I have been swamped with work and a mile long to-do list for the last several weeks.  I am looking forward to taking a few days off this week to spend time with out of town friends.  There is nothing I like more than feasting on the smells and tastes of the holiday season.  A glass of spiked eggnog while I take a hot bath or this easy homemade sugar scrub with cranberries and orange zest will really put me into the holiday spirit this week.  I absolutely adore cranberries so I grabbed several bags the last time I went grocery shopping!  I am … [Read more...]

This lemon sugar hand scrub recipe is just the thing I need now that spring has arrived. This weekend I spent a bit of time outside weeding the garden beds and getting my patio pots ready for planting.  The ground was a bit cold and damp but in a few weeks I will be putting in herbs, flowers and some easy to grow vegetables.  By the time I was done with my gardening, my hands were covered in mud and I my nails would never be the same.  I spent 10 minutes scrubbing my hands with hot, soapy water and still couldn't get that ground in dirt off my … [Read more...]

Tired of hiding your hands from people because of ugly nails and cuticles?  This DIY cuticle butter is just what you need! My nails take a beating just about every day. Whether it's washing the dishes or gardening, I'm busy and have very little time to deal with keeping my nails pretty.  I don't tend to wear nail polish except on my toes but I still want healthy fingernails.  The trick to keeping your nails and cuticles healthy is to pamper them with moisture rich ingredients. This DIY cuticle butter is incredibly inexpensive to make but … [Read more...]

This DIY dry shampoo recipe is perfect hair remedy for those days when you just don't have time to shower.  My daughter is 14 and has very thick, wavy hair that she absolutely hates.  We have made homemade hair masks and tried to dip dye hair using Kool aid but still, she complains.  Well, she washes her hair, lets it air dry and then spends hours straightening it.  That means it takes her HOURS to do her hair and she just doesn't have that kind of time on a daily basis.  Her solution is to only wash her hair twice a week.  That would normally … [Read more...]

Need some fall stress relief?  This gingerbread sugar scrub is just what you need!  Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything you do just seems to go wrong?  Recipes flop, you are late to appointments, you lose things that you could have SWORN you put right in that spot. This week has been one of those weeks for me and I am in need of some serious stress relief. Gingerbread Sugar Scrub for Fall Stress Relief I decided to whip up an easy sugar scrub recipe to pamper myself before bed tonight.    This homemade sugar scrub smells … [Read more...]

My family just got back from a week in Saint Augustine, Florida and if I thought Georgia was hot in the summer...WOW!  The heat and humidity was absolutely suffocating down there last week!  I went through 4 containers of sunscreen, put a 2 hour beach limit on all of us, and our shower in the cottage was running almost constantly.  Just walking through the historic district for a couple of hours had us soaking with sweat and slightly sun burnt!  Needless to say, between the sunscreen, the frequent showers and the low level sunburn I had all … [Read more...]

I am a huge fan of combining fruit with herbs.  Something about the earthiness of the herbs mingled with the sweetness of the fruit just really provides a wonderful aroma.  Lemon and Rosemary... Cilantro and Lime...and this Sage and Blackberry Sugar Scrub Recipe!  All of these are wonderful blends that really just scream 'summer'.  I am thinking I need to turn this blackberry sage combination into a drink somehow...that would be a refreshing beverage to sip on the patio in the warm spring sun, right? I am thrilled that my sage plant … [Read more...]