Ginger Infused Rum and Vodka

I wanted to share an amazing experience I had on a trip to the beautiful island of St. Martin. It is one of my favorite places to be on earth. The warm breeze, the relaxed atmosphere, awesome seafood, breathtaking beaches, nightlife etc. 

A group of close friends, hubby and I, make it a point to travel there every year. It's become our go to place to have fun, lay back and relax. The last time we were there, we found this amazing beach restaurant that we couldn't get enough of...The staff was amazing, the food was delicious and the drinks...wow. After each of our meals (we stayed there many days, alllll day long), we would get a free after lunch, dinner shot of infused rum. The restaurant made their own infused rum with different flavors and fruits. One in particular stood out with our group. It was the ginger infused rum. The taste had just enough, ginger, rum and sweetness to it. It was just so special and I'd like to share it with you.

Things you will need:

1. One cup fresh unpeeled ginger
2. Two cups clear rum
3. Simple syrup (or dissolved sugar)
4. Clean recycled bottle

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The PERFECT Sugar Scrub Recipe for DRY Skin

You know that feeling you get when you're at a spa?...that peaceful, relaxed and serene feeling? I recently managed to escape my busy days to enjoy a much needed, long overdue spa treatment. I had a combo treatment of a full body exfoliation followed by a massage. I have severe dry skin and I find myself applying lotion all day long. Being in the sun does so much damage to my skin, even if it's just for a few minutes. So as can imagine, I really needed this exfoliation and massage.

At the spa, the masseuse used this amazing mineral salt scrub mixed with lavender oil. It smelled unbelievable. I was instantly transported to heavenly bliss :) The smell of the lavender, the soft meditation music, the deep massage of rock salt on my entire body and muscles. It instantly took away my aches and pain. The body scrub instantly made a huge difference in how tired my body felt recently. I wondered why I haven't done this in ages...then I thought, oh yeah...It can get pretty pricey that's why.

Of course being the crafty person that I am, I asked the lady what it takes to make this salt scrub myself-to no surprise she didn't exactly want to tell me, but she did. I even secretly kept some of the salt that was on me to later inspect it. I noted the size, texture and even wanted to taste it (I didn't-hah). I even inspected the oils used...Here is what I came up with. It's pretty simple.


Things you will need:

1. Course salt or sugar
2. Lavender oil 100%
3. Almond oil or olive oil
4. Clean wide mouth glass or plastic jar

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My Illustrations

Hello all. I just wanted to share a few of my drawings/sketches that I recently I found in my mom's attic. I dug through all the years of  school projects and was pleasantly surprised to find these. Some of these would look great in frames around the house...I love everything about art and drawing. Especially, old school, charcoal and newsprint paper drawings.There is just something so cool and freeing about it. I have been drawing my entire life, for as long as I could remember, and I still love it. Finding these drawings made me feel the urge to get back into the swing of things. I have to find and dust off my tools :)

I studied fashion illustration and computer animation in college (at the Fashion Institute of Technologies). I took courses that were heavy on teaching the human anatomy, flow and movement. To this day, I still find myself looking at someone's features while speaking to them and wishing I could whip out the pencil and paper and start sketching them! Maybe that's not such a bad idea...right?

Charcoal on Newsprint.

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DIY: Cheap Luxury Bedding for Kids

If you have small children I am sure you can relate to this. You finally train them to sleep in their own beds but during the course of the night, they quietly crawl back into yours. Ever wonder why kids love mommy and daddy's bed the most? Besides your smell and feeling your warmth and hugs during the night, they love the comfort of your bed, sheets and pillows. In order to give them the same type of luxury feeling, I searched online for such duvet/sheet sets for toddler beds but it is not easy. It is either hard to find, has ugly designs, or way too expensive (about $60). If you want to save some money and still have great quality bedding for kids, let me show you how I did it.

I bought a 6 piece queen size bed set. 4 pillow cases (2 were bonus cases), 1 flat sheet, 1 fitted sheet. It's a soft, silky microfiber sheet set and it's heavenly to the touch. I bought it for $29 US. Not bad and I made 2 toddler bed sets with it. So that worked out to be $14.50 each...

Things you will need:

1. Queen sheet set with deep pockets (1 fitted sheet, 1 flat sheet, 2 pillow cases)
2. Crib mattress 
3. Measuring tape
4. Scissor
5. Sewing machine

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Budget Centerpieces: Painted Twig Vases

Can you imagine hundreds of these at an event or wedding? Different heights, widths and all practically FREE to make? I think they would look amazing. You can even use as a candle holder!

Things you will need:

1. Glass or plastic jar
2. Twigs all sizes and thickness
3. Pruning shears
4. Hot glue gun or any strong glue
5. White spray paint (optional)

Click here for the rest over at www.oneshetwoshe.com where I am the monthly Craft Contributor! 

Enjoy!

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Make Lotus Candle Holders in 5 Minutes!

If you know me by now, you know that I am obsessed with making any and everything into either a garden planter or a candle holder. I do not know where this infatuation came from but it's fun. I enjoy it. I love flickering candle lights and cozy gardens. There is something so magical about them both, especially on a summer night. Here is just another one of my ideas that suprisingly came out great! You will not believe how easy this one was...

Things you will need:

1. Super Sculpey or any baking clay
2.  Cubcake pan
3. Flower cookie cutter about 3.5 or 3.75 inches inches in diameter (I stretched mine out)
4. Rolling pin
5. Cooking spray

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Kids Summer Project: Cute as a BUTTON!

Hello all. I found these cute little buttons while cleaning up my craft 'room' area. Not sure where they came from but I looked at them and saw a cute face looking back at me. Two 'button' eyes and a big round face :) I immediately thought of stitching them on a t-shirt and adding stick figures to them. You would have thought the same thing...right?

Things you will need:

1. Buttons with two eyes not four
2. Black fabric marker OR needle and thick black thread or yarn
3. T-Shirt or any other clothing (jeans etc.)
4. Acrylic paint, white out or Sharpies for making eyes, lips etc. (optional)

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Fun Foods for Kids: Mushroom Village Caprese Salad!

This has been on my to-do list of Cute Foods for way too long. I finally bought the ingredients last night and went to work with my creation! I wanted to make those red cap mushrooms that the Smurfs lived in! As a child, I always dreamed of living in one of those, who wouldn't love that?

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Cool Trick to Calm Temper Tantrums

Here is a quick tip I wanted to share with you about helping to calm fussy, over-active kids. About 15 years ago, I worked at a school catering to behavioral and exceptional children. Many of them had autism and severe behavioral problems. Besides the challenges, they were the most amazing kids to work with. I think working there was the reason I've developed so much patience and understanding for children...especially now that I have my own...

At the school, whenever a student would get frustrated or out of control, he or she would be taken to an area to sit with another teacher or therapist. The teacher/therapist would try and calm them down using similar items shown below. I am not certain that they are the exact items but they looked like nuts and bolts. They students were told to take the nuts and bolts and put them together. Depending on how long the bolt was, (the long screw looking thing) the longer the kids would take to screw on the nuts (the round things). This indirectly calmed their tempers and tantrums. This can surely work for adults also :)

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