I didn't have was time.  I wanted a rounded edge.  I settled for a less pointy one.

Metal is cut, wood is sanded and I have also painted.  Now it's time to put the two together.  I don't know where I came up with this idea, but figure I could nail the metal on.  This was also done by the hubby.  Although, it was not such a successful process and we stopped after the first magnet board was done.  

All this happened throughout the summer months before Christmas.  But the boards just sat there, untouched for the fall months, that is until my mom came to visit in the beginning of December.  She really saved the day on this one.  Apparently, my mom has made these before.  Why was I trying to fly solo when I had her knowledge just a phone call away?  We bought some caulk and glued the other metal on to the board.  Piece of cake!  Completed only days before they need to be shipped.  Thank heaven for moms!

And I was so flustered I never took a picture.

I am not going to leave you with THAT as a How To on Magnet Boards though.  Here are some that I found that I think will give you a variety of ideas.  I guess it's not that hard if you don't over think it.

Peas in a Pod came up with a REALLY easy way to make it cute using a cookie sheet.

The Polkadot Chair has a great one that uses bead board for the frame and gives it a country look.

A Little of This, A Little of That covers theirs with fabric and also shows you how to make your magnets.

Yeah, Write puts a border on theirs and hangs it with a ribbon.  Don't overlook the wire baskets.  Genius!

And I must include Little Birdie Secrets because they cover everything on their site, like this magnet board that you put in a frame and you're done.  How easy is that?

Good luck with your magnet board.  Maybe I will make one again, someday.

Tutus!

Now that I have children, I am part of the cousin Christmas gift exchange.  We get to give to my cute little niece every year.  I decided to make a tutu for her.  A tutu is super easy to make and you really don't need a sewing machine even though I used one, or did I?  I might have just sewn it by hand.  Anyway, in preparing for this project, I read quite a few tutorials.  Here's a simple enough one on The Idea Room.  I bought tulle by the yard and found a great video tutorial that gives you a secret on cutting your tulle.  I used elastic and would recommend it over ribbon.  Make sure when you measure the waist to take about an inch or 2 off to find the measurement of your elastic band.

I needed to see how it was coming along half way through so I tried it on my boy.  It was so fun to watch him crawl around in that cute little thing.  It made me so excited for my little girl that was on her way!

And now it's finished!   If you want a fuller skirt, put more strips of tulle on.  If you want it puffy, make the strips shorter. 

When my girl was born, I whipped up a quick one for her newborn shots.  It really is that easy.

Something Blue

My sister got married last February.  Since I wasn't there for any of her showers or preparation, I decided it would be fun to throw her a Bachelorette Party.  We went with the theme of the old adage, "Something Old, Something New, etc."  Each of my sisters and I took a "Something" and got her a gift she could use on her honeymoon or shortly after that went along with it.  It ended up being really fun!

My "Something" was Blue!  I went a little overboard because I just couldn't filter all the ideas that were coming to me.  But I had 2 ideas that required the old crafty in me to come out.  And so I present them now.

My sister loves her hair accessories and I was already in baby hair accessory mode so I whip one up in adult size.  

It was really easy.  I followed a tutorial I found on Craftaholics Anonymous to form the petals.  The only difference between the tutorial and what I did is that I made more petals and put them together a little off-centered rather than having them all centered.  Then instead of using a brad to fasten, I sewed on little pearls.  It looks more delicate.  Note: Something I learned from singeing the petals is not to catch them on fire.  It's a lot harder to get rounded edges.  Also, on this one it didn't show up but on lighter fabric, it definitely shows that it's burnt.  If you like that look than great but I don't.  The same tutorial shows you how to make a nylon headband.  Instead, I just sewed on some softer elastic that I got at JoAnn.  

When I got married, someone gave us a journal.  I was not sure what to do with it until my hubby and I talked about making it a couple's journal.  We would use it to write about our spouse and our relationship.  I have a husband who loves to write and make up poems and claims to be an AWFUL verbal communicator.  So he was very excited to be able to express himself to me in a journal.  So I made one for the happy couple.

I copied the idea from another Little Birdie Secrets post.  Yes, I love them.  Here's what I did differently.  They tell you to modge podge the paper on.  MP and I have an "on again, off again" relationship and at the time we were off.  So after trying to modge podge it on, some of my paper wouldn't stay stuck.  So I took some clear packaging tape and taped it all up.  I would've used contact paper for a seamless finish but I didn't have any on hand.  Then I hot-glued the ribbon instead of sewing it.  I really like the sewed look but I have not gotten that far in my relationship with my sewing machine.  We'll start sewing paper eventually but I don't want to push it.

Bibs that are cute AND durable

When I was expecting my first, a boy, my awesome and talented sister offered to make me a bunch of bibs.  We picked out the material and she whipped them up.  They were really cute, of course because I picked out the fabric, but they were also durable and awesome because they had buttons.  Totally child proof!  My almost 20 month old still can't get his bib off.  

So, upon having a girl, I felt I NEEDED girl bibs.  I got the pattern from my sister and pulled out my new and rarely used sewing machine.  I bought it in hopes to someday learn how to sew.  And I had made 2 things on it prior to this project but both times I had a highly experienced seamstress sitting right next to me the whole time.  So I pulled my machine out and got to work.  It was crazy how easy it was to make these.  The hardest part was figuring out how to do a button hole but that didn't take too long and before I knew it, I had 6 bibs!

I don't have the pattern on here, but if you read this and want it, I'd be happy to figure out how to post it and give you a tutorial.  Otherwise, enjoy the pictures!

Altering a tin and the best cookies ever!

One of my favorite things to do growing up was bake cookies.  It was so rewarding as a child to make something so sweet and delicious especially when you can eat the cookie dough while you wait for the others to bake.  My mom had a Tollhouse cookie tin that she kept all the cookies in and it was such a treat to open the pantry door to find that tin sitting in there filled with cookies.  

Now that I have a family of my own, I wanted something like my mom's tin to hold my cookies and Little Birdie Secrets had exactly what I was looking for.

And please do not underestimate the shortbread cookie recipe on the same tutorial.  Those cookies are a-MAZING!

Altered clipboard

I found the cutest tutorial for altering a clipboard and really wanted to make one but what would I use a clipboard for?  I own 1 clipboard right now and it sits in my desk draw holding blank notebook paper.  

Well, I still REALLY wanted to do this tutorial so I brainstormed.  One idea was a gift because if ever you find something you want to make that you wouldn't use, there's always someone you can give it to that will appreciate it, right?  But I did finally come up with an idea of how to use a clipboard and that is to hold my weekly menu.

Okay, enough of that...here's the tutorial.  I went with a smaller clipboard but the rest is pretty by the book.  I really wish there were more uses for the old clipboard, at least around my house, so I could make more.  I'll keep thinking but in the meantime, don't be surprised if you get one of these as a gift from me.