Bath Butter Sugar/Salt Scrub Recipe

Love using a scrub in the shower? This is an interesting tutorial from Go Planet Earth to make your own Bath Butter Sugar/Salt Scrub. I found this recipe to be really interesting because of the combination of salt and sugar. I have heard of making a scrub out of either salt or sugar but I never heard of a recipe that uses both. According to the author using both makes an excellent exfoliator. What also makes this recipe spectacular is that adds a bath butter which you can purchase from Go Planet Earth.

I guess this is another recipe I will have to add to my list of recipes to try.

Valentine Cupcake Soaps Tutorial From Go Planet Earth

Want to learn how to make these adorable cupcake soaps for Valentine's Day? You can purchase the tutorial from GO Planet Earth for $5.96. These soaps would be really cute to make and give as gifts. If you purchase those pink bakery boxes and put your soaps in them would really be the icing on the cake.

If you are not sure if you want to purchase the tutorial, check out this clip that appears on You Tube. If you really like it, then go ahead and purchase the tutorial.

How to Make Message Candles

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year's is just around the corner. Are you trying to think of something creative to make? How about creating Message Candles? What are message candles? Well, the best way to describe them is a fun way to personalize a candle. Would you like to learn how to make these personalized gifts? Then check out these easy step by step instructions from Ehow on How to Make Message Candles. These would make a fun activity to have at any kind of party from bridal and shower showers or any other type of celebration. Even if you kids are old enough to be involved, they would have a ball making this project on a rainy day or maybe at their next birthday party.

Make it: scented sachet w/recycled greeting cards

Are you wondering what to do with some of the greeting cards you have received over the year? Instead of throwing them away, why not recycling them into this creative scented sachets? I found this neat idea on Cathie Filian's blog Domestic in the City. And I think it is a really cute idea to repurpose your greeting cards. What a great idea to get the kids involved and give them out as gifts for Valentine's Day, Mother' Day or even a party favor at a bridal or baby shower.

The supplies needed for this project are: Used greeting or note cards, Scissors Potpourri, (dried lavender, cinnamon sticks, etc. ), Tulle squares, Long-reaching 1/4-inch hole punch, glue stick, hot glue and glue gun, and decorative ribbon.

For full step by step instructions for this project, visit Make it: scented sachet w/recycled greeting cards on Cathie's blog.

What is Carrageenan?

I have a recipe for a bath jelly, which includes gelatin to make it into a semi solid state like jello. But there are vegans out there who do not use this type of ingredient in their everyday lifes. So I was wondering what I could replace the gelatin with. I have heard of agar. I have not tried agar or Carrageenan? What is Carrageenan? According to Wisegeek.com:

"Carrageenan comes from algae or seaweed, and can be used as a thickening agent in place of animal-based products like gelatin, which is extracted from animal bones. It is usually derived from either red alga, sometimes called Irish moss. Carrageenan is a common ingredient in many foods, such as milk products like yogurt or chocolate milk.

One can make one’s own carrageenan by boiling down Irish moss for about 20 to 30 minutes. When the mixture cools, and the moss is removed, one is left with a gelled substance. Since many recipes call for a thickening agent, many vegetarians use carrageenan in place of products like gelatin, since it is 100% vegetarian.

One can often purchase powdered carrageenan at natural food stores. It may be used in the preparation of certain wines and beers. Also many sliced deli meats are enriched with carrageenan. Carrageenan may also be marketed in its jelled form as a personal lubricant. Companies like Tom’s of Maine® use carrageenan in a variety of products from toothpaste to deodorant.

Some use carrageenan to make foods like vegetarian marshmallows, to gel jelly, or stabilize ice cream. As it cooks, it often has a fish like odor. This odor and taste is usually masked by the foods in which it is used. Carrageenan in algae form is also quite rich in iron and sulfur. However, when it is processed into a gel, it usually looses these minerals.

Carrageenan is also equivalent to agar, which is derived from red algae, and sometimes seaweed. The process is the same for producing agar as it is for making carrageenan. In both instances, the alga is boiled down to make a jelly substance.

Agar is used as a culture for bacteria in medicine and microbiology. Its gel-like substance is the perfect place to grow bacteria or to test for bacterial presence. Some also use agar as medicine, since it tends to produce a laxative effect.

Like carrageenan, agar may be used in ice cream, soup, jelly, or in brewing wine or beer. It also is a vegetarian alternative to gelatin. In fact, since virtually no difference exists between the two substances, they are excellent substitutes for each other. It is more common in Asian countries to see agar listed as a thickening agent, while in the US, the term carrageenan is more commonly used."