It’s Christmas Eve and they coming – or you’re going – and then, suddenly, you find out that you’ve forgotten someone. Or, perhaps you’ve just discovered that So-and-So is coming after all. Yikes!
It truly is last minute. I’ve simply had no time for blogging lately, but I did want to share this great idea in case you need a little something extra to give.
So, run to the storage room and grab a small jar you’ve kept for no good reason other than that you just knew it would be ideal for something someday. Dash back to the kitchen now and grab a mixing bowl and spatula, because we’re making –
Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub!
You’ll find complete instructions here in my post about making the lavender coconut version, along with some tips and reasons why sugar scrubs are a wonderful addition to the bath.
However, since the effort to make this takes less time than it does to read that post and I know you’re in a rush, here’s a quick how-to on this falling-off-a-log gift for friends and family. You’ll probably have the ingredients on hand.
To a medium mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup softened or melted extra virgin coconut oil. With a spatula, stir in 2 cups of regular granulated sugar. Add about five drops of green food coloring and ten drops of peppermint essential oil. (I use therapeutic grade, since we are applying it to the skin.) Stir well to mix in the color and oil.
Oh, my goodness, I hope you’re not too exhausted to spoon this into your jars! The number of gifts you create will depend on the size of your little jars. With the jars I used, as pictured in the photo, I was able to fill four of them with one recipe. Small jelly jars work great and since they go to different people, a mix ‘n match batch of jars is just fine.
Now, grab a length of ribbon or twine and tie on a tag such as the ones I made that let the recipient know that they are “MINT” to have a Merry Christmas. If you don’t have time or don’t know how to make nifty tags like this on the computer, a hand-written tag is even more personal.
There you go! Have a very Merry Christmas and all my wishes that this idea has come to the rescue for at least one of you!
Gotta rush – there are still gifts to wrap at my house! Why don’t I have a recipe for that?
I’ve figured out why they call it “The Merry, Merry Month of May”. If ever a month came pre-loaded with celebrations, May wins the prize!
There’s the given – graduations. They rarely come in singles. There always seems to be a wedding or two, not to mention showers in anticipation of the weddings in June. Mother’s Day comes along and since a portion of those mothers became one in May, there are birthdays and the parties that go with them.
Do you ever feel like you’re spending
more on gift wrap than gifts? I’m
definitely a rescuer and a saver, but I don’t want to go down in history as the
lady who left this earth having owned the most cottage cheese containers. I want a purpose or a re-purpose for my
stash. I want to do something with my frugal hoard and part of that hoard is
merchandizing bags from stores that I just know
I can turn into beautiful gift bags.
Today, I want to share a money saving idea you can pull off without losing your mind. All you need is store bags (hopefully ones that do not have wrap-around logos printed on them), scissors, ruler, glue and your “stash” – whatever that means to you – and possibly some kids or grandkids if you really want to have some fun and you are one of those people who is at peace with the concept that it’s the process that counts – not the product.
Here’s part of my stash, including the gift bag project in mid-progress. I have a Cricut die-cutting machine. Believe it or not, I even got that at the Goodwill Store! Don’t tuck your tail between your legs if you don’t have a fancy machine. I’ll give you some ideas for working without one.
I find that Dollar Tree and Tuesday Morning are great sources for finding doo-dads on the cheap. A full sheet of sparkly jeweled stickers for around a dollar will last you through many a creative binge. I do some scrapbooking, so I always have leftover snippets and papers to cut up for projects. You can often pick up a book of coordinating papers at Hobby Lobby at half price, but if you don’t want to do that, scrounge around for some cardstock, old wallpaper or wrapping paper that isn’t too thin. Kids love working with thin, colorful sheets of fun foam, available at Hobby Lobbyand they can cut out flowers, leaves, trucks, letters and numbers and anything else they have a notion to draw or trace onto the foam. Dollar stores also have full sheets of themed embellishments for scrap-bookers. All you have to do with those is cover the bag’s logo with a shape you’ve cut from foam or paper and stick the embellishments all over it and your once-a-throw-away bag is redeemed. How about the fronts of those fancy greeting cards you’ve been given? There’s some fabulous artwork you can use to decorate your bags!
If the bag rescue idea appeals to you, but you want to avoid the expense of a Cricut or other machine, there are some fun tools to watch for when you’re out bargain hunting. Decorative scissors are inexpensive and will trim the edges of your papers into scallops, ocean waves or a number of other designs. They are usually around five dollars. Punches are fabulous things. You can align paper along a printed guide, punch the design and slide the paper again to punch long strips or all the way around a shape. They come in geometrics, florals, eyelet and lace designs and more. I’ve found them at Tuesday Morning at prices between three and ten dollars, depending on the size. Martha Stewart makes quality punches in varied styles. Visit the link to see what is available and then watch for sales in stores that carry office and craft items. Metallic pens come in a wide array of colors and can be used to add sparkle to the edges of cut paper. If you have no fancy scissors or tools, why not tear the edges of your paper by hand? Once you’ve given it a jagged edge, use the metallic pens to highlight the torn edges and make them pop against the background. Backgrounds are important. A layered effect always makes an embellishment project look much more professional.
Since I do have a Cricut machine (and they are marvels, to be sure), I used leftover scrapbooking paper to cut designs that I felt would be useful for any upcoming gifting needs. As you can see, I just glued the design onto its contrasting background and then glued the whole thing right over the original business logo.
Next, I used a few cheap stickers from
my sparkly jewel collection to add some pizzazz to the design. You certainly don’t have to do this, but even
just a few tiny embellishments will take your design to the next level and give
it a designer flair rather than just a
look’s-like-she-couldn’t-find-a-gift-bag-but-she-could-find-a-gluestick-project.
Here are the bags, before and after being be-jeweled. Little things mean a lot, don’t they? Zoom in for the thrill of the sparkle.
Speaking of glue, I highly recommend Martha Stewart craft glue as seen here. It dries clear, doesn’t string, gives you thirty seconds or so for wiggling items into place and then the items stay put! If I run out of it, I will put off a project until I can get some because of the frustration it saves me.
Once you’re finished, the bags are ready for colorful tissue and maybe even a cute tag or a ribbon tied onto the handle if you want to get that fancy.
Here are my finished bags. Now for the rest of the stack I have saved up in the closet. Call me cheap, but my mama would be proud!
I do love a rescue project and handmade gifts and this combines the two. Need more ideas? Take a look at the wooden utensil project I did with my friend Kathy here, the falling-off-a-log-easy gifts here, rescued vintage tablecloths here, Sweet Annie wreaths here, and what to do with those pretty leaves you can’t resist picking up here. After all that, you’ll need to treat yourself. Relax with some homemade sugar scrub here.
Any questions? I’d love to hear your comments. Is there anything you’ve repurposed that the
rest of us are throwing away?
If ever a holiday had a tendency to sneak up on you unexpectedly, it’s Valentine’s Day. Somehow, when Christmas is over and the last Happy New Year is wished, we tend to hunker down for winter and take on the attitude that there won’t be a single bright spot in our lives until spring.
So, I’m
wondering, are you ready for it?
I know, I know. So much is said about how commercialized Valentine’s Day has become and how it was given a big build-up by the retail world in order to suck us all in to their stores so they could empty our pockets, leaving us to stagger out in a daze wondering if we’d just done too much or too little when all we really wanted was to say, “I love you”, or “You’re special to me.” We resist the nudge to fall into such traps, but let’s ask ourselves one thing – What could be better than a special day to remind us (because we so often forget) to offer someone a loving gesture?
I love old-fashioned, sappy Valentines. Here are some that I’ve made and you can see more about that here.
A card will do just fine, but as for gifts, I love to give a few special people a simple token of affection without going on a spending spree. Let’s face it, a homemade gift always means more and if you go overboard you can send the person you’re trying to bless on a guilt trip if they think they need to reciprocate. Or, even worse, you’ll start that horror of horrors – the yearly contest to see who can outdo the other – an uncomfortable situation that empties everyone’s bank account and does little to fill the heart.
If you’re feeling a twinge of panic and wishing you had a few tokens of affection to offer, try making this homemade sugar scrub. You’ll have it whipped up in one minute and have nothing left to do but fashion a cute tag declaring that the gift is “Because You Are So Sweet”! I wish I could remember where I found this great idea and recipe so I could give credit where credit is due, but it’s been a while and a Pinterest search is not bringing it back to me, so I have no idea. If anyone can send me the info or a link to it, I’m happy to include it here.
If you have a stash of stuff like I do, you probably won’t even have to leave the house for supplies. You’ll need a mixing bowl, spatula, small jars, extra virgin coconut oil, white table sugar, 5-10 drops fragrance oil (rose or lavender is nice), red food coloring, ribbon and/or fabric scraps, paper tags, cardstock you can fashion into tags or, better yet, the FREE PRINTABLE TAGS you’ll find at the end of this post! This recipe made three gifts, but it all depends on the size of your containers. Clear ones are best, because the sugar scrub is really pretty!
Instructions:
With a spatula, blend ½ cup extra virgin coconut oil, 1 ½ to 2 cups white sugar, 5-10 drops fragrance
oil and five drops food coloring together in a mixing bowl. Fill jars and add a cute tag or label.
I hope you didn’t nod off during that lengthy description. Coconut oil softens at 76 degrees Fahrenheit, so if your work area is colder than that you may have to put the bowl in the microwave for a few seconds to bring it to the point where it mixes easily.
I got into my Printmaster program and designed a tag that suited the look I wanted to achieve. You can always make this quick gift for a birthday or any other occasion by using different colors of food coloring and changing the look of your tags or labels. Again, I used various jars, ribbon scraps and bags I had on hand.
Why give sugar scrub, other than the
fact that scrubs are popular and can be expensive? My main concern was whether or not they are
good for you or pose some sort of health risk or cause skin damage. I am not your doctor or your licensed skin
care specialist, so I am only passing on a little of what I know in order to
help you continue with your own research.
What I discovered in my limited studies is that some body and facial scrubs are not so good for you. Their exfoliating ingredients range from nut shells to polymer beads to salt and sugar. Let’s face it, exfoliating feels wonderful! However, nut shells and other ground matter have sharp edges and who wants to be scratched? Polymer beads are round and smooth and leave the skin much more intact, but they’ve been found to last forever, making their way into the rivers and oceans and harming marine life. As for salt, it’s a great option, but the edges of salt crystals are still sharper than that of sugar and it may not be what you want for use on delicate areas of the body or if you have sensitive skin.
That leaves sugar! While I would recommend removing as much of
it from your diet as possible, I’m
giving it my approval , so far, as a scrub.
The coconut oil is just about the most wonderful thing you can put on
your skin and the combination will leave you soft, moisturized and much, much
smoother.
A natural source of glycolic acid, sugar already contains the ingredient that a lot of over-the-counter, spas and dermatologists offer to remove dead skin cells and encourage cellular turnover. It’s an alpha hydroxy acid, and since your homemade scrub is mild, it will be safe to use a couple of times a week in the evenings. Some stronger formulas, available in stores and from spas and professionals, will recommend wearing a sunscreen if using alpha hydroxyy acid formulas during the day. You can read more about that in this article from Huffington Posthere.
Sugar is also a natural humectant,
meaning that it draws moisture from the air into your skin – and that’s a good thing.
Some scrubs can do your skin more harm than good and you can learn more about that in this article from The Sidney Morning Herald. More info, including safe recipes for sugar scrubs that include honey, avocado oil and other natural ingredients can be found in this ETimes article.
If someone needs to hear you say, “This is for you, ‘because you are so sweet!’”, homemade sugar scrub might just be the perfect token of your affection.
Now for those FREE printable tags – just click below and you have a whole sheet of tags that you can print on cardstock. Attach a pretty ribbon and tie to your jars of sugar scrub! Could I have made it any easier, folks?
Questions? Comments?
I’m
happy to chat, because you are so sweet!
I’m excited to announce the winner of our first “First Friday Freebie” winner. As you may recall from last time, Midwest Storyteller will be giving a free gift each month to a faithful subscriber. This happens on the first Friday of the month, so subscribe now and you’ll be ready to enter to win in November!
Our October winner is…
Donna from Bunceton, Missouri!
All Donna did was leave a comment on the post, saying, “I’ll take the wreath!” and she won!
You can see the wreath a little better in this photo –
If you’d like to partake in the monthly give-a-way, do a few things to be sure you don’t miss out.
SUBSCRIBE! On your computer, you can do that in the right side-bar. On a phone or tablet, you may need to go to the “Contact” page. Only subscribers are eligible to win. You’ll get an email when there’s a new post or freebie.
“Follow” Midwest Storyteller on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Even if you forget to check your email, you’ll still see the offer.
Spread the love – and the FREEBIES! “Share” Midwest Storyteller with your friends on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Pin this post to Pinterest and send the pin to friends you’d like to see enter to win.
Take a look at the rules on our last First Friday Freebie post here. It includes a tutorial on making the Sweet Annie wreath. For a look at other things I grow in the great outdoors, take a tour here.
Get ready! The next free gift will be given away on Friday, November 3rd!
I thought I’d begin my first creative post by posing a question. What in tarnation is this thing, anyway?
Think. Whimsical? Practical? (Close family members are not allowed to take part in this quiz.) Don’t scroll down. Control yourself! Give yourself a chance. By the time you finish reading this, you may end up with the satisfaction of knowing that you think like my mother.
My mom could literally make something out of nothing. I never knew anyone quite like her for inventing what-cha-ma-call-its and doo-dads.
Like Mom, I loved turning my imaginings into realities, but I didn’t want to do it her way. I’d been in the stores. I’d seen the catalogs. I wanted glorious, brand new, coordinating supplies that would meld together seamlessly into a masterpiece.
That didn’t happen. I’d gather up what scraps and tidbits we had around the house, complaining that it would never come close to what I had in mind. She’d listen, then dive into her stash. She had a knack for squirreling away the oddest things. I know, you’ve all got that auntie who saves cottage cheese cartons or the plastic rings off milk jugs. Mom, however, saved the singular, the curious, the nifty.
I’d pout when I ran short of materials for a project. Mom would say, “Don’t worry. We’ll piece it.” I remember telling her one day (I was at “that age”) that I didn’t want to piece it! I told her that someday I’d march into stores and buy up plenty of just what I needed. I’d make wonderful things, not even caring if I kept the leftovers! “Piecing it” would be a thing of the past and as far as I was concerned, the sooner the better! On the whole, I was a good, compliant kid, but I had my moments.
I had no idea! The things I learned from Mom while we “pieced it” have come to my rescue over and over again.
Have you figured out what that thing was yet?
Without Mom, without “piecing it”, my community wouldn’t have had a youth theater. Well, anyway, if we’d had one, we wouldn’t have had much in the way of sets, props or costumes. Have you ever stared at a script that called for an “Inthermo Device”, capable of blowing up the Statue of Liberty? I pieced it. It was cool! A lifetime of “piecing it” gave my daughter a fabulous wedding on a budget that didn’t make us hyperventilate. More on that in future posts.
Among Mom’s things that I couldn’t throw away was a cruddy old clothes hamper. Sitting in our bathroom for as long as I can remember, it was a sad-looking thing. The braided trim drooped. It’s wicker, decades behind at receiving necessary paint jobs, took a further beating from seven children. It’s wooden lid, covered in a strange laminate “stuff” that had grown tired and peeled away sometime back in the 1950’s, snagged at your hands and clothes if you happened to brush against it. Once it passed from decrepit to hideous, Mom retired it to the recesses of her upstairs, stuffing it full of other things she didn’t throw away.
Smuffy advised me to pitch it. He sighed when I said I had plans for it. My cogs turned for months, considering methods and materials. I took before, during and after photos. And now, here’s where I give my disclaimer. Creative minds can have a bit of a problem with keeping all the snippets in their proper mental cubbyholes. I have no idea what happened to my “before” and “during” photos, so I’ve given up looking. Here’s the hamper, minus the drooping braid, banged-up wicker and naked wood lid. Not bad!
Braid and wicker didn’t pose a huge problem. Smuffy tacked the braid back on and I spray painted it. Then, I met my challenge. The handles in the photo are original, somehow managing to survive with their laminate “stuff” in good shape. Determined to keep the hamper as original as possible, I racked my brain for a way to make the top look like this shiny, black-with-swishes and a hint of gold stuff.
I did the logical thing. I spent a good, long time in Heaven. Oops! I meant to say Hobby Lobby. I found this –
Triple Thick! I had a hunch this might be the answer. I gave the wooden lid three coats of gloss black paint with a sponge brush. Then, I mixed (at a ratio of about 8/1) faux-finishing glaze with some ivory paint. I sponged this over the lid until it looked as much like the handles as I could achieve. (Sponging with glaze has a long drying time, allowing you to wipe off mistakes and start over.) After it dried, I mixed a dab of gold paint into some more glaze and gave it a coat to tone down the ivory, “aging” the finish a bit.
Now for the Triple Thick. I needed something to give a slick mirror-like finish to the lid without my having to sand, lacquer, sand, lacquer….Oh, please!Triple Thick gives a diamond, non-yellowing clear finish that looks like you’ve applied coats and coats. I used the whole jar – the large size. It sells for $5.99. The small size is pictured above. I’m pretty well pleased with the shine, depth and the degree to which it matches the handles.
I had rescued the perishing! Mom would be proud. But, this Triple Thick stuff – WOW! The possibilities! What else might I be capable of with a jar of this in my hands?
And then it rained. The rose bushes dropped their leaves. The wind pasted them all over my wet porch. I noticed that they looked like lace, having lost all but their veining. And then I heard that little voice say, “You could save those.” Then, the voice said, “Triple Thick!”
Not about to let anything “hamper” my creativity (I’m so witty), I pressed the leaves between paper towels and waited. And you’ll have to wait, too. That story’s coming soon.
Oh! Did you guess? Here it is –
It’s a recipe holder, of course! How could you not know? Mom did what anybody would do, right? You’d know, wouldn’t you, to save the innards of an old broken percolator and an old fork that’s lost it’s bakelite handle? Then, of course, you’d shove them together to see if they fit, because you’ve been wanting a way to keep that recipe right in front of you. Mom left it “as is”, but I gave it a snazzy paint job so it would look cute in my kitchen.
I believe there’s a TV show called “Strange Inheritance”. I could show them a thing or two!
Coming soon: The Rose Leaf Project. SUBSCRIBE, so you don’t miss it!
