How to Make an Easy DIY Natural Body Scrub

I have been using this great body scrub for a couple of years now, and it works really well to exfoliate and moisturize my skin. It's also a handy way to use coffee grounds instead of dumping them out!

Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup used coffee grounds
1/4 cup sea salt or kosher salt
1/4 cup olive (or other, such as almond or joboba) oil
1/4 tsp lemon juice
5 - 10 drops essential oil for scent (optional)

Just mix everything together and store in a plastic container. If you have a non-textured tub, be sure to rinse the tub area really well afterwards so it won't be slick for the next shower.

How to Restore a Faded Patio Umbrella

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we're getting our patio ready for a lot of use this spring and summer. I noticed that our patio umbrella is in good shape, but it had become striped with fading from the sun. I decided to try to even out the color rather than replace it, because - stripes aside - it's still very functional.

I picked up two cans of Rustoleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover at the hardware store, and I used Moss Green as it seemed to be the closest match to the color of our umbrella. Two cans proved to be just right for us - I have a little less than 1/2 can left. You may want to pick up more, though, if your umbrella is quite faded, or if you're trying a different color.

I removed the fabric from the wooden fram by unscrewing the top and sliding the supports out of the pockets. I placed the fabric flat on the ground in our yard. 

Since the paint was green, I wasn't too worried about having painted grass. If you prefer, spread your fabric onto a painter's cloth or tarp before spraying. 

Next, spray your fabric evenly. I applied three coats altogether. The fabric soaked it up and dried very quickly, and it took less time than I'd thought it would. 

The shade I chose ended up being a little lighter than the original, which was fine because it really evened out the color. I love the way it looks now. Since these umbrellas start at $50, I am really happy to have this one for a few more years!

Easy Things to do for a Fun Fairy Party

As I mentioned in my previous post, we recently had a fairy-themed party for my now six-year-old daughter. While we bought a few Tinkerbell items that were pre-made, we also had a great time making our own decorations and games. These are a few of my favorites:

Decorations

Balloon flowers

We made these cute balloon flowers for the yard and garden.

To make them, we used four balloons for the petals, one for the center, clear packing tape, and a wooden yard stake (available at hardware stores).

It took a few failed attempts before I realized that the secret to making these work was to under inflate the balloons. I made the red ones slightly larger than the yellow, and I only filled the red ones half-way. That gave  me the extra room I needed to tape the ends together as a flower.

Another very important note: you'll want to cover the end of the stake with tape so that any splinters won't pop your flowers!

Here they are, ready for the garden!

Welcome to Pixie Hollow Sign

We have a long, wooded driveway, so we made a welcome sign for the party-goers to welcome them to our version of Pixie Hollow. This was just an old shipping box, and I covered a large logo with white spray paint, then painted the letters and flowers with bright colors. If you look closely, you'll notice a tree face. We have several of these in our driveway, and they're always a big hit with kids and adults alike.

Other Decorations

We also picked up a few strands of floral garland and colorful, large silk flowers at a craft store. We placed those around tables and a lawn tent that we used as a craft station for the girls.

Activities

Luckily, we had perfect weather for our party, so we did everything outside. We could have done all of these indoors, but they wouldn't have been as fun.

Decorate Your Own Fairy Wings

I found these great cardboard wings online. We set up a decorating station for the girls to bedazzle their own wings for the party. We let everyone do this first, so they were occupied as everyone arrived. 

We put out stickers, markers, and stick on jewels, and the wings all turned out lovely.

Treasure Hunt

Everyone's favorite activity seemed to be our backyard treasure hunt. We picked up a little gift for each girl from the dollar store, wrapped them, and hid each in a different spot in our yard. We then drew up a fairy-themed treasure map that I copied so we'd have one for each girl. 

I then drew a path to each "station" on the map, where an activity would need to be performed (stuff like walking around the turtle sandbox four times, swinging seven times, crawling through the tunnel, standing on your left leg and counting to fourteen, etc.). It gave everyone a chance to move around and do a few fun things, plus at the end they each had a treasure to open and take home.

Cupcakes

My daughter is a huge marshmallow lover, and we chose to make these simple flower cupcakes for her and her guests.

They were so simple to decorate, she did them all herself! I added plain frosting and cut each pink strawberry marshmallow into three pieces. She placed an M&M in the center, then five marshmallow pieces around it for the petals. 

Favors

As favors, we made these simple Fairy Flowers for everyone to take home and grow. We used small flower pots, potting soil, Viola seeds (I've heard that fairies love Violas), green glitter, Ziploc bags, labels and decorations.

To assemble them, I first mixed the potting soil and green glitter in a bowl, then spooned some into each Ziploc baggie. I sprinkled a few seeds into each baggie, then sealed it and rolled it up, and placed it into a pot. I printed the labels with printable business cards, but you could write your labels by hand or use plain paper. 

I picked up the little felt flowers in the dollar bin at the craft store, and clipped the label to the baggie. So cute!

We had an incredibly fun fairy party, and I hope you do, too!

How to Make Mushroom Decorations for a Fairy (or Super Mario) Party

My daughter turned six this past weekend, and she asked for a fairy party at home. It was great fun, and I'll post more about our decorations and games later this week. One of my favorite decorations was a cluster of red and white mushrooms in the yard. While they were easy to make, I thought I'd share what I learned to make it simpler for anyone else looking to make decorations for their Enchanted Garden, Pixie Hollow, or even a Super Mario Bros. party.

What You'll Need:
- Bowls of various sizes
- Red Tissue Paper
- Plain white paper
- Tape
- Empty bottles and cans of various sizes, for the stems
- Scissors

I originally planned to make the caps out of Papier-mache, but once I started making them, I realized I wouldn't need the bowls during the party, and I could use them for the caps. I covered them with red tissue paper, and my daughter helped cut out the circles and tape them to the caps.

I used several empty drink bottles for stems. The Lifewater bottles have nearly straight sides, so they make good stems. To make a tall, narrow stem, I glued two of their tops together, stacked on on another with the top one upside down. I filled the bottom one with water for stability, then covered them both with white paper. For the shorter stems, I just added water to the bottle and covered it in white paper.

I also used a couple of empty cans for stems: a large canned vegetable can and an empty coffee tin. These worked great for the larger mushrooms, and they were stable enough on their own that I didn't need to weigh them down.

Here are the finished mushrooms! Very cute, a cinch to clean up, and so much easier than papier-mache!