Tuesday, January 7, 2014

How Sweet It Is-DYI Sugar Scrub for Winter Skin!

It isn't surprising that at Sweetwater we like SWEET THINGS!
One of those is Homemade Sugar Scrub to slough off dry winter skin!

Before I share the recipe....take a look at the results of my search for all things sugar!

Sugar, ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Honey, ah, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Lyrics from the Archies hit Sugar Sugar

"How sweet it is!"
Tagline made famous by Jackie Gleason on his 1950's television show.

 Sugar in the morning
Sugar in the evening
Sugar at suppertime
Be my little sugar
And love me all the time

Lyrics from the McGuire Sisters 1958 hit song "Sugartime"

Source
If you read this ad from the 1960's.....you are sure to get on the sugar band wagon!

The "POLAR VORTEX" has taken a toll on my skin....there must be a Below 0 amount of moisture in the air!

 I came across this bag of  Turbinado Sugar in the freezer during one of my organizing frenzies....

There isn't much else to do except organizing when you are stuck inside because of the "POLAR VORTEX"!

I decided to stop organizing and make some Sugar Scrub.

There are countless recipes out there for Sugar Scrubs.....but the basic idea is:

Some Sugar
A Carrier Oil
An optional Fragrance


Since we are in a "POLAR VORTEX", I wasn't going anywhere to buy ingredients for my Sugar Scrub.  Using one of the basic tenets of Sweetwater Style, I just used what I had!

I got out the VitaMix.....

This baby has sooo many interesting uses!

Since the Turbinado sugar is pretty rough....too rough for my tender skin....


Grinding it with the VitaMix made for a much smoother consistency!






 "What I HAD" for oil was some Baby Oil and some Coconut Oil.


I figured that a combination of these two would work fine...

I didn't have any fragrance oils on hand and of course, the "POLAR VORTEX" kept me from going out to get any!

The sweet fragrance of the Baby Oil took care of the need for additional fragrance...







It was a simple process to mix the oil and sugar together.....













Then I got out the little $.49 jars I bought at GoodWill last week....

(I knew when I saw them that they would find an interesting use!)
I packed the Sugar Scrub in the jars!

And there I had it.....an almost free version of the spendy products that you can buy...but then again why would you buy something this simple to make!
Besides....because of the  "POLAR VORTEX"...the temperature in our house means that the shelf life of this will be reasonably long!


This homemade beauty product is a nice addition to the "Thrifty Homemade Bath Soak" that I use all of the time.


 Would you believe that the post with the recipe for this has had over 12,000 visits?  Go Figure!!!














You might also like to visit these links that have lots and lots of recipes for Sugar Scrubs.....maybe you will find a way to make one "Using What YOU Have"!

A Resource List for Sugar Scrub Recipes

The Dreaming Earth Botanical Recipes

14 Sugar Scrub Recipes from the Tip Junkie

 Are you as tired as I am hearing about the POLAR VORTEX?
The temps today are going to hit ZERO by noon!
I am going to get out of the house......it's a HEAT WAVE....A Tropical Heat Wave!

Have a Great Day!
 

Link Parties
Blackberry Vine   
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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Fabric Covered Brick Doorstop Tutorial


It is necessary that we have an "Open Door Policy" here at Sweetwater!

The reason?

Marvin and Max have "issues" with any door that is closed!!!

That means almost every door in our house needs a doorstop!




There are lots of options for door stops out there!

I have always loved the Ballard Design rope knot, but never could figure out how to do a knock-off!




The favorite way to prop open the doors around here are fabric covered bricks!
They work well...
The heavy brick keeps the door open and the fabric cover keeps from won't scratching the floor.
And Lord knows there is lots of fabric to be found at Sweetwater!




This example has seen better days!


It really needed tan update!

I finally got around to it yesterday.

I thought you might like a little tutorial of the process.




I took the old fabric and fiberfill off the old one....so I could start with a "blank slate" or brick in this case.

Wrap a piece of batting around the brick the long way. Hot glue the edge to keep it tight.










Wrap another piece of batting around the other side so that the entire brick has a cushion.











I decided to use burlap for this one....and the "technique" is to just wrap it like a gift!
Use the iron to make good creases so the folds lie nice and flat.
Again....everything is attached with hot glue!



I was just going to tie a ribbon around this and call it a day.....

Then I remembered that I had some leftover pieces of the "french print" burlap from a project I did this Spring.

I cut a piece of this that was twice as wide as the brick and long enough to go around the long way.

The edges were turn in and press to make a a neatly finished strip.

The strip is glued around the brick...


Now....it was ready for the black grosgrain ribbon bow!


10 Minutes and Done!



Now....whether the door needs to be wide open.....
Or just propped open....
Marvin and Maxine can get to their litter box downstairs....

And it looks pretty too!

BTW....I found this wooden door stop in my image search....


I bet Mr. S and I could figure out how to make one of these...
We do have a router....but it will have to wait until the garage temp is ABOVE 0 degrees!

Have A Great Day....
Stay Warm....



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Friday, January 3, 2014

How To Narrow the Legs on Your Pants!

I needed/wanted some new brown leggings or really skinny legged pants.
Remember that the weather here in Minnesota has been BELOW ZERO for days and days....
Going out to shop did not sound like fun....


Then I remembered these really nice Eileen Fisher Knit pants that I found at GoodWill a few years ago.

They are a really nice knit fabric!

They are a nice cocoa/mocha brown color!

They are EILEEN FISHER!

They fit!

But THEY ARE NOT the least bit skinny.....!



In fact....they look darn wide legged and really short in this photo.

When I washed them...I never used the steam iron to stretch them....

Really they looked OKAY when I did press them.
I wore them as soft wide legged slouchy pants....

but obviously....since they had been hanging in the back of the closet in their FAT state.....I figured it would be no loss to try to turn them into narrow legged pants.







The Nordstrom Eileen Fisher Site has these pants for sale!
Yup....Skinny Knit Pants for $208.....What a bargain!
This is what I did to turn MY $5 GoodWill pants into a pretty good replica!


The waist and hips of the pants fit pretty well.
I didn't need to mess with changing the size there.


I cut open the outside of the legs up to about 6 inches below the waist.

I cut the entire inseam open.
I figured skinny pants should not have a baggy butt!!!  

That meant it would be okay to take in some of the crotch area of the pants.










The next step was to measure the center of the front and back of each leg.

I pinned them together in the center spot.

I measured the legs of a pair of pants that had the right pant width.

This determined how wide to make the new seams.

The reason to cut the pant legs open and repin the opening is to make sure that the seams line up on the inside and outside of your leg.

Then.....a quick straight stitching of the seams....
I do have a serger, so I was able to finish the new seams nicely....but a little zig zag would also work!


Now those $5 pants look almost like the $208 pair!
If it ever warms up....maybe I need to go shopping and spend the $200 I saved!
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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

DYI Scarf Organizer

Happy New Year from Sweetwater!

This photo makes it look like Mr. S and I had some elegant, fancy New Year's Eve Celebration!

NOT!
We enjoyed NOT being with a crowd of people!

Just some leftover Alfredo Sauce served with some tasty scallops....
a couple of episodes of Boardwalk Empire
A glass of wine and early to bed!

It was actually a pretty nice New Year's Eve.
Hope yours was just as nice in it's own way!


Organizing is what you do before you do something, 

so that when you do it, 

you are not all mixed up.

A.A.Milne

Like the rest of the world....I have the organizing bug....just a slight case.....nothing serious, but I did clean a couple of drawers yesterday and I am determined to put the Holiday Decor away in some sort of sensible order with (GASP) labels on the boxes....

I did take a break from my organizing to do some blog reading....and of course it was the organizing tips that caught my eye....(maybe my organizing bug is more serious than I thought)!  
Irina's Cute Box
This post about a simple way to organize scarves caught my eye:

I am sure you can empathize with my bin full of disorganized scarves hidden under the bed....
They look that way because the only way to find the one I want is to STIR through them....YIKES!

I decided to make one of these organizers.....and since it was WAY below zero outside.....I wasn't going outside....no way--no how!
Mr. S....now that was a different story....he was on his way to Home Depot.....so I enlisted his help.
I also enlisted his advice.....hmmmmm.....and he came up with the idea to use PVC pipe joints!




He brought home a bunch....paid about 65 cents a piece for them....

They are nice and sturdy....but I was worried that because they are so deep, the hanger and hot glue would support them.

More advice from Mr. S.....use TWO hangers....









I got to work with my trusty glue gun....


First I arranged the PVC in one hanger and started gluing them together and along the edge of the hanger.


Then I slid the second hanger over the other edges of the PVC pieces and continued to add beads of glue until it felt secure.











It turned out like this.....not bad....and I like the fact that the 2 hangers will keep the bottom from shifting back and forth.  The depth of the PVC also makes it nice for thicker scarves.


This picture is NOT taken from the inside of my closet....why.....because I haven't gotten to the rest of the organizing that it needs!  The scarf organizer filled with scarves takes up about 5 inches of space in the closet....I plan to use it to keep the scarves I am wearing right now....the rest can just stay in the box under the bed!

NOW for the BAD NEWS!
You may have noticed that I did not title this post "Thrifty DYI Scarf Organizer"!
WHY YOU ASK?
Because after buying the PVC....
this little project cost the same or MORE than the scarf organizers you can buy!!!
Oh Well....I like mine better....and I didn't need to go out in the cold to buy one!


Happy New Year!
Stay Warm!

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Monday, December 30, 2013

Pasta Bar For a Crowd!

Four Parties in Six Days!
What was I thinking?
Yep....counting:
 Christmas Eve.... 
Christmas Day....
A Cocktail/Fondue Party...
 and finally a Pasta Buffet yesterday...
There was lots of celebrating here at Sweetwater!
We had lots of fun through it all....
(but I do have to admit that I am a bit tired of cooking)


I had never attempted a pasta buffet before.... 
there were some moments when I wasn't sure it was going to work....
but we were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it all went.
In fact....this might just become a go to menu for future gatherings!

The menu was simple:

Kale Salad
Caesar Salad
French Bread
Spaghetti Sauce Bolognese
Swedish Meatballs in Gravy
Alfredo Sauce w/chicken-broccoli-roasted peppers
Fettucini and Wide Pasta Noodles

 Various Desserts and Sweets contributed by the guests
Swedish Rice Pudding w/Lingonberries


Recipes Tricks and Tips

  • Best recipe for chicken strips for the Pasta:  Buy them.....Already cooked....in a package....  The texture and taste of the already prepared chicken strips from CostCo were more than acceptable when covered with sauce!








  • DON'T blanch your broccoli ahead of time....I thought this was smart and did it to save time....except I left it in the pan with the cover on and ended up with mushy over cooked vegetables....won't do THAT again!






  • Cook the pasta ahead of time and keep it in the oven with the absolute lowest temp....in fact...I kept turning the oven off to just have the tiniest bit of heat.  The pasta was in those aluminum catering trays.   A little pasta water poured over the pre-cooked noodles brought them "back to life" when it was time to put the pasta on the table.  (a warming tray kept the temp "lukewarm")  This also allowed an easy replenishing of the pasta when needed.



This Sweet Kale Salad from CostCo is a new favorite at Sweetwater.  It comes with all the fixings. Just pour into a bowl...add the dressing and "stuff" that is included and enjoy!  It was simple enough to make a second batch when it ran low during the party....maybe people thought a little crunchy greens would make for something "healthy" given the decadence of all the pasta!


  • The Bolognese sauce was "almost homemade" by using prepared Spaghetti sauce with meat and spices added.  I really made this for the kids....but the "big" kids seemed to enjoy it too!






  • I sort of stressed out about finding the "perfect" Alfredo Sauce that could be made ahead!  This recipe worked very well....in fact the teenage boys at the party told me they thought this would be great for their own sports "Pasta/Carbo loading parties....which I took as a "high compliment"
Do Ahead Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup real butter
3 TBSP Cream Cheese *nuefantel worked fine
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup grated Parmesan  (store brand cheap stuff worked fine)

Melt the butter, cream cheese and cream in a saucepan,
Add the cheese and stir until it is completely incorporated.
Cool and keep until you are ready to heat it up in the microwave and put in the crockpot to serve.
YES....it is that simple!
Simple....but rich, rich, rich and YUMMY!
This sauce stood the test of sitting for more than 4 hours on the buffet without losing texture or taste!
It is definitely a KEEPER!

  • Mr. S decided that pouring frozen bags of prepared meatballs and adding mushroom soup and beef broth would NOT do for this buffet.  He painstakingly prepared meatballs from SCRATCH using a recipe from his mom's Swedish Woman's Cookbook!  I have to say they were delicious!  (maybe I can convince him to write a guest post and share the recipe with you some day!)

  • Add some crusty sliced bread and butter.....A bowl of nice Parmesan Cheese and you are DONE!

The party was lots of fun and there were plenty of entertaining activities!
....the Vikings WON the final game in the Metrodome....Surprise!
....The Packers pulled off a last minute victory.....amazing!
....the slide show on the computer of hundreds of digitized slides of the family history going back 50 years made for some wonderful trips down memory lane!
Now.....I am going to heat up some of the leftover Cider.....start a fire.....and read a good book....
ALL DAY.....since it is 10 below zero outside and I don't have anywhere to be!
Have a Great Day!

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Friday, December 27, 2013

Fur Real Problems at Sweetwater


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

We seem to be dragging....I mean extending....the celebration out over a long enjoyable week of one party after another.

We had a mid-day Brunch here for just our family on Christmas Day.
We sat in the beautiful sunshine in the living room to open gifts!

ARGHHHH.....the cat hair was floating through the sunlight...
It was on everyone's clothes....
It was EVERYWHERE!
And I thought I had done a good job cleaning!!!
Glad it was JUST the immediate family.....
although I think I heard the Sweetwater Son say:  "that is just gross"!


Have you seen these toys....it was one of the requests for our Adopted Christmas Family!
The toy really looks "FUR-REAL" and after seeing all the cat hair that is collecting at Sweetwater....

Maxine and Marvin better watch out!!

Anyway....we are having a couple of gatherings for a bunch of people in the next few days....
I knew I needed to spend some serious time getting rid of the cat hair....




I spent a few minutes researching for some magic formula.....this link has a couple of things that might be interesting if you have a "fur-real" situation at your house.




Tips For Cleaning Pet Hair from furniture!





As for me....I just bonded with the vacuum cleaner for an hour or two.....it was sort of therapeutic :)


I washed all of the throws from the couches.....the lint trap told it's own story!

Now if I can just catch the REAL  FUR-Real kitties at my house....I will use the furminator on them!









You have a Nice Day!

Link Parties
Freedom Friday  Sincerely Paula  

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