Peppermint Swirl Sugar Scrub & A Giveaway!

**NOTE: This gift is NOT edible. This sugar scrub is NOT for consumption…it’s a bath/body product.**

I just thought I’d get that out of the way, since all of the other gifts in this blog series are food related….this one is not, due to the use of essential oils.

I love this time of the year, but one of the biggest issues I face is how drying the winter is, especially on my hands. I use so much lotion throughout the winter, and sadly, with all of the cooking/baking that I do, the constant hand washing doesn’t make things any better. It’s probably because the winter sucks the humidity out of Louisiana, but I’m always prepared with shea butter hand lotion and some sort of moisturizing scrub. I know a scrub sounds counter-intuitive, but a sugar scrub exfoliates with the sugar and also moisturizes your skin using the oil. It always leaves my hands feeling nice and soft. I thought that it would be a great gift idea to make these for the other women in my family, since we all go through the same thing this time of the year!

When I saw this idea for a Peppermint Swirl scrub on Dixie Crystals’ website, I knew that this was going to be a winner. I just love minty scents around this time of the year, and since I’m making it myself, I’m able to control the scent (which is great, because some mint scents can smell too overpowering).

I don’t know why it took me so long to make this. Sugar scrub is super simple to make, and I loved the idea of layering colors to look like candy canes. I doubled the recipe on Dixie Crystals’ site, and it made 4.5 jars worth of sugar scrub. I saw the idea to use coffee drink bottles on Pinterest, and thought that was super cute as well.

I probably could have layered the colors more often, but I still think it came out really cute. In case you’re curious, made the labels in PicMonkey. Wouldn’t these be adorable in a little cello bag with candy canes and red ribbon?

Peppermint Swirl Sugar Scrub
Source: barely adapted from Dixie Crystals

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Dixie Crystals granulated sugar
• 2 cups coconut oil, melted
• peppermint essential oil
• red food coloring

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and melted coconut oil. You may need to adjust these amounts to suit your needs (if you want a scrub that is drier, add less oil).
2. Add in the peppermint essential oil and mix it in, a little at a time until you reach the fragrance that you’d like.
3. Move half of the sugar scrub in another bowl, and add drops of red food coloring (a little at a time, until the desired color is reached) into one of the bowls and mix.
4. Scoop the sugar scrub in decorative jars, alternating white and red colors to give the striped effect. Decorate the jar by adding a label, ribbons or whatever you’d like!

The awesome people at Dixie Crystals are offering FIVE lucky readers of The Nifty Foodie the ultimate prize for anyone who wants to make homemade gifts out of their kitchen. 🙂 I’m such a fan of Dixie Crystals’ products..I’ve used their sugar in my baking for years (since they have an office in Louisiana), so I know whoever wins is going to love this!

Each winner will receive:

• 1 Bake it Forward cookie tin
• A sugar sampler, which includes 3 cases of sugar (8 1-lb boxes of light brown sugar, 8 1-lb. boxes of dark brown sugar & 8 1-lb. boxes of powdered sugar) — HELLO HOLIDAY BAKING!
• 1 copy of My First Cookbook

I LOVE the idea of the Bake it Forward tin, especially for the holiday season. The idea is to register the tin when you receive it (totally optional…especially since some people may prefer privacy), bake up some delicious goodies, pack them in one of these tins, ship the tin (which fits perfectly in a flat rate box) & if the recipient would like (again, it’s optional), they can register the tin to watch the journey the tin has made. Then, the recipient can do the same (bake it forward…get it?) as well! How great is that?

I know I’ll be baking it forward this holiday season for a dear friend that I haven’t seen in a while. 🙂 For more information about Bake it Forward, check out the website here.

My First Cookbook is wonderful for those who want to help their kids become more confident in the kitchen. It teaches the basics about reading recipes, measuring out ingredients, safety in the kitchen, as well as cooking/baking terminology. There’s also recipes in the book, like funny face pancakes, wild west beans, roly-polies, ice cream yum yums and so much more! I think it would be a wonderful gift for a child. 🙂

And of course, the sugar sampler? 24 boxes total of Dixie Crystals’ products. You’re pretty much set for holiday baking (and beyond)!

To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: This giveaway is supplied by Dixie Crystals and is open to readers in the continental US only. Entries will be accepted until December 5th at 12:00am (central standard time). Winner will be emailed (make sure you leave an email address in the form), and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent free product coupons for Dixie Crystals sugar at no cost to me, for writing this post. Dixie Crystals is supplying the five prize packs (explained above) for the giveaway. All opinions are 100% my own.