Freshen up! Our Room Fresheners are the perfect way to spritz up a room. Combined with open windows and fresh air, these are the perfect remedy for kickin’ back at home.

Sun protection is important all year long, but especially now as the summer season quickly approaches! Lather on the sunscreen! 

We can’t wait for things like sandals, lazy beach afternoons and time spent outdoors. Until then, we’re prepping by getting our toes in tip-top shape! Our best trick? Softening feet with our Foot Repair Salve and Rejuvenating Foot Cream (bonus: it smells minty-fresh!). Add a pretty polish and your feet are ready to be seen!

Image found at http://bit.ly/ZWtJqm

Springtime finds us obsessing over the freshness of grapefruit. (Hint: we have grapefruit scents in both our personal care line AND our home care line!) Are you using the scent this season?

It’s not quite grilling season here in Minnesota but we are ready to sink our teeth into some Baby Back Ribs! Why wait until a summer BBQ to enjoy some rib-goodness - baking them in the oven will get the job done! The secret truly is in the sauce.

Recipe 

5 lbs pork loin back ribs

2 cups water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup Watkins Gourmet Original Barbecue Sauce

1 - 1/2 tsp Watkins Garlic Powder

1 - 1/2 tsp Watkins Seasoning Salt

Root Beer Barbecue Sauce:

2/3 cup Watkins Gourmet Original Barbecue Sauce

2 tsp Watkins Root Beer Extract

1/2 tsp Watkins Ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

Watkins Black Pepper

Watkins Sea Salt

Preheat over to 350ºF/180ºC. Place ribs in large, shallow roasting pan, bone side down. Combine water, vinegar, and barbecue sauce pour over ribs. Sprinkle with garlic granules and seasoning salt. Cover and bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until ribs are tender. Let cool. (Ribs can be covered and chilled at this point if you wish to make them ahead.) Bake at 400ºF/200ºC for 20 to 30 minutes or until warm and tender. Brush the ribs with Watkins Root Beer Barbecue Sauce.

It’s here! Our brand new Grapefruit Sugar & Shea Scrub has officially launched just in time for spring. It’s made from natural sugar, shea butter and coconut and sunflower seed oils to give skin supreme exfoliation and long-lasting moisture.  

Grapefruit is the scent du jour, and we can’t get enough of the citrusy aroma. The tart grapefruit essence in the scrub is naturally derived from essential oils of grapefruit. According to a survey we conducted last fall, men and women expect citrus scents to convey them as active and cheerful when worn. Which makes this the perfect scent to prep for warmer temps coming our way soon!

Kudos to our product development team for perfecting the formula and packaging! The squeeze tube makes it easy to use in the shower, and the oils and sugars don’t separate.  Also, like all J.R. Watkins Naturals personal care products, the Grapefruit Sugar and Shea Body Scrub is formulated without mineral oil, glycol, paraben, paraffin, phthalate, polymer, silicone and sulfates.

Look for this to hit Target shelves this month! If you can’t wait, though, it’s available now at JRWatkins.com.

While you begin your spring-cleaning, think about some ways you can go green!  Our friends at Yahoo! Green came up with a list 25 wasteful things you can live without. Here are some of them:

1.    Tin foil

2.    Paper towels

3.    Paper plates

4.    Disposable razors

5.    Plastic cups

6.    Non-rechargeable batteries

7.    Disposable tablecloths

8.    Paper billing

Little changes can make a big difference in the long run. Be sure to look at the full list on Yahoo! Green’s website.

What little changes have you made in order to go green? What are you going to do differently this spring to ensure you’re being eco-friendly? Post your ideas on our Facebook wall by the end of April for your chance to win a basket of JR Watkins eco-friendly spring cleaning products!

Happy April! Earlier this week our friends at Yahoo! Green shared six fun projects for the spring garden. Here in Minnesota, the temperatures still don’t feel too spring-like, but maybe they do in your neighborhood.

Here are some garden ideas to get you started this spring…

1. Build a Compost Bin
2. Make an Upside-Down Tomato Planter
3. Build a Self-Watering Container

Be sure to check out the other three tips. If you enjoy DIY gardening projects, Care2 has also shared 10 great spring garden projects.

Are you feeling like spring yet? What are some of your favorite DIY gardening projects?

March Madness has begun, which can only mean one thing: Spring is in the air! If you’re planning a March Madness party, a spring get-together or just want a new dessert to try out, check out this recipe for Lemon Squares!

Lemon Squares

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup/125 mL butter
1 cup/250 mL flour
1/2 cup/125 mL chopped pecans
1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Butter Extract

Cream Layer
1 cup/250 mL powdered sugar
8 oz/227 g fat-free or light cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Original Double Strength Vanilla
Half of a 1-quart/liter container of whipped topping

Lemon Layer
1/2 pie filling recipe from Watkins Lemon Dessert Mix container
1 tbsp/15 mL lemon juice

Combine bottom layer ingredients and pack into an 11 x 7”/28 x 18 cm baking pan. Bake at 375°F/190°C for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Cream together powdered sugar and cream cheese. Add whipped topping, extract and fold in. Prepare lemon pie filling; add lemon juice and let cool.
Spread a thin layer of cream mixture over baked bottom layer. Spread lemon filling on top; spread rest of cream mixture on top of that. Chill. (Note: Chilling after applying lemon layer may make it easier to spread top layer.) Cut in large squares.

What are your favorite spring recipes?

Spring is here! Well, technically we’re a few weeks away from the official first day of spring, but March 1 is close enough, right? We’re still feeling a little buried in snow here in Minnesota, so you’ll have to excuse us for trying to put winter behind us.

We’re looking forward to quite a few spring-centric things and found awesome guides from some of our favorite magazines:

1. Boots are great and all, but bring on the lighter footwear. Check out the incredibly thorough Lucky Spring Shoe Guide for everything from espadrilles to wedge sandals.
2. Now’s the time to plan your garden. Whether you’re a gardening newbie or a seasoned pro, you’ll find great info in Better Homes and Gardens’ Plant Encyclopedia (we like that you can search by plant type and hardiness zone). 
3. First comes spring cleaning, then comes spring decorating. Fresh Home Ideas has a list of super easy DIY projects to usher in a new season.

What are you looking forward to this spring?