Peppermint Sugar Hand Scrub - Mama's Day Treat

Messy Messy Fail - Do you have as many squirting bath toys as we do?  Sometimes I feel like we have hundreds, but it's probably only like, 27.  I try to be good about squeezing the water out of them when bath time is over to avoid mold.  Nothing like getting the boys into a fresh tub and seeing them squirt chunky brown water at each other from Peppa Pig and Jake.  Sweet.

Tidy Victory - I just made my deer/rabbit repellent - 2 eggs blended on high with 1-2 cups of cold water in a blender then dumped into 1 gallon of water and left to sit for 24 hours.  Then you pour the sticky egg mixture over plants to keep deer and rabbits away.  I've been using this mixture for three years now and it has always worked as long as I get it on my Queen of the Night tulips in time.

I'm really trying to think ahead - long term, big picture - with this next post.  So what's the next gift giving holiday?  Mother's day my friends!  And just because I'm a mother and will be celebrated on that day doesn't mean I can't talk about the awesome gifts you can give to the wonderful women in your life.  

When it comes to spa treatments, my go to special treat is a scrub.  Pedis are nice, massages are okay - I really like to be scrubbed until I'm red!  So to help out the special sistas in your life, why not put together a homemade sugar hand scrub?  You can also use this in the shower as a body scrub, but I prefer to keep a cute little jar of my scrub right next to the kitchen sink so I can polish up my hands after doing the dishes for the final time in the evening.  It really soothes them, makes them nice and soft with a delicious scent.

There are lots of salt scrub recipes out there, but I have found with my skin being somewhat more sensitive (pretty ironic I like being scrubbed, right?) that I prefer sugar over salt scrubs - I also find the salt concoctions sting slightly.

Want to make this fun little treat?

Here's what you need:

One pretty container with a sealable lid (I use a short mason jar)

2 c. of white granulated sugar

food coloring

1/4 - 1/3 c. of coconut oil

essential oil (I used peppermint for this batch)

baker's twine

scissors

colored stock paper (for a tag)

marker

Here's what you do:

<One> In a bowl, mix the 2 cups of white granulated sugar with the coconut oil.  I've read recipes where people use other oils but I really like how moisturizing coconut oil is.

<Two> Divide the sugar & oil mix into two separate bowls.  Use a few drops of food coloring to color the two bowls of sugar as you wish and mix with a spoon.  I kept one white and a few drops of red in the other to make pink.

<Three> Place a few drops of your essential oil into each bowl and mix to give the sugar a wonderful scent.  More drops for a stronger scent, less for a lighter scent.

<Four> Use a spoon to create a layer of your decided thickness of one color of the sugar in the bottom of the container.  Using another spoon (so the color doesn't bleed) carefully start another layer on top of the first.  You can use the back side of the spoon to even out the layer.

<Five>  Keep spooning as many layers of the opposite color into the container as you wish.  I prefer to make fewer, thicker layers to show the colors more boldly.

<Six>  Use your scissors (or a paper cutter for nice straight lines!) to cut a shape from your colored stock paper to make a cute tag.  I don't have a working printer in my house so I write tags for everything - no printed labels for me.  Use a marker to label your tag or write a thoughtful note for the lucky lady getting this fun gift.  I like to use some pretty baker's twine to then tie the tag onto the lid.  

Now come on, how cute is that?!?!?!  I know I would love getting such a luxurious and thoughtful gift from someone for Mother's Day (hint, hint dear).  

There is an endless number of color/scent combinations you can use for different seasons or celebrations - yellow with lemon oil for the summer, orange and brown with cinnamon oil for the fall.  I always have sugar in my house, and I keep coconut oil and different essential oils in stock to whip these up whenever I need them.

This is also a great gift the kids can help the daddies make (I know there is a man reading this!).  This is a great toddler opportunity to practice measuring, pouring and stirring.

Try this out and I promise you WON'T be sorry!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Katie