Thursday -- Spa Day

 Here are some great recipes for a spa night to work on your hands and feet.  These and others just as wonderful can be found at www.SpaIndex.Com. 




 Feel free to visit and check out the rest of the recipes there.  Let me know if you like any of these, won't you?

Avocado Hand and Foot Treatment
Mix together 1/4 to 1/2 mashed fresh avocado, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon rice bran, and 10 drops of oil of evening primrose. Gently massage this treatment onto your hands and feet, and leave in place for 20 minutes. Rinse. This natural treatment will revive your dry, wrinkled and rough hands, feet, elbows and knees. The avocado and egg nourish the skin with proteins and oils; the rice bran exfoliates dead skin cells; the oil of evening primrose contains precious gamma linolenic acids, essential for healthy hair, skin and nails. Consider purchasing a small jar of Oil of Evening Primrose capsules from your health food store. Open one, and voila...you have the ingredient for this.
Apricot Oil-Lanolin Cuticle Cream
1/2 tsp apricot kernel or emu oil
2 tsp lanolin
1 drop essential oil of your choice (optional)
Melt oils together, add essential oil, pour into jar or small pots and let set. To use, massage into cuticles.
Cuticle Cream
1 T. fuller's earth (a natural clay substance)
1 tsp. olive oil
3 drops lavender essential oil
Mix into a paste and put into a sterile ointment jar or small pot. Massage into nails and cuticles.
Cuticle Softener
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. vitamin E oil
Combine and massage into nails and cuticles.
Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant
Strawberries have a purpose here; they contain a natural fruit acid which aid exfoliation.
8-10 Strawberries
2 tablespoons Apricot Oil (you may substitute olive oil)
1 teaspoon of coarse salt, such as Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt
Mix together all ingredients into a paste, massage into hands and feet, rinse, and pat dry.
Here's what a journalist had to say about this recipe:
Store-bought vs. homemade: trying natural alternatives

By Crystal Chow for Knight Ridder Newspapers
April 19, 2005

(KRT) - What price beauty? Is it really worth shelling out $10, $20 or more for things like exfoliators and masques? Even if you scream "Yes!" you still might think about creating such products at home. Ingredients are usually right at hand, with preparations costing pennies per application. It's a natural way to be nice to Mother Earth, too. But can DIY glamorizers stand polished toe to toe with the store-bought stuff? We had one tester per treatment find out.

TREATMENT: Hand, foot exfoliator: 8-10 ripe strawberries, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix together all ingredients, massage into hands and feet, rinse, then pat dry. (www.spaindex.com)

IS GREEN GREATER? "My skepticism was sky-high initially. Why would I want to use strawberries as a beauty product rather than eat them? But wow! This treatment really made a difference -- my hands were definitely softer. A caveat: The mixture is lumpy and messy, so apply in the kitchen and don't wear good clothes."

OH, MY ACHING FEET


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp. of Aloe Vera
1 teaspoon wheat germ oil
20 drops of peppermint Essential Oil
20 drops of eucalyptus Essential Oil

Mix together and massage feet gently with this soothing ointment, or, add to a basin of very warm water, and soak.  Finish by lightly dusting the feet in corn starch.

Window Shopping Wednesday -- Marina Bychkova

This wonderful doll artist was one of the first to catch my eye.  These are called ball-jointed dolls and hers are made of porcelain.  Although her dolls are exquisite in the nude, her choice of clothing and decoration leaves me breathless.  I hope you like these as much as I do.

The Enchanted Doll by Marina Bychkova 

Tuesday Tutorial -- Paper Birdies!

I told you I have a fascination with birds! I found this tutorial on a really great blog called, "No Money Mama" and I am reproducing it here for you. Be sure to leave her a comment on her blog if you make these adorable birds. She makes them look so easy to make, doesn't she? Let me know how these turn out for you.
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 This little birdie!

The No Money Mama has seen this awesome Spool Sewing bird tutorial around for a while and I just adore it. Let's just say sewing is not my thing, so I thought to myself, "What about paper?" Today we will be working with: paper, glue, scissors and pipe cleaners.

I have been holding on to this super cute monkey paper from Michael's, just waiting for the right project.

And yes, the hot pink monkeys are flocked! It kind of reminds me of the PB Kids Emmy collection. So, I made a few changes to the original Spool Sewing bird tutorial, and here it is. My birds were printed out at 100%. *Please note, I did not create the original Spool Sewing bird pattern, I only made a few slight adjustments to turn it from a sewing project into a paper craft.

               

               

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• Projects " Creations " Bird Windshime (cutoutandkeep.net)

Moody Monday

Image by Adam Kuban via Flickr
Today I finally broke down and went to the doctor about my battle with a continuous headache.  I have been dealing with this on and off for several months; some days it would be better, some days it would be worse, but it has never been gone.  The headache pain had begun waking me up at night so I never felt rested. 


The doctor agrees with me that I probably have sinisitis and he started me on antibiotics.  So, let's keep our fingers crossed that this fixes the problem because the other options don't really sound too good.

Friday Movie Day -- Here's 3 videos for you!

Here are three youtube videos for you.  One on art, one on crafts, and one on spa treatments.  Enjoy!


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Thursday -- Spa Day

Here's a new blog that I found and she has the most wonderful spa recipes as well as some great decorating tips and craft ideas. Check her out at Beauty and Inspiration.  Leave her a comment when you visit so she knows your were there and how you liked her blog.  That's only polite.
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Tutorial Tuesday: Homemade Hot Oil Treatment & Vinegar Shine Rinse

More spa goodies out of your kitchen cabinets! I decided to post this because of a request for it, and also, my hair is in sore need of a treatment. So here are my absolute favorite treatments for dull, dry scalp and hair. There are fancier recipes around, but I love these because they work for me and the ingredients are relatively cheap. Gotta love a great deal on feeling pampered!

Vinegar Shine Rinse
This needs to be prepared either ahead of time or while you let the oil treatment set because you'll need it for the last step of this treatment.
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 Tbs apple cider or white vinegar
Pour both ingredients into an empty bottle and shake to combine. Set aside for later. This is the rinse recipe doubled so I have extra for later in the week.

FUN FACTS

-Vinegar closes hair's cuticles (keeping it from absorbing excess dirt) and removes scaly buildup leaving hair smooth and shiny. It also promotes circulation in the small capillaries essential to healthy hair growth.

-The vinegar rinse can be kept in your shower and is safe to use once or twice a week after your normal shampoo for shiny, residue free hair. Over time it helps control dandruff as well.

Hot Olive Oil Deep Conditioning Treatment
Ingredients
1/2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs dried rosemary

DO NOT ADD ROSEMARY IF PREGNANT OR NURSING. Large quantities of this herb could cause vomiting, nausea, and muscle spasms in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The hot oil and vinegar rinse will provide more than enough conditioning and shine for hair.
Pour extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan. Add dried rosemary, stirring in slowly. Place the pan on the stove and heat over medium heat until the oil is warm. I set a timer for 2 minutes and then remove it from heat. You want the oil very warm, not scalding hot.

Strain through a paper towel to remove rosemary.

Coat hair from the scalp to the ends with mixture. For oily hair, use more on the shaft and ends and a small amount near the scalp. For extremely dry hair, saturate everything including scalp. For either hair type, pay special attention to hair ends.
Twist hair upon itself on top of your head and wrap in plastic wrap or shower cap.

Heat up a damp towel in the microwave until very warm (about 2 minutes). Towel should be steamy but not scalding hot. Wrap the hot towel around your head and let the oil treatment do it's magic for 20 minutes.

 
Remove the towel. Remove and discard plastic wrap. Wash your hair twice with a mild shampoo (when I say mild, I mean no Head & Shoulders) to remove all of the oil. Rinse the first shampooing out with very warm, almost hot water. Rinse the second shampoo with slightly warm, almost cool water. Going immediately from hot to cold water always gives me a huge brain freeze type headache so I don't do it.
For your final step, saturate hair with the vinegar rinse mentioned earlier. Let sit for 1 minute. Any longer and it might have a drying effect. Rinse with cool water until vinegar smell is gone. Cold water seals the hair shaft and locks in shine.

FUN FACTS
-Olive oil is an amazing natural moisturizer. It also works great as an all over body moisturizer on damp skin fresh out of the bath.

-Rosemary has been used throughout history in home therapy to deepen natural hair color. 

 -If it's the first time in a long time that you've done a deep conditioner, you may want to do the treatment once a week until you get your hair where you want it. Then you can deep condition only when you need it. Most people only need it once or twice a month.

Can you see the difference? I can! My hair doesn't look like it was abandoned in the desert anymore. It even feels better.
Before. Dried out and frizzy.

 After. The lighting's not so great, but you can immediately see that the hair is moisturized and there's zero frizz. If you could see it in person, you'd notice there's a HUGE change in deeper color and lots of shine. Try it and see!

Happier endings :) Still need trimming, but they're not dried out anymore.

You'll love your shiny, soft, dandruff free hair! If you try these recipes, I'd love to know how they work for you. Now that you have the recipes you can head to the store and grab whatever ingredients you don't have on hand in time for your next Spa Night. Enjoy!

Window Shopping Wednesday -- Sharon Tomlinson

I'd like to showcase one of my favorite artists here, named Sharon Tomlinson.  I discovered her a long time ago on YouTube and then found her blog quite by accident.  Since I believe that there are no coincidences, I decided that it was meant for me to follow her work.  Since then, not only do I follow her blog, but I took one of her online classes and I watch all of her videos.  She posts "morning art" videos on her blog--these are just little snippets of her working before she goes to work every morning.  I simply love her work; her ladies are not only beautiful, but seem other-wordly to me.


Please feel free to follow her blog at Norah's Art and leave her a comment when you visit.  She will respond and she is the epitome of the Texas lady.  I know you will enjoy talking to her.

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Here is just an small example of this wonderful woman's work:

 Be sure to check out her new classes on Ning, too!