Time Wasters Wednesday - Making Vanilla and Lavender Sugars

Add a little unexpected flavor to your everyday recipes by substituting an infused sugar for a plain one! They are incredibly simple to make and extremely versatile. Vanilla sugar measures cup for cup in any recipe that calls for granulated sugar, and you can substitute 1/4 - 1/2 of the lavender sugar in place of the plain.

Lavender Sugar Recipe:

* 2 tbs. dried organic culinary lavender
* 2 cups ultrafine Baker's Sugar (regular sugar can be used, but I prefer Baker's sugar because it is great for dusting baked goods, sprinkling on fresh berries, and stirring into beverages. It is so fine that it almost melts instantly, which also makes it ideal for making smooth and creamy frostings/icings.)







Use a spice and nut grinder to reduce the lavender buds to a fine looking powder. (A mortar and pestle will work too)









In a mixing bowl, add lavender to the Baker's sugar.








Mix until evenly incorporated.








Pour into an air tight container and and let sit for at least 48hrs before using.


Vanilla Sugar recipe:

* 2-3 Vanilla Beans (Vanilla beans pack so much flavor, that you can reuse pods that were used in a different recipe. Just make sure they are dry.)
* Baker's Sugar to cover





Slice beans down the center, but do not scrape out. (No problem if you used the seeds for a different dish, the pods themselves are still highly concentrated with flavor.)

In an airtight container, pour the Baker's sugar over the beans until they are covered. Vanilla sugar needs a good 4-6 weeks to infuse before it is ready, (less if you use more beans). It also helps the infusion process if you give your sugar a shake every few days. Don't worry if seeds appear in your sugar, this will only make it more flavorful. The one really great thing about vanilla beans is that they will flavor your sugar for an insane amount of time. Just keep topping off your jar and you will have limitless amounts available when you need it!

Don't keep it to yourself! Why not share it with friends? When your sugar is ready, you can pour it into individual jars,(Ball makes some adorable 8oz jars that would work perfectly!), attach a little note, recipe, or custom label and give it as a gift. They would even make excellent inexpensive,(homemade) wedding favors!

Beauty Tips Tuesday - Pout Perfect Sugar Scrub

Leave behind peeling chapped lips and uncover ridiculous softness with a simple scrub made just for your lips! You could spend a pretty penny on this equally lovely product that I previously recommended, or you can whip up your own with just a few ingredients you most likely already have on hand.

DIY Pout Perfect Sugar Scrub (or whatever you want to call it!)

2 tsp. granulated white or brown sugar
1 tsp. olive, jojoba,sweet almond, or grape seed oil

Mix to a paste type texture and apply to lips. Using your finger, gently rub in a circular motion to loosen flakes. Remove any excess with a tissue or a warm damp washcloth (what I use). Follow up with an application of your favorite hydrating SPF lip balm to seal in moisture and protect newly revealed skin.

This recipe is very basic and liberties can be taken to dress up your concoction if you so desire. You can substitute honey(natural antibacterial), for the oil, baking soda for the exfoliant, and add essential oils to your hearts content. Try a few drops of cinnamon oil to help plump (it acts as an irritant that will increase blood circulation to the lips and temporarily plump), lavender oil (calms and soothes), lemon/orange/grapefruit oils (yum!), and rose oil (antioxidant). If you have a little jar, you can store any extra and stash it in your meds cabinet so it is always on hand!

Time Wasters Wednesday - Form meets Function!

Cutified sewing accessories just make sense to me. If I am surrounded by beautiful things, I feel that ideas flow more freely and I tolerate the less desirable tasks more, (like when I am stuck making miles of bias tape.) So when I stumbled upon this adorable Bitty Bug pincushion tutorial over at Goody Goody handmade, (it had me at "Bitty"), I felt like I needed to share it with all of you! So toss the old tomato and whip yourself up a critter, (and then share your photos with me!)

PopTart Anyone?

So yeah... I probably haven't had an actual Pop Tart since before my 7 yr old was born,(the S'mores flavor was always my favorite), but when I stumbled upon this adorable iPod cozy tutorial on the DIY Network, I just had to share! Though I rock my tunes on a little aqua blue Shuffle, I thought maybe I could still use this pattern to make "play food" for my 4yr old's kitchen. Add a little batting and sew up the open edge; instant pretend time time goodness!


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