Salt Body Scrub

I've been out of my favorite salt scrub for a while now and really noticed the difference. I generally buy a scrub that is made in California and cured on a hillside in Sebastapol, California {which, incidentally, if you say fast sounds like Basketball California}. It costs $40 to buy and have shipped which is pricey but it is all natural and has no preservatives and is the only thing I buy that actually works on my cranky skin.  The last batch I bough was described as peach and floral scented and when I got it and used it, I smelled like a hippie.  All I could smell was patchouli so I would have to go to work and apologize about smelling so badly, but it was so expensive I couldn't bear to not use it.

I've been trying to do more saving than spending lately and there are recipes all over the internet to make your own so I decided to try making one myself.  A few years ago I tried one that was olive oil and sugar and I smelled like a salad all day and the sugar in the shower attracted ants which was not what I had intended.  Plus it didn't work all that great.

I looked at the recipes out there and then decided to do my own thing {since, obviously that has worked so well in the past}.  This roughly translated to:

1. Fill container with sea salt.
2. Add coconut oil in small amounts stirring well in between until all the salt is covered.
3. Add essential oils of your choice.  Only a few drops it would probably work best to smell after each couple of drops are added.

Notice how I put only a few drops in bold?  That is because I got overly excited when adding my peppermint oil and now the scrub I made smells like Wrigley's Double Mint gum.  It feels perfect though.

Next time I plan on adding shea butter since it fixes all skin problems {it even gets rid of eczema and that gross baby dandruff} and I'll bake it on the front porch on a sunny day. It's almost the same as a hillside in California, right?

Plus, smelling like a pack of gum is infinitely better than smelling like patchouli {which I might add was nowhere in the product description}.  If you are interested in the store bought one it was from here, I've generally had good luck with the chocolate, mint and sex on the beach scrubs, just don't get the one called sumthing nice, or was it sumthing naughty?  Whatever they named it, I call it sumthing gross. 

If you want to make your own, there are plenty of recipes out there like this one but substitute refined coconut oil {or unrefined if you want it to smell coconutty} for olive oil - see the aforementioned salad reference. 

Here is a good recipe if you need actual numbers in order to make one.  It has sugar and salt so make it if you dare or are sure you have no ants in a 30 mile radius.

These shea butter scrub cubes seem great, but I'd modify it to make it more simple.

I have a ton more on my DIY pinterest page.  Does anyone have a recipe they swear by?

Window Shade - D-I-whY

In the beginning of January I made this shade as a Christmas gift for my sister's bathroom. It's partly a present to myself since her previous shade didn't go up and down {and was stuck in the up position} and it's their only bathroom.

It was actually pretty easy to make and, although the fabric was selected with kids in mind, it can be changed as they grow up fairly easily. The only thing that I goofed on was the bottom and not taking into account the fact that in the light the fabric is transparent. I am planning on getting a wider bottom trim to hide the doubled fabric since the 1" polka dots aren't cutting it.

Currently, we are working on the master bedroom but the bathroom is next on the list of things to renovate so I will be sure to update the progress when it happens.  

{photo: jeanine}

Happy Halloween!

From me and my sorry attempt at making a ghost lantern, D-I-whY project.  I just don't think it's scary if the ghost has a five-head, the dandelion is probably scarier.

{photo: jeanine}

Cane Chair D-I-whY

Armed with some fabric, white paint and the caning supplies I need to finish the project, I started un-upholstering one of the cane chairs I found a couple months ago at the consignment shop.  I took a few photos of the chair as it looked in the beginning so I would have some sort of reference as I put it back together.

The first chair I am going to tackle is the one that looks a bit sorrier than the other.  You can see the hole in the caning on the side.

You can see my tools of choice are an ice pick and some jewelry pliers.  Probably not the most appropriate of choices but they seem to work.

The front of the seat and the double cording at the wood.  I may cheat and use a trim or some nail head trim but I think the cord will be easy enough to make.

More cording and the tufting.  I'm betting on being able to put the cane on the back as well.  When I pull off the back I will know for sure.

The underside of the chair is kind of a mess.  The fabric wasn't neatly trimmed and is stapled all crazy.

The chair seat guts.

The upholstery was stapled on so crazily and most of the staples were embedded in the wood so that I had to dig the staples out with the pliers.  It ruined the wood a bit but it was not nice wood to begin with so I will have to fill the holes and do more sanding than I bargained for.  I'm not sure removing all the staples was the best idea but I thought it would be more difficult to have to staple the new fabric into the wood if the new ones were bouncing off the old ones.

I've spent a bit of time wondering why I thought this was a good idea and thinking that it is much more work than most people lead me to believe, but it is my first time and I'm sure the second one will be easier.  My DIY turned D-I-whY will get finished and I'm determined to do a good job in the end.

As soon as my knuckles heal, I'll be ready to work again!

{photos: jeanine}

Chairs!

I broke down and purchased a few chairs at the consignment store this past weekend.  I have had my eye on them for about a month and finally decided to buy them.

They all need a lot of TLC but I'm up for it once I decide what I want to do with them.  Until then, they are in the barn for the woodchucks to nap on.

I'm not sure about the bentwood chair yet but I'm thinking the cane-backed chairs would look nice in white.  I also think I might try to figure out how to take the upholstery off the back and replace it with caning.  I like the cleaner look of the caning better.

{photos: #1& 2-jeanine; #3 - DecorPad; #4 - Apartment Therapy}

Bench Cushion

I finally finished making this little bench cushion for the window seat/bookshelf I am making.  I bought this fabric online at Design Diva Fabrics a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately, I thought the scale was going to be much smaller than it actually was {I forgot to check the repeat, it was late} so I couldn't use it for it's original intended use.  When I'm doing projects for others I always get a sample, I don't know why I can't follow the same rules for myself. Perhaps I secretly like the surprises.

Luckily I was able to use the fabric for the bench cushion and I'm quite happy with it.

The guts of the cushion is made up of tons of squares of foam I had lying around that I had originally intended to use for something else so I bound them up with some batting and sewed them in.  I used two layers of really thick batting so you can't tell it's more than one piece of foam in there.

I'm hoping having the cushion on top of the bench will be nice for the cat.  Maybe it will keep her from shoving my laptop off the ottoman she has decided I can no longer use.

{photo: jeanine}