Christmas Scrubs

Merry (almost) Christmas!!  I have been working away (in between having strep throat) on Christmas gifts!  I like the personal element in giving gifts and have challenged myself the last few years to find a project to make to give to friends.  If you are looking for a last minute idea for teachers, Sunday School teachers or someone you want to give to but can't figure out what to do, this is a super easy and very fun project!

I made several varieties of sugar scrubs.  LOVE them!!  They make my hands feel so soft and smooth and I love how it exfoliates them too.  It feels so good rubbing it on my hands.  I hope my friends like them too!

This is the peppermint scrub (after this batch I left the scrubs white which I ended up liking even better but they sure look pretty green too). 

To decorate the jars, I tied a ribbon around the lid of the jar and hung a mini ornament from it and then tied a bow.  I also tied a tag (that told what the product was with simple directions) and a little spoon (to get the scrub out with and to stir it up if it seperates) onto the ribbon piece with various colors of Twinery twine. I also punched a piece of patterned paper and attached to the top of the jar.

I wrapped the Caribbean twine around the spoon for some decoration.

These are the 3 different scrubs I made.  The green peppermint scrub you've seen above, then I made a peppermint foot scrub and a lemon scrub (I did change the lemon scrub after this batch to make it a little "lighter" and it also made the color a much softer yellow.  I like it much better too.)

I love how easy it is to dress up the jars with my twine!  When I packaged these scrubs in a group of 3, I only wanted an ornament on one of them, so on the others I used various colors of twine.  I attached the tag and the spoon with the twine as well.

 

I did TONS of experimenting to find the scrubs that I liked the best!  I thought I would share my 2 favorite recipes below that I tweaked and tweaked until I got it just right.  These won't be exact because after I mixed according to the recipe I had written down I added extra of the ingredients to get the consistency to my satisfaction...a thicker formula or a thinner formula or a stronger scent.

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

3 cups white sugar

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Kosher Salt

1 cup baby oil*

1 teaspoon Peppermint Extract

*(baby oil was the oil I preferred but you can also use olive oil or canola oil)

Mix all ingredients together.  (If you want it to be green, add a drop or two of green food coloring to the mixture.)  This made 4 - 5 eight ounce jars.

Lemon Sugar Scrub

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup kosher salt

Zest of 1 or 2 large lemons

1 cup oil (I used baby oil)

1/4 tsp Pure Lemon Extract

Juice from 1/2 - 1 lemon (depending on your preference)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  Add more or less extract & lemon juice based on how much scent you want your scrub to have.

These would make great hostess gifts or baby shower/bridal shower gifts too!  I would love to keep a few on hand too for those times that I need a gift and have nothing at home to give.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Lil' Inker Designs New Release: Cocoa Bear

Be sure to enter my Christmas giveaway here!!

Welcome back to the last post for the Lil' Inker Designs December new release blog hop!

Today we have another great image to introduce to you, Cocoa Bear!  If you are following along in the hop, you should have come from the blog of  Debby Hughes!  If you would like to start at the beginning, visit the Lil' Inker Designs blog!

Meet Cocoa Bear!

Cute huh?

I went with a winter theme for this cute little mouse! I used the snowflakes that are a separate image in the set to fill the space on the coffee mug and I also used them in the sky.  I love that there is an option like that! 

I colored the image with copics and highlighted the steam and the marshmallows with my copic glitter spica pen. 

I also wanted to create another card with this set using the tiny little snowman that was designed to also fit on the coffee mug.

I stamped the snowmen twice and then cut circles from my cardstock so that they were peeking through.  I added stickles to the snow that they are sitting on.

This set has more great sentiments and this is another one of my favorites!

I'd love to hear what you've thought of this new release.  It is new territory for Lil' Inker and we hope you fell in love with what you've seen!  Be sure to leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawings that are up for grabs this week!

Your next stop on the hop is over to the super sweet blog of  Emily Leiphart!

Thank you for visiting!! Be sure to stop by the Lil' Inker Designs store to see all the products that are available for sale!

Supplies

Warm Wishes

Stamps: Cocoa Bear Lil' Inker Designs, Sentiment Flags LID

Twine:  The Twinery

Paper:  PTI Blueberry Sky, White, DCWV Glitter Red

Coloring: Copics, Spica Clear Glitter Pen

Lil' Inker Designs New Release: Snow Mouse

Hello! Welcome back to another new release post for Lil' Inker Designs!  Do you like what you've seen so far?  These new stamp sets are super cute!  If you are following along in the blog hop, you should have come here from Teresa Kline's blog! 

Today I am sharing with you another new stamp set called "Snow Mouse". 

And here is the card I made with this set.

I used sort of a unique technique to color the mouse.  I took a q-tip and dabbed it on my VersaMark and tea dye inks and rubbed it on the mouse.  This gave him a little darker look than the cardstock.  Then, I took my Pebbles Shimmer chalks, which I don't pull out often enough, and colored on top of the image with the chalks.  Putting the ink down first allows the chalk to really stick to it.  The chalk allowed me to shade the mouse easily and gave him lots of sparkle!

For the white snowflakes I used another q-tip and tapped it onto my white ink pad and then colored onto the cardstock with it.  I love how that looks!

The skirt on the bottom of the card is made out of tulle which costs next to nothing!  I gathered it using scor-tape and tucked it under my image.  It adds a fun element.  I also wanted to point out the cute font that these 3 new sets have.  I love it!! So cute and perfect for the sets that they are included in!  This sentiment happens to be my favorite of all of them!  LOVE it!! So cute!!

Your next stop on the blog hop is to the fabulous blog of the super talented

Alicia Thelin !

I'll be back tomorrow with one more new set and two new cards!  Thank you for stopping by!  Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog allow the way to be eligible for the prize packages!  And also be sure to visit the Lil' Inkers store and check out all the great products available!

Supplies
Stamps:  Lil' Inker Designs Snow Mouse
Ink:  PTI Snow White & True Black, Memento Black, VersaMark, PTI Tea Dye
Paper:  Kraft Funday Happy Days by My Mind's Eye, PTI Kraft, Bazzill (blue)
Other:  Tulle, Pebbles Shimmer Chalk, Pop Dots

Lil' Inker Designs New Release: Arctic Friends

Welcome to the December release of Lil' Inker Designs!! We are thrilled to have you join us!  If you are following along on the hop you should have come from Debby Hughes' blog!  I am such a fan of her fabulous work!

Lil' Inker Designs (LID) is introducing a new product line this month that we think you're going to fall in love with!  2 Cute Ink is the first artist created line to be featured at Lil’ Inker Designs. Artist Heidi Schwoerer, of 2 Cute Rubber Stamps, will now exclusively release her designs at Lil’ Inker!

Are you anxious to see the first set?

Pretty cute, huh!

I went with a winter theme for this card but the great thing about this image is that it could be used year round!  I colored the image with copics and then paper pieced the scarf and ice cream scoops.  Of course I had to add glitter to the top of the ice cream!

I stamped the sentiment with an ice cream cone on the inside.  Very, very simple but I love how the sentiment can be carried through to the inside!

Did I mention that there are prizes up for grabs?!

Two $10 store credits
1 grand prize...the entire release

To be eligible for the grand prize comments must be left on each designer's blog each day of the hop Monday - Friday.

Your next stop on the hop is the fabulous Alicia Thelin!! I always love to see what she has been up to!

Thanks again for joining us!! Be sure to check out the Lil' Inker blog each day this week for more designs! We have THREE fun sets being released this month!  I'll be back with a post on Thursday & Friday. 

Have a great day!!

Supplies

Stamp Sets:  Lil' Inker Artic Friends

Paper:  PTI Aqua Mist, White, Bazzill, Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky

Ink:  Memento Black ink

Other:  Copics, Embossing Folder Cuttlebug, PTI Button, DMC White Floss, Crystal Stickles