Foot Spa Night

I need a pedicure BAD! Unfortunately, the budget doesn’t allow for that sort of thing right now. But I can be pretty resourceful, so I’d been thinking for a few weeks that I should just give myself a foot spa. Now this in no way replaced my love for going to the spa for a pedi– oh the massage, the cute painted flowers, sigh – but my feet are softer and it was pretty fun if I do say so myself.

Here’s my version of a foot spa at home on a budget with things you probably have at home,  or can easily make/acquire.

I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie (yes, I know, Christmas is over, sad) while pampering myself. I also had some candy hearts and tea and my house was husband free and the dog was snoozing.

Supplies:

• Tub big enough for your feet ($1 at Dollar Tree)
• Hot water – don’t burn yourself
• Bath salts - see recipe below
• Hand scrub (that I used as a foot scrub) – see recipe below
• Coconut lotion bar or a delightfully thick lotion – see below
• Pumice stone, nail file, clippers, and polish (hot pink?)

1. I set out a towel in front of the couch, turned on my movie and soaked my feet in a delightful hot water bath with bath salts (a present from my EO buddy Krysta).

Want to make your own? – it’s very easy:

¼ cup Epsom Salt

1-2 up to 10 drops essential oils 
Mix together. 

Use as much as you want, I used a lot for extra softness. As an added bonus Krysta added actual lavender pieces to this batch.

Soak, soak, soak.

2. Now time for a good scrubbing.

Hand/foot scrub is easy to make – here’s a link for the directions on 
One Good Thing by Jillee:

Dawn dish soap with Olay (pink)

Sugar

Mix in a container until it’s like paste.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. 

Rinse off, sooo soft. Then I scrubbed with a pumice stone, I live in a dry climate, so my heals, eh!

3. I dried off my feet - now time for lotion and presentation.

I used a coconut lotion bar, from my friend Erica, and rubbed it all over my feet, concentrating on the rough areas. 

Need to make some coconut lotion bars? 

I’ll be blogging about it soon but if you just can’t wait, 

check out my Pinterest board or do a quick internet search.

Next, trim those nails, buff out with the nail file – yeah this part just didn’t really compare to the spa, but it was free and it worked.

Finally the pretty part, I painted my toes a hot pink. There’s a few less toxic brands of nail polish out there, which I didn't use, but know you have options.

Ta-da! Delightfully pampered feet, using things I had in my house, and not spending any more money (except the $1 to get the tub).

What are some of your favorite ways to pamper yourself on a budget? I love to hear new ideas…

This post has been updated to reflect new information I have learned - you may find things omitted that were previously there. In recipes, I have crossed out the old amount and added the new. 10/2013