Sugar Scrub Sunday!!

I really wanted to do a post on my Brown Sugar and Coconut Oil Scrub! I hope that you find the recipe for this creation easy to follow - you may even have the ingredients in your pantry. I love handmade gifts - they're totally fun to make, full of love and my favorite...FRUGAL. Sugar scrubs have been used to exfoliate skin, help clear acne, moisturize and hydrate the skin. They are super simple to make and the results are fantastic! They have also been known to help treat eczema and psoriasis and most importantly, they are TOXIN FREE.

The idea of rubbing sugar on your body may be a bit scary...or in my case, satisfying. You can try it first on just your hands to get a feel for it. I simply rubbed it on my hands, then rinsed and OMG, the softness! You can also use in the shower. First, wash regularly with soap then apply sugar scrub to your wet skin and massage in circular motions. It will feel slippery and oily but once you get out and rinse off, your skin will feel as smooth as ever and look healthy and refreshed.

This can be made with any essential or organic oil. The lavender essential oil smells lovely in a scrub! You can make to your liking, of course. You can also add honey, lemon, pretty much anything you like - that will help enhance the results and/or smell. I like to give this as a gift for Christmas and/or Mothers Day. And just a quick FYI, Sugar Scrub (that is NOT toxin-free) can be purchased at places such as Sephora for $65 :(

Here's a simple recipe that I love:

1 cup of Brown Sugar (light or dark) - the organic REALLY works better but it isn't needed ;)
1/4 cup of unrefined Coconut Oil (by far the best oil to keep handy, imo)
1 tsp of Pure Vanilla extract

(not in the pics below, however, I DID add a few citrus squeezes from a lemon and an orange for smell purposes and a few drops of local honey)

Simple ingredients you may already have ;)

Want some of your Brown Sugar 

No fancy bowls here! ROTFL

Pure Vanilla Extract

Add to a cute little jar or even better, a MASON JAR (my favorite) and a little bit of twine or ribbon will make anything look fancy.

And BELIEVE IN THE POSSIBILITIES!!

Simple Storage Solution Sunday: Shoe Organizers

If you are anywhere near as observant as I am, you will notice this was actually written Monday morning. Ha! Life got a hold of me on Sunday, so please excuse this late post. I still wanted to keep up with the plan I previously made to give Simple Storage Solutions every Sunday.

There are so many ways to organize your home in such a frugal way. I really wish I could afford to buy all the organizing tools from Ikea..LOL but the truth is, I can't and if I could - I probably wouldn't. I like to get things at a discount - free even (major couponer), this allows me to save money to spend on taking my children on trips and making sure they have experiences that would not only make them happy but would also help shape their lives.

This being said, the very first (truly inexpensive) tip I have:

True Living (Dollar General) Shoe Organizer. I believe this is $2 or $3 at Dollar General...For me this was FREE, however, that is not the point of this post. LOL Even being two or three dollars, this is a steal. I will tell you, that I do own a more expensive shoe organizer from Bed, Bath and Beyond and literally can not establish a difference in quality between the two. Here's the one I own from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

I have maybe 5 of these around my house. I have one that I use for sandals and flip flops, one is used for my sons toiletries, one specifically for toilet bowl cleaner (LOL) and two are behind my laundry doors for detergents, fabric softeners, windex wipes and shower gels...the extras are stored here. This way, whenever one of my guys (guys never know where anything is), need one of the items, it is VERY easy to find. When I get low, I simply take more out of my totes and stockpile storage and restock the shoe organizer. 

Here is an example of how I use a few of mine. It helps tremendously since we do have two babies (Yes, TWO) on the loose. My toddler (as seen in previous post) LOVES to get into things. If possible, the cabinets would be his favorite hang out spot. He hasn't graduated to looking behind doors and realizing that all of the 'good stuff' is in the organizers. :)

Tutorial Thursday: Earrings!!!

I was doing my usual Michael's run this past weekend, looking for unique embellishments or buttons that I could maybe re-create. I knew this would be a quick and inexpensive trip...WRONG. It never is quick, easy nor inexpensive when I go to any of my crafting stores. LOL Please do not take notes from me, or you will end up hoarding all types of crap that you found on clearance. I usually don't find a use for my 'hauls' until...maybe 6 weeks later. Terrible, I know! :) But, the nice coupons mixed with the super sales at my craft stores makes it impossible for me to pass it up.

Here's what I found...

Of course, I have 'Penelope' right by my side! LOL Yes, that's the name of my Glue Gun. If you do not own a glue gun, I suggest you get one ASAP. It's my favorite toy. :) I have about 3...I found little circle things (Not sure of the name and can't find the bag) to hold the pierced ear post (seen in photo).

I only put a little dash of hot glue (please wait until the gun gets hot) onto the earring and attached the pierced ear post. Hold it for about 10 seconds to ensure it sticks and TA-DA!!!!

Not the best pictures but I have yet to perfect my resources. Ha! I hope you play around with making some of your own. So easy to make and less than $3 Also, you don't have to be 'crafty' to make them...just have to know how to hold the Glue Gun steady. 

Items Needed:Glue Gun or Mini Glue Gun: $4.99 (Michael's)Pierced Ear Post: $1.09 (pack of 120)Any Embellishment that can be hot glued

Noah, Noah, Oh Noah...

So...I plan to do a few projects throughout this weekend and I'm pretty excited to get going on documenting everything! However, since life doesn't stop and wait on my crafts -- I thought I would share one of my favorite recent moments with Mr. Terrible Two-ster himself.... 

Noah adding a little 'Flavor; to the Gatorade...Don't worry, we totally dumped it and cleaned it out :)

This is Noah...20000000% BOY *chuckles*. He enjoys every moment of life to the extreme fullest. He inspires me...He motivates me...He puts things into perspective. Life is short...and he makes me want to laugh and smile when I'm having one of those days. He doesn't worry...He doesn't second guess himself...He doesn't feel insecure. He simply lives his life and learn along the way. Perhaps that is something we all should do. We spend so much time setting rules and creating or following a guideline of 'how to live'...that we forget there is no person qualifies to create such a thing. Do you smile throughout the day? Do you say 'Good Morning' to everyone you pass on the way to work? Do you genuinely enjoy meeting new people? How about your hobbies...do you have any? Do you like to travel? 

Are you happy???

These are questions we should surely be able to answer each with a big fat 'YES'.  Let's work on it...We have to learn to be happy and live our lives exactly how we watch our children live theirs...being spontaneous, learning all that we wish to know, full of laughter, happiness, fun and love. 

 Thank you Noah -- for simply living your life.

Nice to Meet You! :)

I struggled for days, thinking of what my first post would be. Blogging has been a hobby I've dipped in and out of for years; however, I would never stick with it because I always wanted to be sure to 'fit' into the box. I felt I needed to blog about certain topics or have a main topic and surround my words around it. I am beyond happy that I am finally able to put all of my creative ideas into one project. Have you ever met a disorganized organized person?? Yep, right here. *side eye* I love being random, spontaneous and just downright chatty. I believe it makes me unique; cool even. Who wants to talk about one subject when there are so many cool things to discuss? #nother 

 So, with that being said...with this blog, you will literally get 'all of me'. Random ideas, tutorials, thoughts, stories, etc. will be shared. I am so into writing, planning, couponing, being a MOM, diy and storage ideas, hair, makeup, etc. etc. Seriously, 'etc.' should be my suffix...Mrs. Jones Etc. I LOVE it! *chuckles* I would also like to follow other blogs as well so if you have a creative or scattered mind, please feel free to drop your site in the comments. Thank you!! And I can't wait to make you laugh, give you ideas, teach and/or make you shake your head at the same time. 

Happy reading!