Coconut Sugar Scrub

Happy New Year All! I hope your holiday was fun and relaxing. Ours was great! We were able to spend some time with family and some relaxing time at home. Now I have to get out of vacation mode...hm...

Anyway, I still have a few handmade gifts to show you that I made from Christmas. I recently received some coconut oil from Tropical Traditions, so I've been looking for some ways to use the oil outside of the kitchen. This one is one that I may have made for for myself as well...

Coconut Sugar Scrub

This was really easy, and it turned out great. I found this on Pinterest, here is the site I used. 

Here's what you need:

Coconut Oil

Sugar

Mason Jars

Essentials Oils (Optional)

First, melt the coconut oil down. Then mix in the sugar until it makes a paste. You can add essential oils if you want, I added peppermint. And that's it, seriously. Just pour the paste into your jars and let it harden. Use the scrub on dry areas. This stuff is awesome, it's really good for your skin. It leaves it feeling really moisturized.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Patriotic Jar Lanterns

Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope you've stopped over at Hating Martha and Delicate Construction to check out their tutorials for the Bloggy Olympics first Event! If you haven't -- GO NOW!

I decided to participate in this event by doing my own decor project. Well, actually I totally copied this from one of my new favorite blogs: Quinton Wench. Seriously, head over to her blog, you will love it!

Anyway, I few weeks ago Karen from Quinton Wench linked up these Pickle Jar Lanterns to A Pinteresting Link Party.

I absolutely loved them [this project was featured for the next Link Party too]. So, for the decorating event, I decided to try my hand at my own patriotic jar lanterns. I collect pretty much any jar I get, so I had plenty around.

Here's what I gathered:

1. Jars
2. Tissue paper - Red, White & Blue of course!
3. Mod Podge & Brush

First, I cut the tissue paper into smallish squares.

Then I brushed a layer of Mod Podge on the jar, and then layered the tissue paper squares all over, adding another coat on top of the paper as I went along.

That's it! Here's what I ended up with:

Add tea lights...

What I love about these is that they are so quick and easy, plus they cost me nothing because I had everything I needed already! This is a huge plus, because honestly, I'm not big on putting a lot of effort into seasonal decor (except Christmas). These would be great for table centerpieces, decorative accents, or add wire to the top and hang from trees - and they literally took me 20 minutes.

Thanks to Quinton Wench for the inspiration!

Have a great week!

A 10-Minute Project & My Dirty Little Secret

Who doesn't love a 10-minute project? Well, I love quick projects, and this one is great!

While I was riding the train recently, I was doing some DIY digging online and found this little mason jar project from Martha Stewart.

How fun and practical is that? So, I gave it a go.

First, I gathered the supplies:

1. Mason Jar
2. Glue Gun
3. Batting (or in my case, the innards of an old pillow)
4. Cardboard
5. Fabric

Following Martha's instructions, I traced the sealer top on the cardboard and cut out the circle. Then, I glued the pillow stuffing to the cardboard circle (make sure the circle fits into the screw top before doing this, just to be safe). After this, I placed the cardboard with stuffing facedown on the fabric piece.

At this point, I mixed up Martha's steps and I folded the fabric around the cardboard and glued it in place. Then I put hot glue around the inside edges of the screw cap and pushed it through.

Martha said to push the cushion through first and then wrap and glue the fabric around the cardboard, which I'm pretty sure would have been better because it would have fit better into the screw cap. Oh well. Anyway, after that I glued the seal cap on the fabric-covered cardboard lid and...

Wah-La! There it is. Mason Jar sewing kit. Seriously, 10 minutes.

Ok, now for the moment you've been waiting for...my dirty little secret. This cute sewing kit is not for me. It's for a friend. Why? Because I don't sew. Actually, I can't sew. I am a failure at using my sewing machine. All my projects are no sew required. I know you're devastated. Anyway, there you have it -- confessions of a twenty-something crafter.

I hope you enjoyed this quick project and your weekend!

P.S. I'm linking up to the following parties -- check them out for more fun projects!