Bath Salts and Body Scrub

With a birthday coming up (I won't name who in case she's reading this!) and Mother's Day, I decided to craft a couple items. 

The first was Bath Salts.  Super Simple.  Got it from Martha, who is usually over the top, so was excited when this was a very easy "recipe":

Homemade Bath Salts

In a large bowl, mix to combine: 6 parts coarse sea salt; 3 parts epsom salts, to soothe tired muscles and reduce inflammation; and 1 part baking soda, to soften waters and alleviate skin irritation. Add a few drops of essential oils (I used peppermint and rosemary).

I used old spice jars since I wanted a nice size for a gift.  I then added a cute label and some ribbon.  I even glued on a button for extra fun :)





Next I made Brown Sugar Body Scrub.  Again, very simple, and it makes your skin feel nice.  Just use once a week or so as an exfoliator.  Can even use on face.  And you can even eat it :)

Brown Sugar Body Scrub

Mix together one part brown sugar and one part white sugar.  Add a drop of vanilla.  Add enough oil (I used mix of canola and olive, but can use whatever) to lubricate....You want to add just enough for it to come together as you stir.  (over time the oil will separate, but just stir it back together)

I used an old jelly jar, again applied a cute sticker, clued on a little fabric on top, and tied ribbon around.

Fig and Goat Cheese Panini

I saw a recipe for camelized onion, fig and goat cheese sandwiches, which sounded so good.  So I put my easier spin on it.


Ingredients (serves two):
-1 small onion
-4 slices bread
-2 Tbsp. fig jam (really any fruit spread would probably work)
-handful of mixed greens
-2 Tbsp. goat cheese

Step one: Slice onions and put into saute pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Saute until they carmelize.

Step two: While onions are carmelizing, spread goat cheese onto two of the bread slices.  On the other two slices, spread the fig jam.  Top fig spread with a little of the greens. 

Step three: Place carmelized onions on side with cheese.  Put two halves together, to form two sandwiches.  Place in Panini press for about 5 minutes.  And Enjoy.

***if you don't have panini press, you could just toast bread ahead of time, or you can place in oven for a few minutes to get cheese melty.

Eggs for Dinner

I found a great deal on organic eggs the other day, so I stocked up.  Since it's been so hot, I haven't wanted to bake.  Eggs for dinner it was.

Here's what I did.

Step one: Saute any veggies you have on hand.  I did mushrooms, green pepper, onion, and greens from the garden (yes my turnips and beets keep going crazy with greens!).  I added a little garlic, lemon pepper, and italian seasoning for flavor.  Spread this mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350.

Step two: Beat eggs.  I did 6 whole eggs and 4 whites.  I added a splash of milk, too.  To make it kinda quiche-like I added about 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (but not necessary). 

Step three: Pour eggs over veggies, and bake for about 35-45 minutes.

***Could definitely add cheese if you want.
***Could also just do this stove-top style.  Just pour eggs into your saute pan with veggies and scramble.

Madeline's Party

It's taken me awhile to post about some of the "creations" I made for Madeline's 2nd Birthday: Peter Rabbit Garden Party. 

Invites:
I looked all over the web for cute Peter Rabbit invitations.  All I could find were either just generic invites or customized ones that would have been $100 (sorry Madeline for being cheap).  So I used VistaPrint to create my own, borrowing from ideas I saw.

Sorry, not techie enough to figure out how to rotate this!

Decor:
I was attempting to make tissue-paper "fairy balls", but mine didn't look right, so they became tissue paper flowers:

For fun eatery, I had found on a Family Fun webiste how to make "carrots" that are actually green eating utensils-plastic fork, spoon, knife- wrapped inside an orange napkin.  You then tie a little green pipe-cleaner for effect:

 Party Favors:

 I found mini, clay flower pots at Dollar Tree.  Since it was close to Easter, I placed seeds in a plastic egg, used a popsicle stick as a plant marker, and then topped off the girls' pots with a felt flower clip.  I also wrote the kids' names on the pots using awesome 90's puff paint.