DIY Sugar Scrub

Summer is known for its short jean cutoffs, cute summery dresses, and adorable rompers. What all these outfits have in common is that your legs take center stage. Chlorine and sunscreen have dried my legs out over the summer and they are in dire need of some tlc before school starts. I decided to whip myself up an at home-remedy by making my own exfoliant. What I like about using sugar versus salt as the base in an exfoliator is that sugar is gentler on your skin than salt and helps your skin retain moisture better. Also sugar is a natural source of glycolic acid which thickens the layers of your skin, helping boost firmness.

You'll need:
brown sugar
white sugar
olive oil
vanilla extract (makes your scrub smell yummy!)

How to:
You'll want equal parts brown sugar to white sugar and mix them together. Next add your olive oil and let it trickle down to the bottom before pouring in a little more. After adding your oil, mix the sugar and oil together. To make your scrub delicious add a few drops of vanilla extract for a delicious smelling scrub!

This scrub makes an excellent gift for friends. Put the scrub into cute mason or jam jars and wrap with ribbon and your good to go!

Ombré Nails

This summer has been all about the ombré trend with beach hair and the trend seen all over the runway in summer fashions. I decided to replicate the trend into my manicure after being inspired by my monthly birchbox order.

You'll need:
White nail polish
Any polish of your color

How to:
Get your base color and grab a paper plate or a piece of foil and dab four drops of your base coat onto your work surface. Add drops of the white nail polish to each pile on your work surface increasing the amount of white polish as you go to get a spectrum of colors from light to dark.

Now that you have 4 distinct shades paint your nails from light to dark starting with your pinky finger, but make sure to clean the brush in between coats of varying nails. Add a top coat and dry.

DIY Canvas Artwork

This year is my first year at school having my own room and living in an actual house (freshman year it was the dorms and sophomore year was the sorority house) so I am really excited to be able to decorate it in my own style. I decided to create some artwork of my own in order to give my room some personality. This canvas image was really simple to make and ended up costing less than $10!

You'll need:
a canvas board
mod podge
a sponge brush

a printed image that you would like to have on your canvas

How to:
Cut out your image and secure it to your canvas with mod podge. Wait a minute or two to let your image dry to the canvas. Then coat the entire canvas in mod podge, waiting about 10-15 minutes between coats. I coated mine about three times.

Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Cookies

Anything peanut butter related is often a hit in my family and its been hard trying to find the perfect peanut butter dessert. Often I find them too heavy that I'm craving a gallon of milk afterwards. This recipe gives you the perfect peanut butter cookie that wont leave your mouth glued shut afterwards! And they are so easy to make, it only requires 4 ingredients and they also happen to be gluten free!

You'll need:
1 cup of peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, you're preference!)
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon of baking soda

How to:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Form balls of dough and place them on a greased cookie sheet. These cookies do not flatten out well in the oven so make sure to press them down on the sheet before cooking. Then just pop them in the oven at 350 for 6-8 minutes. I warn you, these cookies expand like crazy so make sure you place them far apart on the baking sheet because I almost ended up with a peanut butter cookie cake instead!