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. :)