Sugar Body Scrubs! Last minute gifts you can make in a hurry!




Easy to make sugar body scrubs! *Phot by my friend Anyelis

As Christmas is fast approaching, I wanted to do just a few more posts on some last minute ideas. At the beginning of November one of my girlfriends, Anyelis, hosted a sugar scrub making party.

Now, I certainly love a party, and this was a good one. Anyelis gathered some friends, created a facebook page, where we divided who would bring what ingredients and what toppings for our ice cream desert. Introductions were made, and we set to work creating yummy smelling scrubs to give as Christmas gifts. You probably don’t have time to get a party together before you light the Yule log, but you can still whip these bad boy scrubs together before the 25^th! The whole process can take you way less than an hour, and you probably have allot of the ingredients already. Anyelis found a good recipe and great instructions for making and decorating at Maybe Matilda.



If you have mason jars, excellent, but if not you can recycle any nicer looking glass containers and lids which may at one time have contained, oh let’s say pickles or spaghetti sauce ;) I believe the jar I used once housed specialty goat cheese. Just wash thoroughly and remove any paper labels. Next you whip up your scrubs, for which several bloggers have their own recipes but Rachel from Maybe Matilda recommends:

- 3 cups white sugar

- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. good quality oil (I used olive oil, but you can use any nice, non-smelly oil)

- 10 drops of yummy-scented essential oil per jar (I went with mandarin, peppermint, and lavender)

                                                                                                                                          Rachael-

 

Body Scrub Party! Beautiful and yummy smelling presents you can make in a flash!

At the party we went to town and created various scrubs with lots of different scents and colors. You can avoid chemicals by purchase organic food coloring from local natural food stores or Amazon, but since this the pre-Christmas time crunch if you just use any old food coloring have laying around I’m not going to tell…. Mixing is simple; just use a little bit of the coloring at a time to get a hue you like.



Mirelis, Nilda, Carolina, Anyelis, Katie, and Lina decorating their jars.

 You can also add cocoa powder for a sweet chocolate smell and rich brown color. Anyelis also suggested we add vitamin E. Next, decorate, decorate, decorate those containers! Go all out!  Have fun, and have a Merry Christmas!

                                 *Marcie






 

Homemade Couture for your Christmas Giraffe!

Mr. Gerald Giraffe looking swanky in his upcycled duds!

Back in 2010 when I found out one of my closest girlfriends, Sarah, was pregnant, I was thrilled for her and her husband Joe! They are such kind and also funny people (the two characteristics I value most ;) and I knew any baby of theirs would be equally awesome. Shortly after I heard the news I was in my favorite Fair Trade shop, Ten Thousand Villages, when I saw an adorable giraffe doll I thought would be perfect for the soon to be born baby {unfortunately, they no longer make this Giraffe, but they still have other great toys}. Sarah and Joe decided to wait until the birth to find out the sex of the baby, but I had this feeling the little one was a girl. This being the case, I purchased the giraffe in a dress. But it became apparent I chose incorrectly! Little baby boy Christian was born in January, and when it came time to give him his Christmas gift I wanted to make this Geraldine Giraffe into a Gerald, I it occurred to me this transformation would be a good submission for the DIY round up from the Ethical Fashion Bloggers!

Overalls back view

I tend to keep scraps of fabric I like from old clothes or projects I done {my sister calls it hoarding, I prefer to think of it as being prepared}. I pulled out the legs from some stretchy jeans I made into shorts last summer and the top of an old shirt of mine I had cut, and I set to work creating the adorable little ensemble you see before you! Now, for doll clothes you can buy patterns, and I certainly recommend them for complicated work. However, I’m adventurous, so I lay the giraffe over my fabric, left myself room for the seam, and cut from there. To get the crotch of the pants correctly cut (you have to curve them) I grabbed a pair of my own and looked at it as a guide for the shape.



My very old Kenmore sewing machine!


When making clothes for a stuffed animal, I recommend using stretchy fabric as these little guys tent to have more than their share of curves. For instance, Gerald Giraffe is extremely curvy about the hips, but a well-tailored pair of overalls hides that quite nicely! Sewing human sized clothes in stretchy fabric with a typical sewing machine is not ideal, as the stitches here can rip from human movement. You’ll want a serger machine for that, but for a stuffed animal whom we don’t expect to be independently mobile, using your normal sewing machine and a zigzag stitch is more than fine. To hold up Gerald’s cute little overalls I used part of a brown ribbon, which was wrapped around box of chocolates.


Look at those chubby cheaks!!!


I was very lucky to be able to visit Sarah, Joe, and Christian this past weekend, and I’m very happy to report he is very fond of his new Giraffe! Go Auntie Marcie!


Christian, a beautiful and bright baby boy!



Christmas Gift Ideas: Picture this, Sari Scarves, and Wraps that Rock!

The Gifts:

For friends and family: Framed Photos
For someone with a baby: The Sleepy Wrap

For people like people: Asha imports sari fabric accessories and home fabrics

Zoe, at MomentuM, a fairtrade shop in downtown Boulder CO

The back story: In November I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to Colorado and visit my brother Andrew, sister-in-law, Kelly, and the kids, Zoë, Ashley, and baby Ginger. And, I got to hang out with my old seminary roommate, Robin, and her husband Ben, too! They all live near Boulder, which is a great city for laidback and ethical fashion.



   And this dear friends, brings us to gift idea one, framed photos of family and friends. Before I flew out to visit my family in C.O. my mom asked me to please take a family photo of the Andrew, Kelly, and the girls so she could frame it. Because of the health issues my dad had this summer, my parents haven’t been able to go out to visit the Colorado Brozyna’s and meet the new baby, Ginger. So, we duly obliged, and I’ll be printing this photo for mom and my great aunt, Vivian, for Christmas.

In this age where the vast majority of us are using digital cameras it’s so easy to take a beautiful photo only to have it perpetually remain in the digital world. There are millions of lonely desks, walls, and pianos simply crying out for some updated photos! Why should computers have all the fun? Let’s jazzy up our physical living environments with some printed paper and frames! Bring a smile to those you love and let them remember the good times ;)
 

Another one I need to print!

I’m a last minute Betty, so I have yet to get this photo printed, but I’ll be taking my USB to Ritz Camera. This is a good place to have either film or digit prints made. You can of course also take them to many drugstores for printing, but check online first to see who has them in store. Also, remember many no longer develop film. Additionally, if you haven’t waited to the absolute last minute, as I seem to have, you can digitally send your photos to Kodak online and they will main prints back to you.

Kelly, Ginger, and Ashley looking sassy

My trip to Colorado also inspired my second gift suggestion, the Sleepy Wrap. My sister-in-law, Kelly received one and she says it is simply the best baby wrap/carrier she has ever owned, and she’s on baby number three, so she’s tried quite a few over the years! Kelly was saying it is extremely comfortable and versatile, allowing you to wrap it different ways to safely suite the needs of you and your baby. Additionally, it comes in a myriad of colors, so you won’t get bored looking at it, which is important as parents wear it daily! One of Kelly’s favorite colors is orange, and here you can see her, Ginger, and Ashley looking cool and hanging out in downtown Boulder! 

Cute hats at MomentuM in Boulder

Asha Imports Sari Scarf

We also went to Boulder’s awesome fair-trade home goods and accessories shop, MomentuM. They write, “The products in our store support fair trade, environmentally friendly production, independent artists and organic farming.” If you’re heading to Boulder, be sure to check it out. And for the rest of us, soon we’ll be order from their website. My favorite product from the store is my gift suggestion three, a recycled sari scarf/table runner.I purchased one of these beauties made by Asha Imports {Asha means “hope”}. They are  fairtrade and recycled, so what’s not to love?! You can order them from a couple websites, including the Green Heart Shop. Enjoy! 

                    *Marcie