Pinterest Success

I must admit, I am a bit of a Pinterest addict. I visit many times a week (ssssshhhh, don't tell, but it might actually be daily). It is a sumptuous distraction, of course, but it has also completely replaced bookmarking for me. No more out of control lists of bookmarked sites and articles, just the visually pleasant, uncluttered, way better than real life pin board.

I've seen a couple of interesting Pinterest related discussions. Before Christmas the Pinterest folks were challenging users to actually make something they'd pinned. I did: a pretty winter hanging basket,

Source: brookstone.com via Ann on Pinterest

reusing an existing plant pot, boughs cut from evergreens in our yard and outdoor lights, ribbons and Christmas decorations that I had on hand.

Now the other Pinterest discussion I've seen has been around #failures. Folks that try the craft or recipe they've found, but just don't quite get the same result.

While my basket wasn't exactly "picture product" as we used to say way back when I worked at McDonalds, it was still pretty and hung proudly on our porch all season.

Okay, so really not picture product, but it still worked for me!

I use Pinterest to collect ideas for redecorating and renovating, for dreaming of garden projects and travel destinations, for wish lists of photography equipment and for font and color schemes for future logo redesigns. But recently, I've been having great success with recipes collected via Pinterest. If you know me, you know I'm not a kitchen super star. I tend to make the traditional, no fail things that I grew up with: roast beef, bbq steak, spaghetti sauce. I do well with those things. Our chief chef has always been Daryl and he is both more comfortable and more adventurous in the cooking department. He makes the most phenomenal breads,




and his style of dish is almost always saucy and spicy.

With him now working more conventional hours (out of the house 8 - 5:30), I've accepted the challenge of prepping most of our evening meals. And with that comes the challenge of meeting the lofty standard set by Mr. Chef. Pinterest to the rescue!

Some of my recent successes have been with chicken

Source: aidamollenkamp.com via Ann on Pinterest

and pork tenderloin entrees.

Source: fromvalerieskitchen.com via Ann on Pinterest

But the biggest out of the park hit so far have been the homemade "nutter butter" cookies.

Source: bromabakery.blogspot.com via Ann on Pinterest

and Mine:


Pinterest: it isn't just for collecting dreams!

Tripping down memory lane

Was wrapping gifts last night and went on the hunt for 'something' to use as gift tags, rather than the usual scrap bit of wrapping paper. I found boxes of unused cards - Christmas, birthday, generic, party invitations, and so on. (Sometimes, hoarding pays off). There were 2 or 3 of some cards from years past, the extras that didn't get sent. My mom used to save the cards that she received from people, and then repurpose the image into gift tags the following year. And so that's what we did with some of these left over cards last night.

In the bottom of the box of left over cards were a handful of handmade gift tags, little hand drawn Christmasy symbols (candy canes, angels) in glitter paint. Made by me, at some point in the past when making my own Christmas gift tags was not out of the ordinary. I don't really remember when that would have been. In the same cupboard I found a bunch of green cellophane bags with glittery ties. Cookie bags for giving cookies for Christmas. Yup, I used to do that too.

My kids, and my sisters kids, have hand made Christmas stockings. Felt, hot glue and lots of glitter paint. Rustic, primitive, but made with love and I can't imagine ever replacing them. My mom has a Christmas sweatshirt with poinsettias and glitter fabric paint that I made for her, that she still wears. Peeking through family photos from the past decade shows her in that shirt each and every year.

I've been trying to recall what it was that changed; what got in the way of these lovely hand made Christmas traditions? Kids getting bigger. Fewer and fewer kid holiday parties (playgroup, playschool, grade school each had a need for goodies to be sent). Sports. As our family transitioned from playgroup to Tier 1/2 soccer commitments for three kids, and a coaching dad, the amount of time left to spend baking and crafting slowly but surely diminished.

This is our second year without winter kid sport and all the bedlam that goes with it. I have not yet gotten back into crafting and baking up a storm. But I have all the ingredients for some awesome gingerbread. Heck, I might even dig out the complicated Martha Stewart recipe that involves a double boiler.

If Christmas is a time for memories, then this year has certainly jogged a few of mine. I didn't have the heart to not put the Landsdowne playschool ornaments, or the collection of second grade ornaments, up on our tree. As much as I thought I'd like a color coordinated, magazine worthy tree, I went with a tree full of memories of my friends and family. Excuse me while I go put the little Christmas village that Katie is so fond of up at the front door, and send D out to buy  lights for around the front entry, replacing the ones that finally kicked the bucket this year. Yeah, I know that they'll be coming down again in a week or so but the house isn't ready for Christmas without them.