Pinterest Round Up 2/11

My days have been filled to the brim with many things lately and I have a post in the making about a new health supplement system I have been using called Plexus - but that will have to wait for another day.

Today's post is a conglomeration of random Pinterest pins that I have done over the past few months! I don't have pictures of my completed projects because I am a slacker like that. 

1. Christmas 'presents'. These sat on a shelf in my dining room for the whole Christmas season and they were fun to make. I hit a couple of bumps though - burlap doesn't really take kindly to stamps. Sooo, I used a little scrap of muslin from my sister-in-law. I also accidentally hot-glued the pieces of burlap to the wrong sides of the presents....but that was user error, clearly.

  Go HERE to see the original blog and instructions on how to complete this project for yourself!

2. Super cutie-cute way to give a Starbucks gift card to someone. I did this for my sister-in-law and it turned out adorably!!

 Go HERE to see the original blog and instructions on how to complete this project for yourself!

3. Slow Cooker Ham & White Beans - This was great, in theory. But it turned out crazy salty, and I could hardly eat much of it. I would make it again, but less salt. 

 Go HERE to see the original blog and for instructions on how to complete this project for yourself!

4. Arm Knitting - Scarves. EASY EASY! And SO rewarding!! I did mine in green, so I don't have a lot to wear with it, unfortunately, but it turned out so nice! It takes a little patience to get going and you're going to want to wad up the yarn and throw it across the room for about 10 minutes. BUT, you will get it - and then you will be like, "Dude, how did I not get this in the first place?" :-)

 Go HERE to see the original blog and for instructions on how to complete this project for yourself!

5. Annnd, the final project from Pinterest. Smoked Sausage and Roasted Potatoes. AKA, comfort food. My potatoes weren't soft enough, but I needed to cut them into smaller pieces I think. ALSO, we're a meat lovin' family...soo....next time I will do double the kielbasa/sausage. This was just as good leftover, too!

 Go HERE to see the original blog and for instructions on how to complete this project for yourself!

a [small] transformation

As I sit here with a soft brace on my ankle, foot propped on top of ice for the umpteenth time this week, it dawned on me that I had not yet blogged about my newest venture: RUNNING! Okay, well...jogging. I don't know if it counts as running yet.

While I currently have a sprained ankle (due to over-pronation and bad shoes), I am proud to say that my sister-in-law Katelyn (<--- click her name to view her SUPER awesome blog about the 101 in 1001 project) and I have ALMOST completed 'Couch to 5k'! We both toyed with the idea of running all summer, but neither of us have ever been runners, even in our chosen sports through high school, we avoided running at all costs!

It's taking us a little longer than 9 weeks to complete the program, mostly because we've hit a few "roadblocks" along the way - sickness, and my injury. BUT, my new shoes should be here any day, and my ankle feels exponentially better today than it did even yesterday!! 

Pre-race photo ops:)

About a month ago, we ran in our first 5k, held at Vernon Powell (shoe store). We didn't run the whole thing, but ran a good portion of it. I can't wait til we sign up for our first real run-all-the-way 5k!!

Yes, I know the left picture is me being goofy, but that was my highest weight after Molly was born. I'm about 40 pounds lighter now! (And that's after I had already lost 25 pounds post-pregnancy!)

Tea for Twenty-Five

Dear friends of ours are getting married in September and since they are not having a traditional wedding party (bridesmaids or groomsmen) and that is typically who is expected to throw the bridal shower...and because I believe that every woman deserves a good shower in her honor, I took it upon myself to throw a Regency Era Bridal Shower!

I only have a few pictures to share, and none of them are particularly fabulous quality, but that's what you get when you try to be hostess and photographer at the same time. ;-)

This party enabled me to try several Pinterest projects/recipes that I had been eyeing. ALL of them were fantastic. 

Decor: Fresh flowers in mason jars, teacups & saucers, lace tablecloths, and pastel bunting. Just about all of this came from either my own home, my mother's home, or my mother-in-law's home. The sunflowers were given to Katelyn at work on Monday and were (clearly) still GORGEOUS on Saturday!

Cake: Made by Katelyn. Lemon cake with homemade buttercream frosting. Cake topper by yours truly. ;-)

Cake & Tea

Other Food: The main attraction, if I may say so myself, was the scones, jam, and clotted cream. I have made scones before, and they were crumbly - so that's what I was expecting when I made these. They were HANDS DOWN, the best scones I've ever had. The perfect texture, easy to make, and they make a fantastic breakfast leftover!

Scones, Jams, and Clotted Cream

The clotted cream came from the same recipe, and it, too, was delicious. I wasn't quite sure what to expect since I'd never made clotted cream before. [side note: can we find a prettier name for this dish? clotted? ew.] It took a whopping 9 hours in the oven (180 degrees), and another 8 hours cooling in the refrigerator. When I opened up the dish on Saturday morning, I won't lie, I had a moment of panic. No way could I serve my guests the lumpy, gross looking yellow and brown cream that was in front of me. Thankfully, the blog I got the recipe from suggested that I whip it a little bit with a mixer. Once I did that, it looked a little better, but still wasn't the fluffy texture that I wanted it to be, so I dumped the remaining liquid cream from the bottom of the dish into the bowl and whipped it until it was airy, fluffy goodness! 

The last food item that I made to go along with everything were these yummy homemade cream cheese mints. These were EASY as can be, and delicious to boot! I couldn't believe how simple it is to make these! I refrigerated mine before serving them which (in my opinion) made them EVEN more delicious and refreshing. In fact, the recipe made so many that I still have some in my fridge. They are going to be my treat for later. (Yeah, I reward myself for completing tasks like laundry and cleaning...what of it?)

Party Favors: I thought for a long time about what I would send home with our guests as party favors. Typically it would be candy or something like that, but I wanted it to go along with the homemade shabby chic vibe I was channeling, so I was thrilled when I found this recipe for hand lotion! I made it exactly like they said, and I put mine into the tiniest mason jars that I could find, then wrapped them in sheer ribbon...voila! 

Party Favors

The Tea Station

Filled to the Brim!

Maine: A Photo Post

We did so many fun things on our recent trip to Maine, but because life keeps barreling on, I don't have the adequate amount of time that I would like to recount all of the silly stories from the trip. So, you get a post full o' photos. Not even taken by me, I might add - photo credit goes to my sister-in-law Katelyn and/or Aunt Debbie.

My Little Fashionista

Yes, we're feeding the deer.

"Molly, want to feed the baby goat?" "No." :)

Getting brave....

That's still a NO on the goats, Mom!

Little Lovey (Don't be fooled, there was a royal tantrum at the zoo)

About to eat our first Maine Lobstah!