Santa's bringing homemade sugar and salt scrubs this year!

This year, M and I have been totally stumped thinking of Christmas gifts for our families. Our parents already have everything they want, and our siblings pretty much do too. Because of that, we decided to do a lot of little things for our family members, and to try and go handmade as much as possible. Who doesn't love something handmade that they can use? I hope our families will love these homemade sugar and salt scrubs. 

First, I made a Pumpkin Pie Scrub, and found the recipe here. I added just a little more pumpkin pie spice than the recipe called for and it came out perfectly! 

Next, I used the recipes I found on that page to make a tangerine vanilla face scrub (which can be used pretty much anywhere, not just your face). To make that one, I added 1/2 cup of sugar and almond oil, 1 tsp. vitamin E oil, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, and 9 drops of tangerine essential oil. 

Then I found this recipe, and made both a lemon and thyme salt scrub and a lemon and lavender sugar scrub using it. 

Here is what I used... (sugar not pictured). We even grew the thyme ourselves during the summer! 

I love lemon zest!

I doubled the recipe... so here are my two teaspoons. Smells amazing already!

The final product! Pictured here: lemon thyme sea salt scrub, lemon lavender sugar scrub, brown sugar pumpkin pie scrub, and tangerine vanilla sugar scrub.

The only thing left to do is to cut out some pretty pieces of fabric to wrap around the top of the little jars and make cute little labels to tie on with festive ribbons. 

I used some of the pumpkin pie scrub in the shower yesterday, and it is AMAZING. I smelled like a cookie and it made my skin so soft! 

Are you doing handmade gifts this year? What are you making? I would love to hear about it. :) 

How Much Do I Love Influenster?

...Let me count the ways.

First of all, I really enjoy the new interface. It is really easy to navigate and understand. Plus, all of the surveys (known as "snaps") are really fun to fill out, and I love that I can see all of the campaigns I qualify for right there on my dashboard.

I am always so excited to see that I have qualified for something new and to share what I receive here on my blog!

This blog post is even part of a Influenster's BlogSTAR VirtualVox Campaign!

To anyone who wants to use Influenster and would like an invite, I would love to send you one! I will just need your email address. :)

While you're at it, you might want to check out this post I love on The Hub- 6 Stores that Sell Super Comfy Sweaters. Fall and winter are my favorite seasons- I love staying warm. <3

Free the Lumberjack Plaid!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall and winter, and I LOVE lumberjack/buffalo plaid. I have pretty girly style, so I find it challenging to wear plaid and still achieve the look I want. However, when I found this dress (FOR FREE), I had to have it.

I found this lovely piece of 90's, Dollar General store fashion at the swap on base when M was overseas. I have been saving it for a year, procrastinating and waiting for cooler weather. I was super motivated yesterday and decided that the cold weather and the occasion were perfect for this cute, warm little number. Yay!

I did not get a "before" picture of me wearing it, but it looks pretty pioneery. I also thought for a minute that it might be pajamas or a house robe (which I would still have worn as clothes, ha!), but the belt told me otherwise. Here it is before I got to it (complete with shoulder pads):

Whoever bought it back in the day paid $5.00 on clearance. I got it for free and it had never even been worn !

So I removed the shoulder pads, shortened the hem, and thought it would be perfect. However, I noticed it was kind of saggy in the boob area and looked boxy up top. I thought adding some darts in the "under boob" area (gosh I am so eloquent) would help, and it did! I also found that the sleeves were very baggy (ah, the 90s) and so I rolled them up because they looked a lot more like pajamas or a pioneer dress rolled down.

A perfect outfit to wear in the cold weather when you're going to Medieval Times for a friend's birthday dinner. :)

Hope you like it! What are you wearing to stay warm?