Sweet Gift: Homemade Sugar Scrub

There isn't an occasion I can think of that would NOT be a perfect time to give a gal this sweet little gift. We made them for teachers, neighbors, mothers, aunts, grandmas and they all LOVED them. The best part was that the kids helped.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup white and/or brown sugar

1 cup vegetable or almond oil

1 or 2 drops essential oil

1 or 2 drops vitamin E oil

(I bought the oils at a natural food store for about $15.) Combine all the ingredients and transfer to airtight containers.

Here is what I printed on the tags:

Homemade Sugar Scrub

Contains: white & brown sugars; vitamin E, almond and orange oils. Directions: Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub on your hands and gently massage in circular motions onto your skin. If desired, add a small amount of hand soap before throughly rinsing.

Containers:

I got small screw top containers at The Container Store. I also found some larger canning jars at Wal-Mart and used the little disposable cups from the party store to give out small dollops of scrub as gifts at school for the gals who work in the office etc. This would make a very inexpensive and thoughtful party favor for a volunteer appreciation event or a tea party.

Other Gift Ideas:

This is the perfect hostess gift for any occasion. {Just think of how pretty you could package it for the holidays.} I wrapped a container of scrub with a pretty hand towel and added a satin bow as a gift for a friend who is a gardener. A small container of scrub with a bottle of nail polish would be a great gift for a babysitter that the kids could help you make.

If you decide to try this idea, please leave a comment or link to a photo. I'd love to hear who you would give this sugar scrub to!

Christmas {in July} - Cookie Kits

It's so fun to think about Christmas in the middle of summer. It seems to have a cooling effect. Well, there's that and the fact that I was going through photos of things I have crafted but hadn't gotten around to posting AND SOME WERE THIS OLD! But I'm going to choose to think of it as early for next year.

Frozen cookie dough (or the delicious frozen pastries the kids sell for fund raisers) is a great gift around the holidays. We gave these to neighbors. The dough is wrapped with a festive hand towel, a pot holder and a pretty bow. I found the towels, pot

holders and jingle bells at the dollar store, so they were very inexpensive to throw together.

The tags are made from Sizzix shapes and embossing plates. I love how festive they look and they even jingled as I walked up to the neighbors' doors. {I did have to store the whole package in the freezer before I was ready to

deliver them, though.} I hope this gives you a good idea for the holidays, even though they seem far away right now. It would also be a great gift to welcome new neighbors at any time of year!

Summer Salutations

Hello Crafting Friends,

I've had an overwhelming number of inquiries about my absence here, so I thought I would post a note to say "hello" and confirm that I'm still very much alive and thriving.

Long story short, I have been

Savoring Spring and Summer!

I have been doing a little bit of this . . .

and lots of this:

and this:

BUT, I have been doing some crafting as well, so I'll try to post some of the fun things I have been doing soon . . . . .

Until then, thanks so much for asking about me. It's nice to be missed!

Super Fast Craft Blog Browsing: Google Reader Play

Do you have a bazillion awesome, crafty blog posts in your Google Reader, that you want to browse, but there are so many that it feels like work? That's how I was feeling. One thousand posts in my Google reader. Seriously? Well, I was letting them pile up, like my laundry, because they took a lot of time to go through.

Well, if that's you too, than go--RUN!

Get Google Reader Play

Fast, Fun, Yay!

You can see all the photos in the post on one screen; click one to see it larger and if you want to read more of the text you can. (There is also a button to toggle from "magic" to "classic" layout.) To navigate the the next post, just click the > button or use your arrow keys. You can also set it to slideshow to advance between posts automatically and just stop it as needed.

When you first go there, it will give you a bunch of random stuff. But, if you go to your Google Reader and look at one of your feeds (or folders full of feeds) you can drop down the feed settings and choose View in Reader Play.

Please leave me a comment if you tried Play and you like it. I would love to hear from you!

PS- Just a note for those bloggers who have your feed settings on anything but full: Why? Don't you want to make it easy for people to read your blog? Don't you want them to see your pretty pictures? And about comments: turn off that captcha thing. If you're worried about robots, turn on comment moderation so you can savor and approve the love notes as they arrive. You'll probably get a lot more comments, and don't you just love comments?Sorry, had to add my two cents!

Scrapbook a Shadow Box Picture Frame

This was a challenge at the 2010 Angel Round Up in Salina. We received a box of pre-printed thank you cards and were asked to decorate the box that the cards came in. Since it had a clear lid, my first thought was shadow box.

To make the most of the depth of the box, I popped up the picture from the back of the box and popped up the journaling tag even more. An easy way to do this is to use your Scor-Pal to make some folded strips of paper. See the photo at left for how I did this. It's a really great trick for a card that will be mailed too, because the paper can fold really flat, then still pop up when it comes out of the envelope. It's cheap too! (Which is really great!)

You may have seen some of my other trash-to-treasure, freestyling ideas to get your scrapbooking up on the wall and this idea fits right in. Here are some of my favorites:

Family Photo Frame

Easy Mimi Frame (Great quick birthday gift)

Freestylin' (Scrapbooks up on the wall)

Decorative Corners

This piece with Kate and Lily is for my husband's office. Even though it has a lot of pink, I think it will look great with all the wood grain and he will love seeing their smiling faces!

Easy Holiday Party Favor: Tea / Cocoa Treat

Easter can be a little brisk in Colorado, so when I choose a festive drink, I'm usually thinking of something warm!

Orange Spice Tea is perfect! It's warm, the color is cheerful and you can make up some mixes to give as gifts or little favors. These are little thank you treats for the volunteers that help me with my neighborhood egg hunt.

Here is the recipe I (kind of) used.

The supplies are easy to find at your craft or party store.

You'll need:

Plastic portion cups with lids

Tulle rounds (usually in the wedding section)

Ribbon

Paper Cups

The thing I like best about this project is, you can change it for any holiday. My friend makes homemade peppermint cocoa, which would be great for Christmas or Valentine's Day. This orange spice tea would be great when fall rolls around and is popular at Christmas as well!

I added a thank you note to my treats and even put a small chocolate in the bottom, just for fun. Just think of all the tea and warm wishes type phrases you could add for all kinds of occasions. I think this would great even for a get well warm up. (Below I'll attach my document for the round labels I added to the lid. You need a 1 3/4" punch or circle cutter, or you can adjust the scale of the print out to change the size.)

Enjoy and leave me a comment if you try this treat and what occasion you used it for. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Orange Spice Tea

Easy Easter Paper Craft: Mini Egg Basket

I love Easter! I've always loved dying eggs, hand painting them and hiding them! I'm in the midst of planning our neighborhood egg hunt, so I'm buried in plastic eggs. Here's a fun use for those mismatched ones that always seem to be left over! I thought this idea at the Think Crafts! blog was so darling, I decided to adapt it to what items I had on hand. My girls (9 and 4) loved helping me make these. What's not to love about decoupage?

Here are the basic supplies:
scrapbooking paper
plastic eggs
decoupage glue/brush
ribbon

I cut the paper into angled strips so that it fit better on the egg and layered them on top of one another.

I knew I would find something cute to do with this iron tree that I found on clearance at Big Lots! I'll whip up a few more and maybe the Easter Bunny will fill them with chocolate kisses. Happy Easter!

Window Box Treat Tutorial

I designed this "box" to fit a packet of cocoa and I was really excited when I learned that I could make it with a half sheet of regular sized cardstock! It holds a Peppermint Marshmallow Pop (RECIPE HERE) very nicely, and I just think it looks like a window box that sits under a window and holds flowers.

The snowman is colored with Copic markers and I used my Juice Lid Embossing Technique on the red tag.

Here are the basic instructions. Start with cardstock that is 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches. Score along the short side at 1" and 4 1/2".

Rotate and score along the long side at 1/2", 4" (but just on the edges-see photo) 5 1/2" and 7".

Cut along the dotted lines, according to photo.

Fold along the score lines to form box (fold two flaps to the back according to the photo).

I have some other things in mind for this "window box", but I would love to see what ideas you come up with, so leave a link if you decide to give it a try!

Peppermint Marshmallow Pops (for Stirring in Hot Cocoa)

Here's a heart-warming idea for Valentine's Day or even just a winter thank you. The peppermint marshmallow pop can be eaten as is or stirred into a cup of hot cocoa for a yummy treat.

These are the supplies you'll need: marshmallows, almond bark melt, leftover candy canes (or starlight mints) and lollipop sticks (we also used coffee stirrers).

Melt the almond bark in a double boiler.

Crush the candy canes. I tried my mini food processor, but the candy can get stuck, so crushing them inside a plastic baggy and dishtowel with a meat tenderizer worked well as a back-up.

When the candy is melted, place a stick in each marshmallow and dip in almond bark melt (be careful--marshmallows can melt), then dip in crushed candy cane.

Place on wax or parchment paper and cool in refrigerator. (As soon as they are firm, seal in a zip top bag to keep the marshmallows soft.)

For a quick tutorial on my "Window Box" CLICK HERE. I designed it to hold a packet of cocoa and our peppermint marshmallow treat, but it works for other fun things too. Won't this treat melt our teachers' hearts?!

Easy Kids' Valentine Ideas

Are you scrambling to get some Valentines made for your kids' class at school? These ideas are great, even for last-minute moms like me!

The ones above were made with the Sizzix Brackets Album die (which is on sale right now). I folded the cardstock before running it through and tucked an AirHead candy inside.

The shape that holds the watermelon and cherry Jolly Rancher pops is a large merchandise tag. The kids can help color the watermelon one in with the Pebbles, Inc. Shimmer chalks. It's really shimmery in person!

Don't forget the teacher! The white cardstock was scored and folded before putting it through the Big Shot. I got the basic idea from Heather's treat.