RED CHRISTMAS

blog spa giveaway: take care of your feet

Posted by admin at 5:00 AM 0 comments

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body

~eye care tips and an aromatherapy eye pillow
~a manicure set giveaway from Sparetime Crafts
~bath scrubbie and tea soak tutorials

~a Fabulous Feet Set giveaway from the Abbey James Co.
~a personalized spa body wrap tutorial

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Let's talk about feet!

How much time do you spend on your feet each day? Running errands, making meals, picking up toys, cleaning, walking around the office . . . yes, ladies we spend A LOT of time on our feet.

So . . . we should be taking care of them. Right? Right!

Of course, most of us don't have the time or the money to go to a salon or a spa for a pedicure, so we have to learn to take care of our own feet.

And I'm so excited to introduce to you TWO shops . . . that's right TWO . . . that want to help us take care of our feet.

Lemongrass Spa

First up . . . Amber from Lemongrass Spa. If you've never heard of Lemongrass Spa, you have got to check out this line of natural bath and body products.

You can pick up pretty much any bath and body product you want or need at Lemongrass Spa - shampoo, mineral make up, body polish and even products for the men in your life.

Here's just one of the many I would like to try . . . in my new soaker tub once I get to Texas! ;)

And I was just going to show one, but then I found this yummy looking cupcake bath bomb. That thing goes in your bath not your mouth . . . much better for my thighs!

Amber is giving away winner's choice of either a body polish or a foot scrub. Go with the foot scrub ladies, and take care of those busy, tired feet!

O. C. Styles

The second shop I'm loving and get to share with you is O. C. Styles! I would buy one (or twenty) of every thing in this shop if I could. This shop carries clutches, coffee sleeves, card holders, key holders, and multi-packs for bridal parties or mass gift giving. And I love the patterns, the colors, the designs . . . I just love it!

Here are my two absolute favs:

And the manicure/pedicure kit is ADORABLE! I love the unique shape of this kit.

One winner . . . two products . . . to take care of your feet!

First entry:

~How much time do you think you spend on your feet each day?

blog spa tutorial: a personalized spa body wrap

Posted by admin at 5:52 PM 0 comments Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body

~eye care tips and an aromatherapy eye pillow
~a manicure set giveaway from Sparetime Crafts
~bath scrubbie and tea soak tutorials

~a Fabulous Feet Set giveaway from the Abbey James Co.

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We've pampering ourselves head to toe this week during Blog Spa. Yesterday, Bev over at Flamingo Toes showed us how to make a bath scrubbie and a bath soak. Well, you are going to need something cute to use as a wrap once you get done soaking. . . right? Right! So that's when you reach for your personalized spa body wrap. You don't have a personalized spa body wrap? Well, now you can! And the best part is you can use things you already have on hand to make yourself one . . . woohoo!

Spa Body Wrap

Here's what you need:

~a towel from your linen closet

~a stained washcloth (or a unstained washcloth)

~some bits of fabric from your scrap pile

~some elastic

~hook and loop strip about 2 inches long

Here's what you do:

1) Place your towel right side up on the ground. Decide which long side is going to be the top of the wrap and which long side will be the bottom. At the top, place one side of the hook and loop about 1/4 down from the top and a 1/4 inch in from the side. Sew.

2) Place your towel back on the floor right side up. At the top on the other corner, place the other side of the hook and loop about 2 inches down from the top and a 1/4 inch in from the side. Sew.

3) Place the towel back on the ground again WRONG SIDE UP. Fold the top edge of the towel down about 1 inch. This will be your tube for the elastic. Pin and sew a straight line to make the tube, but do not sew up the ends.

4) Take the elastic and pull it tight around your chest where you would normally wrap a towel for the length you need to cut. (Make sure there is tension in the elastic and that it is stretching.) Put a safety pin through one end of the elastic and start pushing it through the tube you just created on your towel. Read next step before pushing too far. (This isn't as easy as with regular fabric but with a little patience, it will go all the way through.)

5) Push safety pin through until the opposite end of the elastic is just past the end of the hook and loop piece (so about 2 1/4 inches in from the end. Sew elastic in place here going back and forth a couple of times.

6) Keep pushing safety through until it comes out the other end. But now gently release elastic so that it is about 2 1/4 inches in from this end. Sew into place going back and forth a couple of times. This means that the elastic is not in the tube where the hook and loop is. (I did sew the ends of the tube up as well once the elastic was sewn in place.)

7) Take your stained washcloth (that you almost threw out until you realized you could make something cool like this with it), and cut a pocket shape out of it. I thought this looked entirely too plain, so I added a personalized monogram using scrap fabric and double-sided fusible interfacing. The interfacing does work with the towel; however I also did a quick topstitch to make sure it will stay on when washed. Sew pocket on where ever you can easily access it while the wrap is on your body. I even put the wrap on to find just the right spot to pin and sew the pocket.

8) I also added a strip of the same fabric from the top of the wrap to the bottom with the same interfacing and sewing technique.

9) Done! And ready for wrapping after a nice warm relaxing bath! This is way better than my terry cloth robe that I've had since I was 18!

See you tomorrow morning for another great spa giveaway!

Blog Spa on!

Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:

Amber's Lemongrass Spa Shop

another great blog spa giveaway

Posted by admin at 5:00 AM 0 comments

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body

~eye care tips and an aromatherapy eye pillow
~a manicure set giveaway from Sparetime Crafts
~bath scrubbie and tea soak tutorials

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You've got to head on over to Bev's place for our Blog Spa giveaway from Abbey James. Honestly, you are going to love this shop full of artisan handmade body care goodies!

We hope you are enjoying Blog Spa. And we want to invite you to think of JUST ONE (or more if you want) way you can pamper yourself this week. Write about . . . inspire others to do the same . . . and come back on Saturday and link up to our Blog Spa party.

Hope to see you back here at twelve crafts for . . . well, you'll just have to come back to see for yourself!

Spa on!

Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:

Sparetime Crafts
Barefoot Bath and Body
Skin Journey

Amber's Lemongrass Spa Shop

O.C. Styles

blog spa: more great ways to pamper yourself

Posted by admin at 5:02 PM 0 comments Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body

~eye care tips and an aromatherapy eye pillow
~a manicure set giveaway from Sparetime Crafts

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Have I mentioned that we are going to have a blog hop linky party at the end of Blog Spa? No?! Well, we are! You see, Bev and I know that you all have some fabulous spa ideas as well, and we don't want to miss out on even one. So on Saturday, you are invited to link up any and all of your fabulous spa related posts - tips, tutorials, advice, ideas. You can link up past posts or write up a new one up this week and join the fun! We can't wait!

In the meantime, we still have some great tips/tutorials and giveaways coming up throughout the rest of this week because this week is all about taking care of YOU! If you are anything like the two of us, self care and pampering gets pushed to the back burner.

The list of ~~excuses~~ reasons is long:
1) Family comes first.
2) Money is tight.
3) The day is full.
4) It doesn't seem that important.
5) I could go on and on.

But it is important to take care of yourself so that you can be the best you - the you that your family deserves. So . . . here's another on-the-cheap way you can pamper yourself and take care of yourself . . . I'm so tricky because you are going to have to go over to Bev's place @ Flamingo Toes to check it out. ;)

Blog Spa on!

Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:

Sparetime Crafts
Skin Journey

Amber's Lemongrass Spa Shop

O.C. Styles

blog spa: take care of your hands giveaway

Posted by admin at 4:59 AM 0 comments

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body

~eye care tips and an aromatherapy eye pillow

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Have you ever seen a product and thought,

"That is so cool! How did she do that?"

Well, welcome to Sparetime Crafts - the clever and creative genius behind these:

I know you think that it's just a box . . . but wait . . . there's more:

And check it out fully open:

Bev (of Flamingo Toes fame) and I are moving from head to toe with tips to pamper, renew and refresh. This morning's giveaway moves us from face and eyes to hands and fingers. We can't all take time to visit a nail salon for a manicure, and we don't all have the money to either. But a good manicure is in your grasp if you have the right tools to give yourself one at home.

And thanks to Carolyn at Sparetime Crafts, one of you will have those tools at your fingertips in your very own Etui box. An Etui box is a 23 piece box (including manicure tools) that holds all your manicure supplies. It is fashioned after the Chinese concept of "a box within a box".

The winner of this giveaway gets to choose the Etui box of her choice. (Sparetime Crafts also carries Etui boxes for needlework . . . so clever!)

First entry:

~Tell the truth . . . do you have one funky nail on one of your fingers right now? You know . . . the kind of nail that snags on every sweater you put on because you can't be bothered to use a nail file. I do! Actually, I have three of them!

pamper your eyes: tips and a tutorial for taking care of your peepers

Posted by admin at 5:00 PM 0 comments Monday, January 24, 2011

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaway and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body
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Hello Ladies (and gents . . . no, I'm pretty sure just ladies are reading this)!

Let the pampering continue!! Day two of blog spa started out at Bev's place with another great giveaway. I hope you were able to stop by, say "HI!" to Bev and enter.

Last week after I took my oldest daughter to the dentist for a check up, she asked me, "Mommy, why aren't your teeth as white as mine . . . and why do your eyes look so tired?" True story.

Bah! Yah, so that's not a good sign when my 5 year old thinks my eyes look tired! (And come on little girl, give me a break on the teeth! You are a 5 year old with baby teeth. I am 33 with about 26 or 27 years worth of wear and tear on mine . . . okay, so it's just a coincidence that the day after she told me this I found myself purchasing some white strips.)

So . . . I started researching ways to put a little spark and light back into that super tender eye area so that my little peepers don't scream, "I NEED MORE SLEEP!" to everyone I have a conversation with.

These little tricks and tips have two HUGE things going for them:
1) They are cheap . . . after all, we are going for ~~cheap~~ thirty ways we can pamper ourselves.
2) Each tip can be done relatively easy with things you have on hand or can pick up at a local store.

Tip #1 - Tea Bags for Puffy Eyes

Now, I drink tea ALL THE TIME (uhh . . . I might be seeing a connection here between my love of tea and my less-than-sparkly-white teeth). But I don't drink Chamomile Tea. It tastes like dried grass, but that's not the point . . . the point is that I may not drink it, but I do have it in my cupboard because it's like magic for your eyes.

What to do: Make tea as you normally would and drink it (or don't) as you are waiting for the tea bags to completely cool. Then lay down. (Yes, the world will not fall apart if you lay down for 15 minutes. Trust me.) Place cooled but still damp tea bags on your eyes. The natural tannins of the tea will decrease puffiness and brighten up your eye area leaving you feeling refreshed and slightly more awake after 15 minutes.

Tip #2 - Potatoes for Dark Circles

We've all heard that cucumbers are good for the eyes, but did you know that potatoes are even better? Plus, you are more likely to have them sitting in your cupboard somewhere.

What to do: Finely grate one small potato. Mush grated potato together with 1/8 of a cup of unsweetened applesauce until well blended. Lay down. (At some point, I am going to get you to relax and lay down, so you might as well just do it.) Pat mixture under eyes. Place hot towel (not too hot) over eyes and take a 5 minute snooze. Gently wash off with warm water.

Tip #3 - Avocados for Wrinkles

Yummy . . . I'm not sure I can resist the temptation of having an avocado in the house because I LOVE me some fresh avocado slices. But that rich little oval of yumminess has other beauty benefits.

What to do: Run to your local health store and pick up some almond oil. Now that you are back home, mush about 1/3 of your avocado up and mix in 4 to 6 drops of almond oil to make a rick cream. You guessed it . . . lay down. Gently dab all around your eye skin area. (This goes without saying I hope, but don't put this in your eyes.) Listen to your children fight over that one toy they both "have to have" for about 5 to 10 minutes. Gently wash off with warm water.

Tip #4 - Warm Rice and Dried Lavender for Rested Eyes

My eyes look tired because they are. Lack of sleep, lots of computer time and just plain life add to the problem. If you spend a tad too much time of the computer (like me), a warm compress is just the ticket for giving those weary eyes a rest. And you can make your own so it can be warmed in the microwave or cooled in the freezer. Ahhh . . . I feel more rested already!

Here's what you need:
~print out eye pillow template
~2 rectangles of fleece, flannel or other fabric
~1 15 inch strip of elastic (1/2 or 3/4 width will work perfectly)
~Rice
~Dried lavender or your choice of essential oil

Here's what you do:
1) Use template to cut out two eye pillow pieces.

2) Sandwich elastic in between fabric facing right sides together. Pin in place.

3) Sew around leaving a small hole for turning.

4) Use funnel to add equal parts rice and dried lavender. (Or mix a few drops of essential oils with rice and let it dry a bit before putting the rice into the eye mask. You will obviously be using more rice with this method.)

5) Fold in open turning hole and sew around mask to close up the hole.

Here's how to use it:
1) Warm in the microwave for about a minute (or to desired warmth), lay down (don't roll your eyes at me) and enjoy 10 to 15 minutes of time to relax those tired eyes.

2) OR . . . and here's the best part because this little eye pillow is multifunctional . . . stick it into the freezer for two hours to make a coldpress - also great for the eyes.

3) OR . . . this little aromatherapy eye pillow is magic for headaches as well. I warmed mine up last night and just put it over my forehead and not my eye area because my husband is out of town and my children were a bit wild last night (which may have been the reason for the headache). Anyway, I could still interact with them and play with them while this little warm pack did the job on vanishing my headache.

Do you feel pampered? Go grab your potatoes and get started!

Spa on!

Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:

Skin Journey