8th Day of Christmas // DIY Body Scrubs

While thinking of Christmas present ideas for my Mum and Sister I remembered something I had been researching a while ago – homemade body scrubs!! Perfect! ( I had a look at this website)

I love body scrubs!! I love how your skin feels so nice and smooth afterwards. I think I’ll make a pink lemonade body scrub for my Sister and a peppermint foot scrub for my Mum, she loves pampering her feet!

I’ve been using the peppermint one as a face scrub in the mornings to wake me up and I can’t wait to use the coffee one in the shower.

Homemade Body Scrubs

You will need;

Sugar (See recipes for what sort)

Preserving jars

A bowl and spoon for mixing them

A variety of essences or essential oils

Sunflower Oil

Gift tags or labels (which are available in a printable PDF here!)

I’ve included a picture tutorial for the Pink Lemonade scrub, all the others are very similar so just follow the recipes!

Pink Lemonade Sugar Scrub

2 C White Castor Sugar

2/3 C Sunflower Oil

2 t Lemon Essence

Drop of red or pink food colouring

1. Measure the sugar into a bowl and mash through the colouring and essence.

2. Add the lemon essence and colouring.

3. Begin adding the oil slowly; stir to combine until mixture looks like wet sand.

4. Fill up your chosen container and attach the label. Find it here.

Coffee Body Scrub

2 C Ground Coffee

2 T Castor Sugar

2/3 C Sunflower Oil

2 t Ground Cinnamon

1. Measure coffee into a bowl.

2. Add the cinnamon and the sugar. 

3. Begin adding the oil slowly; stir to combine until mixture looks like wet sand.

4. Fill up your chosen container and attach the label. Find it here.

Brown Sugar Scrub

2 C Brown Sugar

2/3 C Sunflower Oil

2 t Vanilla Essence

1. Measure the sugar into a bowl.

2. Add the vanilla essence.

3. Begin adding the oil slowly; stir to combine until mixture looks like wet sand.

4. Fill up your chosen container and attach the label. Find it here.

Peppermint Foot Scrub

2 C White Castor Sugar

2/3 C Sunflower Oil

1 1/2 t Peppermint Essence

1. Measure the sugar into a bowl and mash through the essence.

2. Add the peppermint essence.

3. Begin adding the oil slowly; stir to combine until mixture looks like wet sand.

4. Fill up your chosen container and attach the label. Find it here.

Make sure to take note of the warning on the labels – the oil residue can build up on the base of your shower and make it slippery, so make sure the recipient knows about this to avoid any accidents! I just keep a shower cleaner in my bathroom cupboard and give the shower a quick spray and scrub it clean with a brush after my morning shower. It takes 2 minutes! 


Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

                                                             

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!

2nd Day of Christmas // Floral Fairy Headbands

I have two little Second Cousins who are only 1 and 3 so I wanted to make them something easy and sweet for Christmas. They are such cute little girls!! While my Cousins and I don’t really exchange presents anymore now we are all grown ups it’s nice to still give something to their children.

I came up with this idea after eying up my cake decorating supplies while I was trying to think of gift ideas. Hence the florists wire and tape! (indispensible for making flowers in cake decorating!)

They are pretty cheap to make and look so much cooler than the ones I have seen for sale in the shops. I reckon I could have got another one out of my leftover hydrangea flowers plus one more stem of mini roses.

 You will need;

Assorted fabric flowers of your choice (Try for ones with a little stem attached to flower)

Florists wire – 4 pieces. I used 22 gage. My headband was still quite flexible, so you could use  18 or 20 gage for a firmer headband. (Try somewhere like Spotlight or a Cake Decorators Shop)

Green florists tape (same as above)

Ribbon for extra decoration

Pliers

Scissors

1. Select which flowers you will be using and trim at base of stems (near stalk not petals!) using pliers or scissors.

2. Take 2 pieces of florists wire and tape together to form one thick piece. Repeat. (So you have 2) Pull the florists tape tight, it will become sticky and stick to itself!

3. Tape the two thickened wires together to form a circle – I guessed the size of a little girls head for mine.

4. Begin taping flowers and leaves to the wires using florists tape. Face them all the same direction on the first half of the headband. 

5. Once you have done one side, begin on the other. Start from the front of the headband and point the two middle flowers towards each other, then work your way towards the back.

6. Tie some ribbons in a bow at the back of the headband.

7. A better view of the ribbons at the back.

8. The finished headband!! All done!!

I can imagine lots little girls own a fairy dress and wouldn’t this make a nice change from a plastic fairy crown? They would also be a perfect birthday party favour!

I think I might go make one for myself now too...there’s nothing wrong with capturing your inner child is there?

Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!

1st Day of Christmas // Hot Drinks in a Jar

Last year I discovered some recipes for homemade hot drink mixes while snooping around the internet. I came up with my own versions modified from some of the recipes I found and I’m going to give them as gifts for Christmas this year!

My Dad goes away tramping some weekends and he loves cappuccino’s – so I’m going to make a homemade cappuccino mix he can take with him and just add hot water too – no need to take with him the tiny bottle of milk he usually does!

Below I've included some picture tutorials of the recipes I'm using for my hot drinks gifts.  Instead of actual jars I have decided to use these white lidded plastic containers I found at The Warehouse. While I love the way the jars look, by the time I fill them with ingredients they'll end up being preeeetty heavy so I'm keen to keep the weight down by using plastic. Price-wise they were about the same (approx NZ$3 each)

You will need;

Plastic containers or preserving jars, it’s up to you (mine are 400ml)

Milk Powder (Full or Trim – personal preference)

Coffee-Mate

Instant Coffee Powder (Make sure it’s powder, not granules!)

Hot Chocolate Powder (For Mocha or Hot Chocolate Mix)

Various spices – see the ones listed below

A bowl, spoon, sift and cups for measuring and mixing

Labels – check the corresponding recipe for the PDF label you are after!

Glue to stick on your labels

Basic Mix Instructions

(Cappuccino, Mocha, Pumpkin Spice, Gingerbread)

1. Sift all ingredients except the sugar into a bowl.

2. Add the sugar to the other ingredients.

3. Stir everything together and then fill your container

4. Glue the back of your labels and stick them to your container. 

Mixes Flavoured with Essence Instructions

(Vanilla, Peppermint Hot Choc)

1. Add sugar to bowl, sprinkle essence over and mix through to remove lumps.

2. Sift in remaining ingredients

3. Stir everything together and then fill up your container

4. Glue the back of your labels and stick them to your container.

Smooth-as Cappuccino Mix:

1/2 C Powdered Instant Coffee

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate (Coffee creamer - it should be with all the coffee in your supermarket)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Sift to remove any lumps, then pour into container and label. Makes approximately 12 servings. 

**This amount of mix will nicely fill a 400ml (13.5oz) container which is what I'm using. 

                                                                                                           

You can find a PDF of the labels for "Smooth-as Cappuccino Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

Totally Morish Mocha Mix:

1/4 C Powdered Instant Coffee

1/4 C Hot Chocolate Powder (like Cadbury's or similar)

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate

Repeat process as for Cappuccino mix. 

 You can find a PDF of the labels for "Morish Mocha Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

Spicy Gingerbread Latte Mix:

 
1/3 C Powdered Instant Coffee

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate

1 t Ground Ginger

1 t Hot Chocolate Powder

Repeat process as for Cappuccino Mix.

You can find a PDF of the labels for "Gingerbread Latte Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix:

1/3 C Powdered Instant Coffee

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate

1/2 t Cinnamon

1/2 t Ginger

1/4 t Allspice

1/4 t Nutmeg

Repeat process as for Cappuccino Mix. 

You can find a PDF of the labels for "Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

Sweet Vanilla Latte Mix:

1/3 C Powdered Instant Coffee

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate

1 t Vanilla Essence

Place sugar in a bowl. Add vanilla essence and stir in until there are no lumps. Add the remaining ingredients and sift to remove any lumps. Pour into container.

You can find a PDF of the labels for "Sweet Vanilla Latte Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

Peppermint Hot Choc Mix:

1/2 C Hot Chocolate Powder

1/3 C Milk Powder

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Coffee-Mate

1 t Peppermint Essence

Repeat process as for Vanilla Latte Mix.

You can find a PDF of the labels for "Peppermint Hot Choc Mix" I made here - you can print them, cut them out and stick them on your own jars or containers!

The instructions for how to make up your hot drink mix is written on the tag, but just so you know I’ve included a picture demonstration below.

1. Add approximately two tablespoons of your chosen mix to a coffee cup.

2. Add boiling water to the cup (you don’t need to add milk, but you could if you like it milky!)

3. Stir well to combine.

4. Drink up and enjoy!! 

 I’ve been busy making trial versions of all of the drinks listed to make sure they all taste good. My favourite so far would be the Mocha Mix – it tastes just like a cafe one, minus the foam of course! The gingerbread one is great for a cold day and you can’t go past a basic milky Cappuccino every now and then!

Of course you could use the recipes above and vary them to suit your tastes. A caramel latte mix would be yummy, as well as a bit of brandy essence instead of vanilla would be a nice Christmassy drink! 

Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12 Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!

12 Days of Christmas // A Hint of Things to Come

Well tomorrow (here in New Zealand anyway!) is the 1st of December. It's almost Christmas! I'm so looking forward to catching up with my family, sitting in the sun and perhaps enjoying a BBQ on Christmas day.

I have to admit, I still can't sleep the night before! My favourite part of Christmas is giving gifts to my friends and family. I always like to DIY something instead of whole presents being bought from the shops. So I came up with an idea - I'll share some of my Christmas recipes, decorations and gift DIY's with you guys!

So here's a heads up - from tomorrow I'll be running a '12 Days of Christmas' special on my blog! I've written up posts on a whole bunch of different things including how to make a gingerbread house, homemade body scrubs, fruit mince tarts, gift wrapping ideas and other gift ideas for kids and the family dog even!

So make sure you pop back in over the next few days to check it all out. I'll try have at least one post up a day, maybe two if you're lucky!! Each post will also have a link to a PDF which you can print off and follow whenever you're ready to give your chosen tutorial a go. Enjoy it friends!!