DIY - Custom Scented Hand Soap

There are so many nice smelling hand soaps out there. Some of my favorite brands are Method, Bath and Body Works, and Mrs. Meyers. These are all easy to find but can get pricey if you have to purchase them over and over again, as not all scents come in refill sizes. If you are in a pinch but still want lovely scented soaps or if you want a particular fragrance for your soap, try making your own!

  

Essencial oils and soaps scents are a great way to boost any unscented liquid soap. Not only do they provide a lovely scent, but some essential oils provide other health benefits. Learn more about which essential oils would be appropriate to use HERE. I also purchased fragrance oils HERE. These fragrance oils are not essential oils but essential oils are also available on this website. Note that cost of making your own scented soap will vary depending on what oils you purchase.

I reused the soap containers I already had and purchased unscented liquid soap from Costco. You can find something similar at any bulk warehouse store. 

Instructions: Fill your liquid soap dispenser with unscented soap then add essential or fragrance oil of your choosing. For a more subtle scent use fewer drops, around 4-7. For a stronger scent use 10-15. This is just an estimation for the 12oz bottle I had. Use as many drops as you need until you reach your desires scent level. When using the fragrance oils, use a teaspoon. Voila! It's that simple.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different fragrances. Below are some of my faves!

Hand Soap by theeverythinggirl featuring Method body cleansers

DIY Cake Stand

I was looking for a cake stand to put my fabulous Momofuku Milk Bar cake on but didn't want to spend 20 dollars for something I would only use once a year. So I made one! 

I bought this 6 inch clock surface. It was originally $4.99 but with my 40% off coupon it was only $2.99. 

Then I bought this mini pot for $.89! 

Then you just need to glue the two together. Ideally I would have used E6000 but couldn't find it so I used a mixture of Tacky Glue and hot glue. That did the trick. The hot glue holds the two pieces in place while the Tacky Glue dries. 

The pot and the clock piece are perfect for each other because they both have holes in the middle that tell you exactly where the middle of each piece is. 

 I drew a circle around the pot. 

Then I dotted Tacky Glue along the inside of the circle. 

After that, I dotted hot glue between the tacky glue and quickly placed the pot on top. 

I let the Tacky Glue dry completely for about 6 hours. To extra secure the glue I placed a heavy book on top while it dried. 

Once dry, I painted it with this metallic acrylic paint. You can paint it however you like.

Once dry, it was ready to use. I didn't paint the top of the clock surface since the food goes on top. You can if you want to. I also placed a circle of parchment paper on top before I placed the cake on the stand. 

It's that simple! 

DIY Dollar Tree Bookends!

I found these cute little owl piggy banks at the Dollar Tree and thought they had potential. First thing i did was remove the stopper on the bottom.

Then I placed them one at a time on top of my broom stick and proceeded to spray paint them outside.

 This is what I used but next time I would like to try Krylon Looking Glass Paint but that's a little pricey for me right at this moment.

I filled the owls with left over pebbles from a previous project and put the stopper back on. You can use anything you have at your disposal. Maybe even some coins! If your stopper is finicky you can hot glue it back on so it stays in there firmly. The owls were pretty stable without the pebbles but I wanted them to have more weight so that they could act as proper bookends. 

Here's the final result!