DIY Beaded Wrap Bracelets

I originally posted this on my other blog Chelsea Cecelia Creations, hence the watermark on the photos. I am going to slowly transition all my DIY's over here and close down the other site.

I love wrap bracelets. I have many. I was curious about how to make these bracelets, so I went to the craft store and asked one of the workers. She directed me to memory wire. How could I have been making jewelry for months and not have discovered memory wire?! 

Anyways, to make these cute bracelets, its VERY simple. All you need are the three supplies listed above and some patience.

When you get to the end, then do the same as you did at the beginning...turn the end up so beads don't fall off.

And viola!

Day #139: DIY Body Scrub

Hi all! Another treat for you on the blog today! Helen from The Blue Eyed Beauty Blog is visiting today and has an DIY body scrub recipe! I'm thinking of using it as a DIY Christmas gift! 



Hello everyone! I am new around The Big, Beautiful & Broke Blog and am so honored that Chelsea has offered me this lovely opportunity to guest post with her today! I have a lovely surprise for all you ladies! So if you're into DIY things and smooth, super soft legs keep reading!! Just before we get to the main post I'd like to share a bit about myself so you feel like you know me a bit better!

1. I love to mix ingredients in the kitchen! When I get bored or when I have a beauty or skin related problem I start looking up things online and that usually leads to me in the kitchen with a handful of ingredients, a bowl and a wooden spoon! I LOVE to put together new mixes either just for fun or to fix a problem I'm currently experiencing.

2. I love soft, smooth legs! This is odd, yes, I know! BUT girls who can't be honest and say they don't like this?! Especially if you could find a way to have that ALL the time without spending a fortune? Well I'm about to tell you how to do this!!

What I'm sharing is my personal favorite body scrub recipe which I use to create soft & smooth legs. You can use ANY sugar scrub recipe (girls, salt is NOT to be used on your skin as it tears!!), but this one has been my favorite for over a year despite my mixing up several others since I stumbled across this one via Pinterest!

What We Are Making Today:

THE INGREDIENTS

A clean, empty container to store the newly made scrub in. 1 cup of olive oil 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats 1 cup (packed!) brown sugar

THE DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl put the brown sugar and olive oil and set aside. You can mix now, but I usually wait until after I can add the oats.

Dump the cup of oats into a food processor and grind them up! This will take about a minute and will be pretty fine when they're done.

Pour the now ground up oats into the sugar and oil. Mix until it starts to be a clumpy mix like the second photo shows. It may look a bit more oily. I realized I didn't add the whole amount I was supposed to.

Pour the mixture into a container with a really good lid and store in your bathroom! My mom kept the same batch/mix in her bathroom for over a year and it did fine. I don't think it'll ever ruin lol.

NOW on to how to get super smooth legs!

Repeat this process for each leg.

**Warning: Prepare to be disgusted with the dead skin you get off your legs!!**

Step 1: Shave as usual.

Step 2: Exfoliate using your freshly made sugar scrub! A little goes a LONG way so until you're used to using a homemade sugar scrub (or using this recipe!) start with a little and go back for more if you need it!

Step 3: Lightly rinse your leg(s). Don't worry too much with getting all the scrub off. Mostly you're doing this to get the chunks of oats and sugar off your legs so that won't stop up your razor.

Step 4: Shave again! YES again!! The skin you just exfoliated is still there... As you shave you will have to rinse your razor quite a bit because it will be full of dead skin cells.

Step 5: Rinse thoroughly.

Step 6: Repeat the whole process up to this point for the other leg.

Step 7: Dry your legs off.

Step 8: Apply a moisturizing lotion.

Step 9: Enjoy amazingly soft & smooth legs!

I have shared this recipe & the tip for getting super soft legs that last more than a few hours with several people (my sisters included!) and at first they didn't really believe me...then another friend (who had read where I posted about this on my blog) asked me what to do about her legs because she would shave in the morning and by 3-5 pm it felt like she hadn't shaved at all! I asked her if she had read the post and she said yes. I asked her if she tried what I wrote...and she admitted that she hadn't...I told her to go do what I said and then if that didn't work I'd see if I could figure something else out... Of course I KNEW this would work for her so if you have a similar problem this post was for you!!

Closing

If you liked this post then you'll enjoy the posts I publish on Tuesdays on my blog. I don't always have the opportunity to publish a new DIY recipe but I do share as often as I can. :) You can find me at any of these following places: Better Blogger Network, Bloglovin', Exercise Encouragement Group, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr! Thank you for reading along with me today! :)

Helen @ Blue Eyed Beauty Blog

Meet this month's awesome sponsor!

Day #98: DIY Mitten Ornament, Giveaways AND Loving Lately!

Here is what I am Loving Lately:

One/Two/Three/Four/Five/Six/Seven

I am all about DIY Christmas Decor, and this season, I am going to attempt to make each and every one of these items. I started simply by attempting to re-create number 7 on the list. Here is my attempt:

Supplies

Felt (multiple colors of your choice)

Buttons

Thread

String or Yarn (to make hanger)

Needle
Stuffing

Draw a line around the pattern. You will need two mittens for your ornament. For a mitten pattern, click here.

Next sew the buttons on. Then attach the mittens together by using a blanket stitch. The following video will show you how to make a blanket stitch.

Before you are finished, make you sure you put in the stuffing. Then finish your ornament!

Now...link-up!!

Oh, and ONE more thing before you go...Check out this FANTASTIC giveaway!! Since I have been in bed sick for the past few days, I have been entering giveaways like crazy!! Here's a few I recommend:

"You Are Awesome Giveaway" with Neely @ A Complete Waste of Make-Up

October Sponsor Giveaway at The Vintage Modern Wife

A Crafters Dream Christmas Giveaway @ Leroy Lime

Pinktober Giveaway @ Shades of Gray and a Pinch of Pink

300 Followers Mega-Giveaway @ The Wright Stuff

Head on over to Perfectly Imperfect Mom for the Great October Giveaway! Over $100 worth of giveaways.

And of course, my 100 Follower Giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Day #97: Illness + A Craft

I'm still sick. In fact, I am worse than I was last week. I started to get better and then BOOM, woke up with a sore throat, chills, body aches and a cough much worse than before. Me and Hubby seem to just be passing this crud back and forth. 

It's not fun.

However, since I am sick I have been exploring the internet. I signed up for an account at Influenster.com back in August. I found the site confusing and hard to navigate. I knew I want to be an Influenster because you get boxes, which allow you to sample and review products...which I LOVE to do!! However, you have to collect badges and have a certain "influence" score. I had no idea what to do, how to do it. I heard they re-vamped things so I went back.

It's so much better! It's easier to navigate, my profile shows my score (A sad 38...boo!), and you have a better idea of where you are as far as influencing. It's a little harder to earn badges but I can at least see how I am doing. You can write product reviews, submit your blog or blogs for points, and share products on your social networking sites. It's much nicer than before. Check it out:

Influenster

Mostly, I have just been laying around. Every once in a while I get small bursts of energy where I feel like being creative. While searching around StumbleUpon I came across this:

Source

Here is my version:

Supplies:

Mod-Podge (either gloss or matte finish...the one above is matte, I have gloss)

Tissue paper

Paper punch

Paint brush

Vase or candle votive

My paper punch...little flower.

Vase

Punch out pieces of tissue paper.
Paint onto vase with mod-podge. Allow to dry for at least 20-30 minutes.

Ta-Da! Not as nice, but same difference.
If I had more energy, I would have found a candle to put in it...but I feel like crap. My burst of energy has subsided.

So, that was my project for the day. It was easy and it turned out pretty nice considering I have never tried to do anything like this before. It could easily be a neat, cheap project. You can get vases similar at dollar stores, tissue paper is cheap and I bought the paper bunch with a half-off at Hobby Lobby with their weekly coupon.

Day #71: Oh how, Pinteresting!

Tattoo's:

I have 3 tattoos, all 3 that I love. I am in the market for a new one..it's been awhile. Here are some I found on Pinterest.

1/2/3/4

Gift Ideas:

With Christmas just around the corner, I have been looking for good Christmas gift ideas and DIY ideas for a blog series I want to do. Here are some of the pins I have found:

1/2/3/4/5

 Humorous Pins:

For realz.

Ha, I get this cart EVERYTIME

The refs in football are a farce lately. Anyone catch the Green Bay game?

haha

Until later,

Big,beautiful&broke... chelsea

Day #47: DIY Gift Ideas

Congrats JV, on an excellent outing!

May I just share my excitement with the fact that the Detroit Tigers swept the Chicago White Sox. This now puts us tied for first place in the race for the play-offs. I really hope we can keep this up so I can enjoy post-season baseball. 

And thank-you, Delmon, for your game winning 3-run homer.

Anyways, I may not type too much today. I just finished writing several discussion boards posts for school and my typing fingers are getting sore. My brain is also mush. I just finished working four 12 hour shifts in a row, plus I picked up some OT tomorrow. 

So, there is only 113 days left until Christmas. Now, I know this may seem random but I'm broke and Christmas can be expensive. Since my husband and I are avid crafters and DIYers, I have been trolling the internet for some good DIY gifts. I mentioned a blog in an earlier entry, but the Happy House Wife has some great gift ideas for families on a budget. Other great DIY gift ideas can be found at the following:

25 Handmade Gifts under $5
101 Simple Handmade Gift Tutorials
Skip to My Lou: Handmade Gift Ideas

I am hoping to come up with my own list of DIY gifts. It's added to my "Blog To-Do" List. It's getting long! So many ideas, so little time. I created a word document to organize my ideas. Also, so that I remember them!

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day! Stay Safe!

Until tomorrow,

Big, beautiful & broke... Chelsea

New items added to: budget

Since my entry is late anyways and it's technically Mondays then join in the link-up @ Still Being Molly's blog! Expect another shout-out in Monday's real entry as well!