Ever wish you could bottle up the experience of a crisp autumn afternoon, strolling through an apple orchard? Put the warmth of your mama’s kitchen when she’s making apple cinnamon crumb cake in a jar? Hit replay on the burst of endorphins you feel when you’re walking down a leaf-scattered sidewalk mid-October and you hear the distant sounds of a high school marching band practicing for the football game?

As all the Oxford Pennant banners in my home confirm…YES YOU CAN.

Make some Sweater Weather sugar scrub to keep in your shower, set out for guests to indulge in when they use your restroom, or give some away for a “just because” gift. They’re super easy to make (only three ingredients!). I made a printable label you can use–I just printed mine on cardstock paper and used a piece of clear packaging tape to secure it (also protects it from water). There are two sizes of labels on one sheet, so you can use for various jar sizes.

I dug through my cabinets to find jars I already had–wide mouth pint jars (Target sells them cheaper than Amazon) and a beautiful wood lid jar from Michael’s.

Here’s what you’ll need:

SWEATER WEATHER SUGAR SCRUB

1 ¼ sugar
½ cup coconut oil
7-10 drops of Autumn fragrance oils (yummy fall scents like pumpkin and apple cider!!)
Pint jars
Labels Printable(printed on regular paper or cardstock)

You can alter your sugar/coconut oil ratio based on how oily you like your scrubs.

Make sure you clean the outside of the jar so there’s no oil residue before you attach your label, or it won’t stick.

I made my dad use it for his hands this morning, and he was all “Ooooh! So soft!” You can use pretty washi tape to secure a tiny spoon on the side if you’re giving it away as a gift.

Not exactly a bouquet of sharpened pencils, but still delightfully fallish.

 

This post is sponsored by Old Navy.

Our claws are still sunk into the goodness of summer, but we have arrived to the intersecting circle of the Venn diagram–where we cannot deny the fact that Back to School is sharing space with our Carpe Diem summer. Yes, we’d love summer to last forever, but we know change is good and the new schedule will bring its own perks–new creative inspiration, organization, much needed discipline and…new clothes! Ah, the rite of passage of Back to School shopping! It’s one thing that helps perk the kids up a bit when they’re bummed summer’s over.

Our entire family wardrobe has always been about color, creativity and vibrancy, and we can always find that vibe at Old Navy. We’ve always loved mixing fun prints and bold graphics, and this year’s Back to School looks at Old Navy have tons of fun mix-and-match opportunities.

Old Navy denim has always been one of our favorites, and it’s one of the only places I can find jeans that fit my kids perfectly. Lainey and Dash both need super slim fits, and Old Navy offers so many fit varieties. Their ballerina jeggings are favorites of ours (and I love their current high rise styles!).

Their high-rise denim skirts are staples, and they go with anything.

Dash loves their Karate denim (and I love that they’re not falling off his waist).

Lainey has always been into expressive graphic tees, and there are so many cute prints to choose from this fall.

 

And so many animal prints! I love mixing a little leopard print with other bold colors…

…and all the tigers in their boys’ prints this fall fit Dash’s personality to a tee!

Even the accessories have bold details–camo lunch boxes, leopard print hair ties…

…and since we’re doing all the hard work of getting our kids ready for back to school, we deserve to pick up something for ourselves too. The yellow pulled me in. And my sister’s been raving about Old Navy’s rockstar jeggings for women. I finally got a pair, and they are the most flattering jeans ever.

This year, Old Navy’s hosting an in-store fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $1 million to benefit Boys & Girls Clubs. From August 1-14, Old Navy will match in-store customer donations up to $300,000. Customers can donate at the register at all U.S. and Canada stores. To celebrate, Old Navy is launching their first-ever kid-designed ONward! capsule collection–original artwork from Boys & Girls of America members featuring empowering phrases that promote empowerment, individuality and inclusion.

We are all about that.

Old Navy is donating $50,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs in honor of the special collection. Tees are available for sale in kid and toddler siing in all U.S. and Canada stores and online at OldNavy.com.

We’re excited to keep the color and fun of summer alive this fall. Check out Old Navy’s Back to School Promo for Kids & Babies (their biggest sale of the year!)

Hello from Northern Michigan!

This post is a miracle because the WiFi here is basically non-existent this year. Uploading one photo takes about 10 minutes. The communications company that controls the Internet for this area is basically a one-woman show. When there’s connection issues, my dad calls and says, “Hi Gail, it’s me, Rik.”

Every year when we visit my dad’s cottage in Northern Michigan, we go full summer camp mode–arts & crafts every day. We’ve done a handful of jewelry projects over the years, working with Shrinky Dinks, resin, beads and this year leather/pleather. The result? Earrings and bracelets for days! And they were so easy to make!

Here’s what we used:

36 Assorted Colors PU Leather Sheets – We ordered the big rainbow pack because we wanted lots of colors to choose from (both vivid and earthy) and knew we wanted to make a lot of things, and there’s enough here to make a hundred pairs of earrings and more. There are cheaper packs with less sheets and colors like this one though.

Unfinished Leather Snap Bracelets – We bought a pack at Michael’s but the ones linked here are very similar.

Jewelry Making Supply Kit – So much cheaper to buy it in a kit than to individually buy everything. From the kit, we used the jump rings (to attach the leather “chimes” that dangle on the rainbow earrings), needle nose pliers (to open and close the jump rings) and earring hooks.

Acrylic Paints and tiny brushes (you can use any, but this is the set we have up here)

Craft Glue – We bought a super glue from the craft store that listed leather on the front, but I’m sure there are several types of glue you can use. The glue is for layering leather sheets.

Scissors

A large needle (for poking holes into the leather)

The leather camp bracelets were super easy, even for the little kids. Just paint with acrylic paints and/or permanent markers. We kept the retro camp theme going and painted Hudson Bay stripes and campy patterns.

For the earrings, we did a total free style and played around with cutting shapes, making sure to make two of everything for each ear. Glue works for stacking shapes…

And to make anything dangle, we poked a hole (using the needle) and added a jump ring to connect leather pieces.

We used the needle to poke a hole for the earring hook at the top of our design too.

You can use the acrylic paints to add any additional designs like the polka dots on this 80’s-inspired pair…

…or like the lines and metallic gold background on Lainey’s feather pair.

Lainey wants to make a bunch more to sell at Gary’s table at the Farmer’s Market this weekend. We might be busy.

Why is crafting in the woods so much more fun than crafting at home!?