Homemade Hand Scrub

For those of you who don't know, I work at an animal hospital. I wash my hands like 40 times a day. By the end of my work week, my hands are like sandpaper. I really like all the hand scrubs that are out on the market, but hate spending $30-$40 dollars. So I went on a search for household products that would do the trick, and were inexpensive. There are a lot of scrubs out there. I have seen Sugar, Brown sugar, salt, or sea salt. They all contain different smells and flavors. Here is my at home version which was very easy to make.

-Sugar   1/2 cup
-Brown Sugar  1/2 cup
-Honey  1 Tablespoon (room temp)
-Lemon Juice  5-7 drops
-Aloe plant (I had it on hand, not needed if you don't have it)
I used Orange extract for smell, but you can use almond, cinnamon, or peppermint too!) I used about 1 teaspoon.
Vitamin E oil (if you plan on storing it.)
So, first I added my 2 sugars and "forked" them until the brown sugar was completely mixed.

Next I added my honey. You can warm the honey for about 10 seconds in the microwave if you would like your hand scrub to be warm when used. Not more than 10 seconds though, as it can become very hot!

Next, if you have aloe, go ahead and cut a piece off, and squeeze a bit of the cream into bowl. If you have a hard time, you can cut it down the middle and open the plant itself.

Next, add your scent of choice. I added the orange this time.

This is the final product.

I placed some in a little tin for storage.

You can hand these out to friends or for the holidays. I am going to hand mine out in little holiday tins. There are things that you can add to your scrub to make it last longer, since some of the ingredients need to be refrigerated. If you are not planning on using it right away, you can add some Vitamin E oil to your small batch. This will keep bacteria out. Make sure you store your scrub in an airtight plastic container, in the fridge. If you are planning on using it in the shower, keep it in a place where water will not fall ito it (high shelf, or only bring the amount you will need) since water can promote bacteria growth. Have fun making your own little concoctions!!

Enjoy!

Halloween Vanilla Creepy Cupcakes

Hi my friends! Hope everyone out there had a safe and Happy Halloween! I was hoping to have a couple of Halloween recipes on here, but I didn't have as much time as I thought I would to prepare them. I did manage to get in some cupcake time for a party that I was attending. They were a little harder than I thought they would be. The recipe was quite easy, but making sure the frosting wasn't to hot or to cold was a little trickier than planned.

Vanilla Creepy Cupcakes
Okay, so because I was on a time crunch, and was baking a lot of things that day, I decided to use Pillsbury Funfetti for the cupcakes. It was quick and easy, and delish like always. It was a big time saver!

Mix up all the ingredients as directed on box.

 Pour your batter into your holders.I found these super cute bat cups at Joann Fabrics, but you can buy them anywhere.

Let your cupcakes cool completely before frosting them. While they are cooling you can begin to make your frosting. I made Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream for the cupcakes. The recipe below makes a large amount of buttercream, it can be halved.

6 sticks Unsalted Butter
9 cups sifted Confectioners Sugar
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Twizzlers and Jelly Beans
Melted chocolate (for dabbing eyes on jelly beans, a small amount of a Hershey bar, or morsels will do.)

Start by beating the butter in an electric mixer on medium high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Side Note: My beater was turned on at the lowest setting, and I still managed to fling butter all over me and the kitchen. So I would suggest throwing a towel over your blender. make sure it is not anywhere near any pieces that spin, so that it doesn't tangle and cause a problem.

Reduce speed to medium. Add Confectioners Sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowls with a spatula as needed, (about 5 minutes total.) After every 2 additions, raise speed to high, and beat 10 seconds to aerate the frosting.Add vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Side Note: I learned that Confectioners Sugar can fly as far as butter, use caution...

So after I tasted the cream, I realized it was missing something. It had the buttercream taste, but seemed a little bland. It also seemed a little gritty. Upon suggestion, I set aside about 2 cups of frosting, and added a little bit of milk to it. To fix the flavor, I also added a bit of Amaretto.
Side Note: The buttercream can be kept in the fridge for two days in an airtight container. When you are ready to use it, bring to room temp, then beat for 10 minutes on low speed.

Lets get frosting! To frost your mummys you are going to need a small flat tip. (Ribbon tip)  We will be making lines like mummy wrap. 

Begin frosting by covering the top of your cupcake like you normally would. That was if you miss any spots with the "wrap"  they won't be noticed.

Now you can grab your candy. Like I said, I used Twizzlers and Jelly beans for the eyes and mouth. You can use red gummy candy for the mouth, but I couldn't find a package with all red gummies.

Cut the Twizzlers into small pieces for the mouth, and pick out two matching eyes. Place on frosted cupcake.

Now, I wish that I could tell you there is some kind of trick to this next part, but there isn't. Not one of the mummys I made matched in any way. Basically you are just wrapping until you feel that it looks right. If you feel that your lines are starting to run together, you can put in the fridge for a little bit, then start again.

For the last part, I took a bit of chocolate and melted it. Then I put just a dab on the jelly beans so that it looked like eyes. Here is your finished product!

Coutesy of Martha Stewart

Enjoy!