Clothes Pin Christmas Card Wreath

How do you display your Christmas cards? Do you tape them to the stair railing? Throw them in a basket? Magnets on the fridge? Last year I put ribbon around my kitchen cabinets and used mini clothes pins to hold the cards in place. I liked that all right, but I'm always looking for new ways to be creative. A few weeks ago I was inspired by {of course} the one and only Pinterest. I found this wreath made out of clothes pins to hold Christmas cards so I thought I would give it a try... I was originally inspired by Craftiness is not optional but I ended up doing a few things differently.

 First, I painted all my pins with acrylic craft paint in red, green, and white. After letting them dry I wanted a little something more so I added stripes to the white pins and polka dots to the red ones. After that I found a wire hanger and {mostly} bent it into a circular shape. Then I put the clothes pins on the hanger and sealed the ends of the hanger with my handy glue gun and added some ribbon to cover the leftover wire.

Ta-Da! My final product. What do you think? Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Now to put it away for a few more weeks until I start getting cards in the mail!

A melted skyline

Last summer I decided to make some melted crayon art for my office at the daycare. Well, I no longer have an office, but the art is hanging up in my classroom now. One of my moms noticed it a few weeks ago and suggested that I make more to sell at the upcoming school auction and carnival. I suggested it to my director and she wanted to know if I could somehow make it go with the Seattle theme...so I set out to make a Seattle skyline...using melted crayons!

All my supplies: canvas (16x20), crayons, glue gun, hair dryer, tape, and a picture of the skyline.

It took a while, but I finally got a taped off version of a Seattle skyline.

For more specific directions on how I melted the crayons, you can check out my previous blog post here. This time it took about 45 minutes to melt the crayons and get all the area covered, but I think it was worth it! (the wax did melt through the tape in a few places, but I fixed that problem with a bit of white paint)

Drum roll please.......

Ta-da! What do you think? Anyone have a suggestion on how much we should sell it for?

Sweet Cinnamon Cherry Granola

Despite the fact that I completely loathe, abhor, and despise yogurt in all forms, I really like granola. The problem is that the two are normally assumed to go together, kind of like peanut butter and jelly. So it's sometimes difficult to find a good granola that can stand on it's own as a cereal.

Enter, The Kitchen is My Playground. I was browsing different granola options on pinterest and came across this blog with lots of yummy looking granola recipes.

Like any recipe that I attempt, I ended up changing it a bit, but that's the best part of granola right?

The original recipe for Chai Granola can be found here.

This is what I did:
Sweet Cinnamon Cherry Granola
3 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. shredded coconut
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. canola oil 
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. dried cherries

1.  In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, coconut, and pecans.  Stir in cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

2.  Place honey, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl; stir to combine. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; mix together until oats are evenly coated with the honey mixture.

3.   Spread granola mixture onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes.

4.  Remove from oven and stir in dried cherries. Let cool completely. Store tightly covered.

I've had this for breakfast, with a bit of almond milk, every day this week and I'm addicted! It has the perfect balance of sweet and spice, a good crunch, and its filled with things I love. I can't wait to try making more variations of granola. Once again I am thankful for new recipes!

Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest

Bored during a commercial break? Pinterest. Waiting for someone? Pinterest. Kiddos napping at work with nothing else to do? Pinterest. Long evenings home alone? Pinterest. Need a recipe? Pinterest. Nothing new on Facebook? Pinterest.

Whatever would I do without the Pinterest app on my phone?

Probably have a lot more time to do other things and feel a lot better about myself. ha!

I was reading an article recently about how so much social media stuff is making people depressed about their own lives. Which makes sense for anyone who has ever been on pinterest....the dream weddings, clothes, homes, craft projects, meals, and more that are all perfect. Or so it seems. They don't show the whole picture: the mess of the kitchen after making that meal, the money it took to create that wedding, the hours spent at thrift stores to find the perfect item to upcycle into something crafty, etc, etc.

I have to keep reminding myself of these things. NOTHING is perfect. Why am I comparing myself to people and things that are only portraying the good {perfect} parts of their life, job, family, etc.? Sometimes I have to intentionally not be around any source of internet access and, ya know, actually read a book or talk to someone face to face without technology distracting us to remind myself that my life is full of blessings.

All that to say, it's fun to go on Pinterest and get new ideas for things, but I try to remember not to take it too seriously....otherwise I'll just get jealous and sad and lonely. And that's no good! SO tonight's pinterest trials are as follows:

#1 Vinegar/Orange cleaning spray.

You can find this on a million different websites and pinned all over the place, and I finally decided to try it since the kiddos ate oranges at work today. I had a whole bunch of orange peels and didn't have to eat tons of oranges to get them. Score! You're supposed to let this sit for two weeks (say a prayer I remember to get this out of the closet then...) and then pour in a spray bottle and clean away. Some websites advised mixing water in with this mixture, so we'll have to see how potent it ends up.

#2 Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars

So many good things in one small bite! After work I whipped these up to take to an Alumnae Falconette Board meeting tonight and they were a big hit. SO easy to make, the recipe can be found at averie cooks. I used white chocolate chips instead of the butterscotch chips and I think they were just as yummy. 

All in all, I don't think Pinterest or social media of any kind is bad, as long as I can remember to keep everything in the proper perspective. Should I spend all my time browsing things that I wish my life was like? No, because that's not healthy. Is it okay to browse every once in a while and try new things? Yes, absolutely. 

Thanks, Pinterest, for inspiring me and helping me out when I'm stumped about a food/craft/decorating idea.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Things I love about Sunday:

• My ritual of listening to worship music on Pandora while I get ready in the morning
• The sound of an excited "Hi Miss Emily!"
• Catching up with people after a busy week
• Singing with the kids
• Chatting with a puppet about Jesus and things we can learn from Him
• Problem solving when something doesn't run smoothly
• Sitting in the back of the church foyer chatting with a mom and their baby who doesn't want to be in the nursery (or quietly sit through the service)
• Seeing happy kids leaving KidTown, excited to come back again
• Taking naps on the couch

Things I love about THIS Sunday:

• The comfort of gray skies and rain that is still coming down, making the earth a lovely shade of green
• New curriculum to teach the K-3 kids
• Lunch with my brother at Orrapin on Queen Anne
• Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookies
• Laying on the couch and reading my newest book, Just a Minute by Wess Stafford

Praising the Lord for all that is good and right on this Sabbath day.

"I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.' Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure." 

Psalm 16:2,9

Lemon Bars

Tonight is one of my favorite nights on TV- Oscar's night! I'm so excited to watch. I wanted to make something different for a sweet treat and found a variety of easy recipes for lemon bars on pinterest. Some used lemon curd, some lemon creme pie filling, some added water, but I just stuck with two basic ingredients: angel food cake mix and a can of lemon pie filling. That's right, easiest dessert ever!

Ta-da! Once it's cool you can sprinkle with powdered sugar and then cut into squares.

I've never used angel food cake mix before, but it is very powdery! As I was mixing the dry ingredients were flying everywhere. When I was done my kitchen looked like I was installing drywall. Again though, let me reiterate how easy this sweet treat is. Once the TWO ingredients are combined, pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for about 25 minutes at 350, until it browns around the edges and pulls away from the side of the pan.

Don't be expecting traditional lemon bars, since there is no crust or cream cheese or anything else you may find in a bakery lemon bar. But they are very light and delicious! Almost like a lemon sponge cake, lighter than pound cake but heavier than angel food cake. I am going to have to share them otherwise I will eat every single one... Look out NQACC, the break room will have some yummy treats tomorrow.

And for dinner, currently in the oven....Cheesy Chicken Tator Tot Casserole. Thanks to The Country Cook. Can't wait to try this tator tot creation and watch the Academy Awards!

Tonight's Dinner

What can you do with a half-full bag of small sweet potatoes? Well I'm sure there is a long answer to that question, but I decided to roast mine for dinner tonight following a recipe I found on pinterest and they were SO good. I believe the exact phrase used was "Make these again!!" The recipe can be found at Teenie Cakes. Since I started with a side dish I had to work backwards to figure out what kind of meat I was going to make...chicken goes well with sweet potatoes...nah, don't want chicken again. Turkey goes well with sweet potatoes (Thanksgiving!)...nahh, that would take too long. Pork chops! Super easy! And I found a yummy recipe at The Pioneer Woman, making things even easier. I just needed one more thing...what goes with pork chops? Apples! Baked apples with butter and brown sugar to be exact.

What would I do without the internet with me at all times to look up recipes and determine what I will make for dinner? If I don't already have a plan, it gets to be about 1 or 2 and I start browsing my phone while the kiddos nap at work. And I always come up with something that sounds good! Without pinterest and Google search I'd have to wait 'til I got home and actually look things up in a cookbook...crazy.

What do you do on a 3 day weekend?

My weekend started out Friday night by going to see my brother and his improv  group at Seattle U. They really are quite hilarious. I was thinking of staying home because I was so tired from a busy week at work, but I'm glad I went to see him! Then Saturday was my super productive day. I cleaned EVERYTHING- bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom, did laundry, changed sheets, put clothes away, dusted, vacuumed, and more. It felt so good to get everything cleaned up (and now I don't want to touch or use anything that would mess it all up!) The rest of the weekend included church, clearing up the DVR by finally watching the Grammy's and a few other shows, reading (Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Chap Clark and Love Times Three by the Dargers), shopping, and sleeping! Saturday afternoon I turned to pinterest as I thought of what I should make for dinner and this is the result...

Recipe #1 Crock Pot Shredded Chicken

While this post is about the most recent weekend, I actually made this chicken last weekend. It turned out SO well. The recipe can be found here. It was super easy to just throw it all in the crockpot and let it cook for a few hours. When it was done I shredded it up and bagged it for lunches and put a few in the freezer.

Recipe #2 Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Now anyone who knows me knows that I rarely follow a recipe exactly step by step. (I've inherited that trait from my mom. Love you, mom!) We'll start with the fact that I didn't do this in the crock pot, I did it in a soup pot on the back of the stove. I also omitted the bell pepper (because I don't like them) and used the shredded chicken I had put in the freezer last weekend. The real recipe can be found here. I also made the honey jalapeño cornbread, found at the same site. This dinner got a big thumbs up from Luke and I've got leftovers in the fridge and freezer to take for lunches this week!

Recipe #3 M&M Samoa Blondies

Naturally, when I start to make dinner my mind jumps to what I'm going to make for dessert. So I head to pinterest and look in my cupboard for what I can create out of the ingredients I have. I found coconut in the freezer and thought I remembered a recipe for samoa blondies on pinterest. SO good! Samoas are some of my favorite girl scout cookies and these cookie bars have a very similar taste. The recipe can be found at Six Sisters' Stuff (one of my favorite places to find new recipes!)

I really love to cook and bake and I love sharing the things I make with others. Pinterest is a great place to find new recipes to try and I find myself trying at least one new recipe a week, sometimes more. I'm thankful for friends and family who are always willing to help me eat the things I create. 

I'm especially thankful for this guy who always eats everything I make! This was taken on Thursday night before we went out for Valentine's Day at BluWater Bistro. I am a blessed girl :)

Friday night taco seasoning

Happy Friday! It has been a very long week of work (after a long week of being deathly ill) and I am so thankful to have a night to lay on the couch and watch TV like a bum. Friday night means lots of wedding shows on TLC, and [since I drove by Little Caesar's on my way home from Target] it also means pizza :)

Recently I have been pinning a lot of recipes on pinterest and have been trying to cook more real meals and have lunches to take to work. Yesterday I made a beef stew in the crock pot and (just like my mom) I couldn't find a recipe I really liked, so I just dumped a bunch of stuff together. Stew meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, AND sweet potatoes! I will never make stew without sweet potatoes ever again! It was so yummy. The sweet potatoes fall apart a lot more than regular potatoes and give the stew a great consistency and sweet taste.

Tomorrow I am planning on making chicken in the crock pot that I can shred and use for tacos, wraps, sandwiches, salads, and more during the week. This is the recipe I am planning on using. Hopefully it comes out as yummy as it sounds!

One of the things I need for tomorrow's chicken is taco seasoning AND I just happen to come across a recipe for homemade taco seasoning this week on pinterest. So tonight I made my own mix of taco seasoning to use on my chicken tomorrow. I feel so domestic making taco seasoning, but it was really easy! And the sodium intake will be much lower than seasoning from a packet. Looking forward to using this seasoning on a variety of different meals!

A few pinteresting recipes

A while ago I made a promise to myself that I would actually try more of the recipes that I post on pinterest (instead of just pinning them and letting them sit there!). The past two days I've tried two different recipes, both of which were very successful with my taste-testing crew.



Recipe #1 Monster Cookie Bars

Peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, reese's pieces (instead of m&ms)...what's not to like?? The recipe can be found at the Domesticated Duchess. Everyone has LOVED these. I can't get Luke to stop eating them :) Whenever I tell someone what is in them he always adds that they are 60% sin...haha.





Recipe #2 Slow Cooker Kielbasa & White Bean Stew

The recipe says to cook it for 8-10 hours on low but I didn't get it started until about 2 this afternoon. Instead of dry white beans I used canned and cooked it all on high for about 4 1/2 hours. I added a little flour/butter mixture to thicken it a bit and it turned out very yummy! Everyone gave it 2 thumbs up! Found at Kalyn's Kitchen.

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

The past few days have really started to feel like fall in Seattle and I'm loving every second of it. I never thought I would see the day that I was celebrating the sun not shining. It's been cloudy all week and we're supposed to have up to 4 inches of rain this weekend! I'm so excited I could squeal :) All that to say, fall is probably my favorite season. And fall means pumpkin EVERYTHING ~ muffins, bread, lattes, cheesecakes, cookies, etc. Thank you pinterest for supplying me with a lifetime supply of pumpkin recipes!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Pumpkin Mousse Brownie Triffle

Two ingredient pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin Spice Thumbprint Cookies

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Pumpkin Pie Crepes

Pumpkin Better Than.... Cake

Pumpkin Spice Latte Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Perfect Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

And last but not least, who doesn't love a good pumpkin spice latte??