Do you need
a Christmas gift and don’t have the funds to spend, here are a few ideas to
make that dollar stretch.
Homemade Peppermint Scrub
This
peppermint scrub feels ultra-luxurious, and they’ll never guess that it’s easy
to make from sugar, mineral oil, and peppermint extract. Presentation is key
here, so as long as you put it in a nice jar with some ribbon around it as
shown, this is not only a thoughtful gift but also very useful.
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of mineral oil (I just used hypoallergenic baby oil)
2 T of corn syrup
1/2 tsp of peppermint extract
1 drop of green food coloring
Just mix this all together until all the sugar is moistened. For better results just add a little bit more baby oil. Put the mixture in some little half pint jars. For gifts just tie a cute ribbon around your jar. If your skin is super sensitive to breakouts try the scrub twice and if your skin breaks out stop using. You should exfoliate your face at least once a week...twice if you can to help keep dead skin from building up and getting into your pores. :)
The other scrub is even easier! Cut a lemon in half and put some sugar on it. Put it on your face and scrub away. Lemon helps with getting rid of age spots, light blemish scar coloring, and freckles (if you want them gone...though some people love freckles). You could also put some lemon juice onto a cotton ball along with sugar and that should work fine too.
How to Make A Modern Beanbag Pouf
Here’s a way to give them a piece of
furniture that you can make yourself. There are only six pieces of fabric used
to make this, two pieces for the top and bottom and four pieces for each side.
You then stuff the insides and you now have a pour suitable for an ottoman or a
chair, and can even double as a coffee table.
1. Choose Your Fabric. Inexpensive rugs - fabric
works the best or try something similar.
2. Measure twice and cut once. You will need two
24"x24" squares and four 13"x24" rectangles (leave an extra
half inch for sewing on all sides).
3. Sew 3 sides (and add zipper). To be safe match up
your fabric inside out and to make things durable, sew a double seam and decide
where you want to install your
zipper (so that you can wash this baby occasionally). [http://www.wikihow.com/Sew-in-a-Zipper]
4. Repeat step 2 for your inner bag. Using a rugged
muslin or other cheap, durable fabric, sew your inner pouch to the same
measurements as the outer one but make sure to fill it with bean bag filler
before your sew that last seam. You can either buy bean bag beans or you can
use one of these alternatives.
5. Finish. Stuff that inner bag into your outer
sleeve and zip it up. You're all done!
Do It
Yourself: Sewing Kit in a Jar:
One of the simplest
gifts ever! Making kit gifts out of
jars!
This is a great gift for the seamstress in your life. It
takes everything you’d need in a proper sewing kit and puts it in a handy dandy
jar so it’s all self-contained, and doesn’t take up much space. By putting the
pin cushion on top there’s no wasted space when it comes to this jarful of
sewing goodies.
What’s in
the sewing kit?
- Pins and
needles (on top)
- Safety
pins
- Small
scissors
- Measuring
tape
- Teeny tiny
spools of thread
- A thimble
- And, that
needle threader
Supplies to
create this:
- An
inexpensive jar with a lid
- The center
piece of the lid (or, a piece of cardboard can be used if this part is missing)
- A piece of
fabric (I used a 10″ x 10″ piece).
- Stuffing
for the cushion
- Hot glue
gun and glue sticks
- A sweet
“made with love” sticker from Pear
Tree Greetings.
[http://www.peartreegreetings.com/catalog/search.cmd?keyword=stickers&x=0&y=0]
How to do it?
1. Taking the center piece of the lid (or cardboard): pile
the stuffing on top and wrap the fabric around…. glue down the fabric to the
opposite side of the lid piece. This should create a little cushion! Note:
don’t put too much stuffing in… it will be hard to do this next step.
2. Take your cushion piece and push it through the lid….
squish it through! You’re welcome to glue it… but, I didn’t need to.
3. Fill your jar with your goodies! Twist on the lid…. put
some sewing pins in your cushion.
4. Apply your Pear Tree Greetings “made with love” sticker.
5. Give to a friend this holiday season
Total cost of creating this sewing kit is: roughly $10. A
very cheap price for a gift. And, when
you really think about it, who doesn’t need a sewing kit?
Homemade Bread and Jam Gift
This step-by-step shows you how to package a bread and jam
gift in such a professional way it will look store bought. It includes labels
for both the bread and the jam, and presents them in such a way that they look
like they were made to go together.
What you will need
Red and White food trays or paper plates in red and white
Mini Jam Jars
Bread Pans
Wax or Parchment Paper
Red and White Bakers Twine
Red and White Patterned Tissue Paper
Red Ribbon
Labels
Step 1: Using the instructions on the package, download
label templates and in a program like Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft Paint
design some labels. Look for free downloadable fonts at Dafont.com.
Then fill in names to customize and print them onto your
label paper.
Step 2: Lay out the food trays and line them with tissue
paper. Cut the patterned tissue paper into a rectangle shape just larger than
the size of the tray. It looks cute hanging off the edge a bit.
Step 3: After loaves have been baked and cooled, wrap each
mini loaf of bread with wax or parchment paper . Tie it up with a bit of
Baker's Twine and apply bread label.
Step 4: After jam has been spooned into the mini jars. Tie a
sweet ribbon around the neck of the bottle and apply the jam label. – Enjoy – Bird
