last minute shopper :: sweet solution

In case you are a last minute shopper, I thought I would share with you the super simple and inexpensive gifts I gave to coworkers this year. I whipped up some Brown Sugar Body Polish and put together some pretty printable 2010 calendars (FREE from the lovely Erika Rhein Givens of Gleaux). I’ve posted the body polish on Creativitae before but to save you time I’ll include the recipe in this post along with FREE downloads for the labels and snowflake gift tags. I included a tag listing ingredients with my gifts (the white tag above). You need to be sure that the recipient is not allergic to anything in the body polish. I added “do not eat” and “use by expiration date” to my list of ingredients (because you never know!).

The body polish smells a lot like gingerbread (because of the ginger) but you can exclude that and double the cinnamon if you prefer. The recipe below filled 3 of the Ball® Platinum Wide Mouth 8oz jars you see in the image above (available at most grocery stores). I like to use this scrub on my hands and recommend following up with your favorite moisturizer (I really like Burts Bees products).

1 cup organic brown sugar

1 cup white granulated sugar

¾ cup grape seed oil

2 teaspoons cinnamon, powdered

2 teaspoons ginger, powdered

2 teaspoons nutmeg, powdered

2 teaspoons cardamom, powdered

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients. Using a whisk, blend ingredients thoroughly, making sure to break up any lumps of brown sugar or spice. Spoon into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid. Massage approximately ¼ to ½ cup of scrub onto pre-moistened skin using circular motions. Rinse. Always date and label your sugar scrub; make in smaller batches to be sure it remains germ free. Refrigeration will lengthen the life of the scrub. I put a 3 month expiration date on mine but I have read that it will last up to 10 if you add Vitamin E.

I downloaded the FREE printable 2010 calendar by Gleaux from this post on Love Obsess Inspire. All I had to do was print it onto cover stock, trim and punch holes for hanging. I punched two holes and ran some wired pearls through. You could do the same and tie a ribbon or go simple and punch one hole at the top center or none and let the recipient figure it out (wink). This is the prettiest FREE printable I have seen all year. I absolutely love it.

Here are the body polish label and gift tag downloads (right click for PC or option click for Mac):

4up-label

Gifttags

For the printable 2010 calendar by Gleaux visit Love Obsess Inspire.

Have a wonderfully sweet and cozy holiday everyone!