{homemade} candy cane body scrub

If you're looking for a last minute teacher, friend, or really, ANYONE gift, you've come to the right place! I've made body scrubs before, and everyone seems to love them! It's such a quick and easy thing to make at home, and you can scent it just about any way you want. Win!

 Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 cups granulated, white sugar

3/4 cup good canola oil

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons peppermint oil

a few drops of red food coloring

(this amount fills 3 half pint jars--roughly 24 oz.)

I picked up this peppermint oil in the natural foods department of my grocery store, but I believe you can also get this sort of thing at some craft stores. Just make sure it's intended for skin and not diffusers/melting oils or it could be an irritant.

Mix up all the ingredients and put the scrub in a cute mason jar & that's it! 

It doesn't get any easier than that, my friends!

 If you're a peppermint fanatic like me, you'll LOVE this; plus it's also very moisturizing with the addition of coconut oil...perfect for winter skin!

Enjoy!

corner play area

 So I've been throwing this idea of having a "play area" in our living room for awhile now, and I'm happy to say that we finally got all the components to make it happen. I would love to have a dedicated play room, but it's just not possible in our current home. However, we absolutely needed a place to store all of Jaqs' things, and of course, we wanted a little organization to boot!

Enter the beloved Ikea Expedit Shelving Unit. Who doesn't love these things?! They provide tons of storage, and they're aesthetically pleasing, too! Hard to beat that.

 The "Love of my Life" canvas inspired the color scheme when I picked it up on a whim one day at Hobby Lobby. I couldn't pass it up! I put one of J's 1 year pictures in a matted frame, and the rest of the stuff I collected/painted from around the house. Jaqs painted {most of} the small pennant canvas :) I'll share that one with y'all soon!

 I know it's nothing grand or anything, but I kind of love having this little corner of happiness in our living room. It makes me smile every time I walk by, and I really love being able to have a "home" for all of the toys and books at the end of the day.

I'm linking up with Leslie for Create It Thursday.

$10 Garage Door Update

When we purchased our house, I loved everything about it EXCEPT the fact that it has a front-facing garage. I loathe that, but it was the case for most of the houses we were looking at, unfortunately. I wasn't going to let the garage door ruin the rest of what I loved about our home! After living here for almost two years (unbelievable!) we have finally done a little something to add some charm to our big, ugly garage door.

The inspiration came from this pin:

source

We purchased the "Decorative Garage Door Hardware Kit" from Home Depot for just over $10, followed the instructions that came with it, and voila! My dad & Rob had it done in 15 minutes!

 I thought I had a "before" picture, but I don't...I'm sure you can imagine ;)

I think it definitely adds a little curb appeal, and it sure does break up all that white from the garage door! Plus, you just can't beat a home update that is TEN DOLLARS!

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It, Pinned It, Did It. 

Have y'all missed this link-up as much as I have?! Glad it's back!

Super Simple Birthday Wreath

Y'all know I love a good wreath by now, so of course I had to come up with something fun for Jaqsy's birthday party. I searched Pinterest high and low, but I couldn't find anything just right, so I actually did something with my own brains. Novel idea, eh?

We did the tied ribbon wreath for her nursery, and I love it, but it takes A LOT of ribbon not to mention a decent chunk of time, too. That was fine while I was pregnant, but now that she's out, spare time is precious ;) I found some ribbon at Hobby Lobby that I loved, so I decided to do a simplified ribbon wreath.

sorry, only had an iPhone pic

Supplies:

Foam Wreath

Whatever variety of ribbon works for your theme

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Embellishments

Cut your ribbon into pieces long enough to wrap around your wreath one time...mine were about 5 inches, I'd say. Then all you have to do is wrap them around and secure with a line of hot glue on the back. Overlap the ribbon a little as you go so as not have any foam showing through until you've covered the wreath. It's as easy as that! I chose to keep the rainbow pattern going, but you can mix it up and do different widths of ribbons, too.

Side note: I said "ROY G. BIV" in my head about 27 times while making this! Ha! 

Once you're done wrapping your wreath, hot glue one or two embellishments on there to celebrate your occasion! My number 1 came from Hobby Lobby and was already white, so I didn't even have to paint it. Score!

This wreath is still hanging on our front door...I can't let it go just yet! I figure I can get away with this for the month of April, right?! It IS her birth month, after all.

One other thing: I'm guest posting over at Ripples & Waves today! Check it out if you're curious about when Galusha baby #2 may make an appearance...

X's & O's: Valentine Door Decor

Y'all know I love seasonal door decor, right? I'm not even sure how many wreaths I've made in the last year...it's kind of become an obsession. Of course, I couldn't leave one of my favorites, Valentine's Day, out! I came across this little cutie on Pinterest and decided I wanted to make it my own. Side-note--I get so annoyed when pinned pictures don't go to an actual website. #PinningProblems

Apparently I'm no good at step-by-step crafting pictures...too in the zone I suppose ;) 

Lucky for you, this one is pretty self explanatory. 

I purchased my X's & O's at Hob Lob for $1.25 each and picked up some Valentine ribbon for about the same price, so this baby was less than $10 since I had all of the other supplies.

I did 2 layers of acrylic paint on the letters then let them dry over night before hot gluing them all together. I also put some tape (fancy, huh?) in the center of the backside to give it a little extra security. To hang, I hot glued ribbon to each side of the back then tied it up on our door hanger! Very, very simple, and darn cute if I do say so myself!

Paint Colors: X's-Metalic Bright Red; O's-Baby Pink with a VERY light layer of Metallic Pure Gold over it.

Oh, I almost forgot, my football coaching hubby was sorely disappointed to find out the X's & O's were for a Valentine door instead of a Super Bowl door. Sorry babe, football already stakes its claim in our home from July-December ;)

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!  Go check out all the great ideas!!
Also linking up with "The Dog Days {of Winter} Are Over" linky party! :)

chalkboard banner

Just like the next blogger, I have a thing for chalkboard paint. I mean, what's not to love about being able to customize your wall and/or decor to each holiday or celebration? Nothing! When I saw this bunting on Pinterest via Etsy, I knew I wanted to recreate something similar for a fraction of the $18 price tag.

On my {weekly} trip to Hobby Lobby I found the perfect thing to make this little craft EASY peasy: a pre-made bunting made of chipboard. I couldn't find it on their website, but it was in the party section, and there were several shapes to choose from for about $3 for a 9-piece package.

I had plenty of chalkboard paint at home, so I painted a couple layers on both sides, then strung some thing Valentine ribbon through the pre-punched holes when it was dry.

I am so happy with the way this turned out, and I'm excited to be able to customize it for whatever holiday or birthday we're celebrating any given month!

I'm linking up with AP for Hey, that's Pin-tastic! Go check out all the great projects!

scrapbook paper & foam christmas trees

I've had some foam Christmas trees hanging around for awhile now, and I've been trying to find a way to "up-cycle" them this year. Previously they were mod-podged with tissue paper, but after being stored in the attic during hot Texas summers for several years now, they were looking pretty pathetic. When I came across this little project, I knew I'd found the one. I thought they'd be a cheerful addition to Jaqs' nursery this season!

original pin

I had to pick up some sequins and straight pins, then I got busy punching out the circles from scrapbook paper using a craft lever punch. My edges are scalloped, and the circles are 2" across. I used 9 sheets of scrapbook paper, and I had plenty left over to make a garland, too.

 Next, you just thread the sequin onto the pin then punch them (and the paper, of course) into the trees working from the bottom to the top. I put my circles in a line and basically kept that order throughout. It worked well for my OCD self ;) Once they were covered, I hot-glued a small, glittery foam ball ornament on top to finish them off!

Here's the finished product in the pea's nursery:

 I love how girly they are, and they were so simple to make! I definitely enjoyed this one.

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for "Saw It, Pinned It, Did It"

Also linking up with AP for Hey, that's Pin-tastic!

Anthropologie-Inspired Snow Globes

I've had my eye on these little mason jar snow globes for awhile now; I just think they're so whimsical and fun! I knew I wanted to make them from the first time I saw this pin!

I gathered my supplies from Hobby Lobby, (all on sale, of course) and 6 of these little pretties ended up costing about $5 total. Hard to beat!

You'll need: Mason jars, Village trees, fake snow, and some hot glue.

This has to be one of the easiest Christmas crafts of all time: just hot glue the trees to the inside of the lid, pour a little bit of snow in the jar, and seal 'er up. Give it a shake to help the "snow" settle, and voila! Done! Looks pretty similar to the Anthro version, no?

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!

"snowball" winter wreath

Y'all know me well enough by now to know I love a good Pinterest craft, right? Right. I've also been loving making wreaths for our door with the changing seasons, and with winter in the near-ish (looking at you, crazy TX weather) future, I decided it was about time to get my craft on again! This project was inspired by THIS pin. There weren't any tips or anything included, so I just picked up a 14 inch foam wreath, 400 count jumbo cotton balls, and I had Mod Podge on hand.

 I poured the glue in a paper bowl, and just started dipping and sticking the cotton balls all over the wreath. Once I got it covered, I decided to add some jingle bells for a little something extra. Then I tied it up on our door with some fabric scraps I had on hand...

I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on this. Maybe it's not full enough? Or it needs something hanging in the center? Possibly tied up with some different fabric or ribbon? What do you think I should add? Or should I just throw it right in my dumpster?

 The good news is that this little project took all of about 45 minutes and only about $6, so even if it doesn't stay, it's no huge loss of time or dolla-dolla bills!

So, yeah, some Pinterest crafts rock while others? Suck. Better luck next time?

Linking up with Katie and Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!
Next time, I'll be sure to bring my A-game! ;)

Chalkboard Gift Tags

Back again to link my Pinterest projects up with AP for her Monday link-up!

I saw these chalkboard gift tags via Etsy; I thought they were adorable and would add a little something extra to our Christmas packages this year.

I showed them to a couple of my girlfriends, and we decided to have a little paint party while the guys were working yesterday. I found my tags at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas crafts section. They have holes in them already and are meant to be ornaments for kids to craft. I got snowflakes and Christmas trees :)

Only an iPhone pic, so it's terrible quality...FAIL. Sorry.

We just painted a couple coats of black chalkboard paint on them...seriously the easiest project ever, but so cute! The best part is that they be used over and over!

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I also made a few recipes from Pinterest this week; some hits and some misses in my opinion. My thoughts:

*One Dish Chicken & Veggie Bake-this was incredibly easy to make and pretty good considering the effort. Certainly not the BEST thing I've ever made, but I'll definitely do it again if I need something quick & easy.

*Crockpot Cheesy Chicken & Rice-about the same as above. GREAT for the amount of effort that went into it and tasty!

*Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles-these were yummy! Rob loved them. We had them with a honey-soy salmon thing that I made up with what we had on hand.

*Copy-cat Pumpkin Spice Latte-this was DELISH! I'll definitely do this one again. Talk about a money (and calorie) saver!

*Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas-one word: GROSS! Won't make them again. Probably the only place garbanzo beans & I will meet again is in hummus. 

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One last thing: I have a fun little giveaway coming up tomorrow, I'd love if you came back and checked it out! Hoping it won't be a complete bust ;)

Happy (?) Monday!