New Merchandise Added This Week
Over sixty five new, meaning new to our store, items were added to the site this week and before the ink had even dried, several items had already sold. Snap! Just like that. Gone! Whoopee!

How about some soft skin?
At Christmas I was given a gift certificate for a massage at a local spa, which by the way, was definitely the perfect gift. A bottle of Sugar Scrub was included with the gift certificate, which I thought was nice at the time, but then I never gave it another thought. I had never heard of or used a sugar scrub before, and just wasn't sure about the usage. I was almost tempted not to ever use it, but then I finally remembered I had it and gave it a try. Are you kidding me? Where have I been all of my life? I never realized how totally stuck in my box I've been to where I never had a clue that something so wonderful existed. I've spent my entire adult life suffering from scaling skin each winter and buying non-penetrating lotion after lotion to try to make my skin soft again, while the whole time the remedy was so near at hand. Ridiculous!

So now my bottle is getting close to being empty and I decided to go the web site of the company that makes the scrub to see about buying a new bottle and have to tell you I was shocked at their price. Remember, it's sugar based. There was just no way I was going to pay $32.00 for a bottle of sugar and some oil. I continued looking for other sources and ended up finding several sites with directions on how to make the scrub. Hallelujah! It is so easy to make and once again had to wonder what rock I crawled out from under. I mean who knew?
Another important fact I learned is that sugar cane produces glycolic acid, one of the natural alpha hydroxy acids that exfoliates the skin. Again, who knew?

Below are a couple of recipes to make your own sugar scrub. Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Sugar Scrub #1
This super-simple formula has been softening and nourishing skin for centuries.
It only calls for two ingredients, and the results will gently exfoliate dead skin cells, improve skin clarity and softness, and stimulate your glandular system.


INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar
Enough cold-pressed oil (olive, wheat germ, peanut, corn, or sunflower) to dampen the mixture. You may also add a drop of your favorite essential oil. Check to see if your essential oils needs to be diluted before touching your skin.
Gently massage this exfoliating scrub all over your body and face* before you shower with a light soaping and rinse. Repeat once or twice a month.

*I've used the scrub I have on my face, but if you have extremely sensitive skin you may want to skip this part.
The next scrub uses more ingredients, but only if you want to add the other items.


Scrub #2
50 Percent white cane sugar

50 percent vegetable glycerin to moisten the sugar. Basically this means olive oil, avocado oil or something similar.

Small amounts of aloe vera gel, if desired

1 or 2 drops of essential oil if desired. Try combining orange and lavender

Enough ground hibiscus powder for a pink color-if desired.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl, scoop some of the scrub onto your hand and massage gently onto your skin for a minute (The scrub will actually tighten onto your skin like a masque) Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes before rinsing.

Warning: Once you use this scrub, you'll never stop!

Here is a variation of the sugar scrub I thought was worth adding to the mix.

Banana Scrub
Too many bananas in the fruit bowl? Skip the banana bread and feed your skin instead with this luxuriant yet simple homemade banana body sugar scrub.

Bananas are a natural for body care. Their creamy pulp is luscious and soothing, and works well as a carrier for other ingredients. Banana is nourishing and moisturizing and can be used for gentle exfoliation and skin-tightening.

In this simple formula, bananas and sugar are combined for a wonderfully aromatic and gently exfoliating body scrub.

INGREDIENTS
1 ripe banana
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or your favorite essential oil (optional)

Mash ingredients together with a fork into a chunky paste. Do not over mix or it will become too watery. If you want a banana scrub for your face, reserve some of the banana and mash it separately without sugar.

In the shower, slather the sugar mixture over your body avoiding the shower flow if possible and gently massage over your body. For your face, gently massage plain banana, avoiding the eye area. Rinse off with warm water.

How many times have bananas gone bad, and you end up throwing them out? Countless times for me and so now I have alternative usage to making banana cake or whatever. Something I rarely do, by the way.

I hope you find this information useful and that you give one of the recipes a try. I will.

Decorating Sense

This week and in future weeks I'll be focusing on decorating ideas. I love decorating and I love being able to create things with decorating in mind. I found this first article in our series and thought there was no way I could say it any better than the author, Kimberly Danger. You'll soon agree as you begin to read: Get the Pottery Barn Look for Less. (Who wouldn't want to do that?)

Get the Pottery Barn Look for Less
by Kimberly Danger

I love the Pottery Barn. All those clean, sophisticated-yet-casual rooms look so refined. When I get the catalogs in the mail, I practically drool on the pages as I lust after the good life represented within. Surely the über-chic imaginary mom who lives there has her act together. She gives me hope that one day my life will be as organized and classy as hers.

Then reality strikes. For one: Real people live in my house. Where the heck in their catalog do you see the underwear on the floor and crayon on the wall? Secondly: While my tastes may be sophisticated, my budget is not. I’m faced with the frugal Pottery Barn lovers’ dilemma: A chair or groceries for a month? Hmm…. Let me see. It’s not a tough decision to make if you’ve ever dealt with hungry kids.

While I can’t deny that a real family lives in my home, I can do what I can to try and duplicate the look for less. Here are some strategies I have learned:

Big Spaces = Big Impact
To maximize impact, focus on the spaces in your room that cover the most surface area: the floors and walls. Paint can have the biggest impact of all, and is often the cheapest way to change the look for your home. Like the wall color in the PB catalog? Take the catalog to your paint store. They can scan it and match the color for you exactly (remember, it can look different under different lighting situations).

PB is also known for its great Oriental rugs, which add warmth and sophistication to each room (and doesn’t everyone want to appear warm and sophisticated?). Their big impact often carries a hefty price tag, however, and many of these rugs are $700 on up. When redoing our living room, I found a similar rug at Home Depot. While it may not be woven from fine wool, it looks terrific and was under $200.

Don’t Overlook the Details
What makes these rooms truly appealing often isn’t the furniture, but the funky accent pieces. Let your own individuality shine by adding unique tchotchkes you or other family members may already have around the house. Turn your own photos into masterpieces using photo editing software to antique them with a sepia or B&W tint. Take the dust jackets off your hardcover books and stack them to create an interesting tablescape. By using your own things you’ll be creating an even more personalized look than the faux-antique pieces peddled by Pottery Barn.

If your basement isn’t stocked with Grandma’s kitchy castoffs, a steady supply of trinkets is available through eBay, online thrift stores, and garage sales. While shopping secondhand is nothing new to an experienced frugalista, knowing what to look for takes some practice and a discerning eye and an open mind. What can you disassemble, paint, or use as a centerpiece? Vases, ceramics, antique postcards, art prints, frames, and other items can often be found on the cheap so be sure to take a look.

Where Can I Get It?
If you haven’t already, discover Ikea. This Swedish mega-store is the decorating mom’s dream. With everything from slipcovered sofas to kitchen gadgets – all with clever Swedish names - this store has it all. You can even get 99 cent kids’ meals in their cafeteria and drop off the tykes in their playroom while you shop. Don’t overlook their scratch-and-dent section, often located near the checkout. One note of caution: in order to pass on great prices to their customers, most of their furniture requires assembly. As your husband is swearing under his breath while assembling your LACK coffee table or ALVE desk, remind him how much money you saved.

If you don’t live near Ikea, don’t give up your decorating dreams just yet. Stores like Target also offer great home design on a budget. Designers like Cynthia Rowley, Isaac Mizrahi and Michael Graves, make upscale pieces affordable for the masses. Don’t forget to comb their endcaps for markdowns bearing orange stickers. Don’t be shy. Ask the sales associate when the next round of markdowns will occur. At most Target stores, it’s typically Thursday for housewares. Often times the clearance items will ring up the sale price before they’re ticketed that way, so it pays to scan them yourself to find out.

Other retailers like Crate and Barrel, Pier One, TJ Maxx, and Marshall’s are all great places to look. But to a budget decorator, that’s obvious. Don’t forget to look in out of the way places. Your hardware store may have lower-priced lighting, fixtures, and shelving systems that look eerily similar to those 2-3 times the price at PB. Baskets, candle accessories, frames, and florals can be found in the home decorating sections of craft stores like Michael’s and Joann Fabrics. Lower prices combined with the 40-50% off coupons in their flyers can add up to big savings. Your dollar store may have some surprises as well. On a recent trip I scored a glass vase and decorative rocks – for $2.

You’re Not Done Yet!
Even with a truckload of PB gear and a million-dollar house to put them in, it’s not going to look like it does in the catalog if it’s not arranged the right way. Let the catalog be your guide. Study the pages to see how shelves are arranged, what is placed on tables, and how wall displays are hung on the wall. The difference lies in the details, so pay attention to them!

Everyone can take inspiration from PB and make their lives a little more beautiful without spending big bucks. So, go ahead and indulge your decorating fetish. Any mom can be a design star -- even with underwear on the floor.

About the Author: Kimberly Danger is the owner/publisher of Mommysavers.com, and online resource for parents interested in saving time and money. She is the author of 1000 Best Baby Bargains. Ms. Danger lives in Southern Minnesota with her husband and two kids.

Next week's blog edition will cover instructions on how to create photo quality images that are fit for framing, such as in this photo:

Until next week!

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