DIY: Drying out Citrus Peels & 2 Sugar Scrub recipes

DIY projects are an easy, fun, and a budget friendly way to give great homemade gifts for the holidays or any ocassion really. You could even just make a batch of this to keep around the house for those times when you may need to relax and have a mini spa experience.
This year, I decided to make some body scrubs to give as gifts.
There are so many recipes online for homemade body scrubs, but most of them involved fancy oils which I don't have on hand so I decided to make a simple recipe. You can subsitute the extra virgin olive oil for cocunut oil,  vitamin E oil, almond oil, or sometimes baby oil. Some recipes I've seen add vanilla extracts, brown sugar, and even food coloring, but I kept mine simple.Just sugar, oil, and 1 add in ingredient per scrub.

Citrus Sugar Scrub

Drying out your own citrus peels are good to add into a hot bath to help relax or to add into serveral different recipes like homemade candied citrus peel or into teas like mandarin orange peel tea. This lists some of the benefits of oranges and orange zest for the body.

How to dry out citrus peels:
1. You can air dry the peels (but keep away from the sunlight) for a few days
or
2. You can trim the peels and place them in the oven to dry.
Baking the peels:
1. Peel the orange (or citrus of choice).
2. Using a paring knife, trim off any extra white pith. You can thinly slice the peel into strips (great for chinese recipes) or leave the peel in pieces.
3. Turn your oven to the lowest setting (some are 150F-ours goes to 170F), place the peel on a baking dish and bake until the peels are dried, a little over 1 hour.
4. Once the peels are dried out, place in a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder and pulse until fine. (This is optional. Depending on what you what you will be using the peels for, you may want to keep them in strips)
Store in an air tight container.

> I used the peels of 4 Cuties clemintines and I got about 5 tablespoons of ground peel.


Citrus Sugar Scrub: makes enough to fill 2 -2oz jar
5 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. ground orange peels - you can use orange oil also.

1. Mix the sugar and ground peels together in a small bowl (this helps release the oils).
2. Slowly add in the olive oil until you get the consistency that you want.
Store in an airtight container or a pretty glass jar.

Peppermint Sugar Scrub: makes enough to fill 2 -2oz jars
5 tbsp. white sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 drops or so of peppermint oil- you can use other oils or extracts of your liking

1. Mix the sugar and oil. Slowly add in the oil- if you add to much just add in more oil and sugar.

Uses: Spread the mixture onto damp skin and massage in. Concentrate on the tough, rough, thickened areas of the body, such as the feet and elbows- though, I would avoid using this on your face if you have sensitive skin.
You can store this in pretty glass container with a ribbon  to give as a gift.
You can also store it in the fridge for longer life span, although it’s not necessary.  If you notice that it smells a little weird… toss it out, as the oil may have gone rancid. 
Keeps for 2-3 months.