Homemade Exfoliating Scrub

Heidi here. This is a super easy craft. It is a nice "thanks for having me stay with you" little gift, and homemade items are much more appreciated :-)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sea salt
1/4 cup liquid coconut oil
Essential oils
Some type of container (I used a wide-mouth half-pint canning jar, but you can use any size container you would like.)

Measure the sea salt and coconut oil into the jar, mix well. Add some essential oils ~ I used six drops of lavender and 3 drops of orange, but feel free to mix it up) ~ and stir thoroughly. If giving as a gift, I then take a small piece of paper towel and wipe the inside of the upper part of the jar to give it a clean look. Twist on top.

If you would like, you can dress up the jar. For this example, I hot-glued twine around the glass jar in three small spots, leaving the twist top free to come off. Then, I added a cute label I made with a hole-punch in it, and finally tied a bow (I also hot-glued the knot of the bow).

Crafty note: I use this scrub in the shower. I make a double batch and put it in a tupperware container, leaving it in the shower stall for whenever I have a hankering for exfoliating! Note, a little goes a long way.....

Crocheted Hand Warmers

Greetings to all our readers and crafters. Have you ever thought you’d done something you hadn’t? Could have sworn you’d done it? But when you mention it, people look at you like you’d dropped in from Mars.

That happened to me when our sweet Crystal asked for bloggers to take some days this week. Wednesday, Craft day, was open, and I thought, “the only project I could do that’s fast enough would be crocheted hand warmers, and I’ve already done a blog on that.”

Just in case, I did a search. The only blog on hand warmers was in 2013 and by another blogger, and it was for knitted hand warmers.

So, here’s what I whipped up for all you typists to stay warm on the keyboard.

I used crochet hook G and worsted weight yarn, but if they’re too bulky for your taste, you can use sports or baby yarn and hook H. They just won’t be as warm. I would say you need moderate crochet skills to do this project.

Tie on and chain (ch) 16, turn.

Single crochet (sc) in the second ch from hook and each chain across. 15 sc.

Ch 1, turn. Sc in each stitch (st) across. 15 sc.

Continue for 12 rows.

Decrease row: Ch 1, turn. Sc in the first 2 sc together. (decrease made) SC in each sc across. 14 sc.

Ch 1, turn. Sc in next 12 sc, Sc in last two sc together. (decrease made) 13 sc.

Ch 1, turn. Sc in first two sc together. (decrease made) 12 sc.

Ch 1, turn. Sc in each sc across for the next 4 rows. (19 rows) Break off.

Repeat 3 more times (4 swatches made).

Lining up decrease rows on same side, put two together and whip stitch with yarn and yarn needle together up to 1^st decrease row. Break off.

Sew opposite sides together, pulling taunt to take in bulk on the little finger side.

Repeat for the other warmer. Set them so decrease rows (thumb side) are on opposing sides.

Starting at the back (palm side) of decrease side, attach yarn at top and evenly space 18 scs for thumb hole. Attach front and back at top and slip stitch 4 st down the side. Break off.

Attaching the yarn at top where thumb hole sides were attached, sc in the next 3 sc of front side only. Ch 2, sc catching the back at the same position. Turn. Sl st two, sc in the next 3 st. Ch 2, sc catching the back at the same position. Turn. Sl st two, sc in the next 3 st. Ch 1, sc cating the back at the same position.Turn. Sl st in ch and break off.

Repeat for other warmer. Weave in loose threads to underside.

Measure ¼ inch elastic around wrist. Cut 2 pieces.

Turn warmer inside out and weave the elastic at wrist position (about 3 rows from beginning row) around the bar of every other sc stitch so it will show only on inside. With needle and thread, whip stitch the elastic ends together.

Turn warmers right side out. That’s it.

It’s going to be cold this weekend, folks, even in the South. Get your crochet hooks out and whip up these warmers. If you prefer knitting, search for the blog on the knitted warmers. We have it all here at STT.
BTW, don't forget to leave a comment for one of our great giveaways.