homemade holiday: vanilla coconut body scrub

thank you pinterest and fellow bloggers for more creative inspiration this holiday season! i found this recipe for warm vanilla brown sugar and coconut body scrub and thought i'd give it a try.  living simply and naturally appeals to me, but i've never been to into the homemade hygiene products; the idea of rubbing food on my skin and in my hair honestly causes a gag reflex. i am fully aware that hair and skin products have all kinds of chemicals in them, and i don't like that. i do like composting, recycling, thifting, crafting, couponing, etc., but i'm still working my way into the all-natural hygiene thing. this recipe was a great introduction. i have a sweet tooth so the idea of scrubbing with sugar and coconut oil sounded much better than scrubbing with lemons and avocados. some day.

the supplies: a 2-cup mason jar, organic unrefined coconut oil, brown sugar or raw sugar, and vanilla fragrance

place 1 1/4 cups of brown or raw sugar in a bowl

coconut oil is rock solid at room temperature, so heat the jar in a pot of water over medium-high heat (warning: this takes forever, so don't do this if you're in a rush)

add 6-8 tablespoons of the liquid coconut oil to the brown sugar and mix well. add 15-20 drops of vanilla fragrance, mixing well after each addition.

pack the scrub into your mason jar.  i ended up having some extra room at the top so i made another mini-batch of scrub and added it in. 

 and now we get to my favorite part--decorating the jar. i tied kitchen twine around the jar (any kind of burlap, vintage lace, etc. would work well) and bought chalkboard paint to create a label on the top of the jar.

paint a circle on the top of the jar (stay away from the rim or you'll paint the lid together). since it's a thin layer, it will dry to the touch quickly, but be sure to let the paint dry for at least four hours before writing on it.

 the finished product! more to come...