Festive Holiday Centerpiece

My last post was about a pinterest fail; I am glad to share this is a success.... with a lesson learned. I am sure you have come across at least one site that tells you all of the fun crafts you can do with a wine bottle. I absolutely love it- now not only can I drink the wine, but I can reuse the bottle too! It's like the settlers how they tried to use every last bit of the animal or plant- let nothing go to waste. Okay, maybe that was a bad analogy. But, I just love the idea of reusing bottles- plus they have such a nice look to them already. 

I decided for the holidays I would make a centerpiece for my dining room table. I don't have many spots for centerpieces or decor in my apartment- I don't have a mantle, I don't have many shelves that aren't used already, so my dining room table was the perfect spot. I wanted my centerpiece to be different heights so I mixed two different size wine bottles and added three red stripe bottles...and wah la! 

I started with my plain bottles and added a base primer. As you can see I left the labels on. I recommend take the extra time to remove the labels. It's not awful and not that noticeable, but would make it that much better. I guess leaving the labels on was my signature touch!


After the primer, I decided to paint the wine bottles black. I put about 3 coats on each bottle. If you remove the label, you probably wouldn't need that many, but again I left the labels on thus having to try and cover it. 

 The black went on very smooth and looks great! For the Christmas holiday (or maybe even New Years) I want to add some glitter. Love me some SPARKLE!!

Finally, here is the final project! I bought the leaves at Michaels for about $1, so in total the whole project cost be $1. Of course, I already had the paint, primer and wine on hand! 


Now, for the lesson learned. So besides make a centerpiece I wanted to make a place to store all of my corks. Because any good pinner knows you need lots of corks for all of your DIY projects! I had an extra apple sauce jar on hand, so I thought this would be perfect. I thought I would do the same type of thing with the paint, except I could add stripes to give it some color.

Again, I began by putting a base of primer. Well, first I actually took the time to remove the label, then added the primer. I liked the look of the sand and thought it would go perfect on display. So, like the Red Stripe, I painted the jar a sandy color. 

Because I love pink, I decided to add a few stripes of pink. Here is where the lesson is learned. For all you newbie DIYer's, when you use painters tape you MUST remove the tape while the paint is still wet. No one ever told me and I decided to dive right in instead of researching. I mean, who thought you would need to do some reading before painting?! Well, when you leave painters tape on paint and let it dry, when you go to pull it up...you run the possibility of losing half of your paint. Let's just say my applesauce jar is now covered in colored hemp :)

Share your paint tips in the comments below!

Delightful Homemade Rolls

I just had to share this one- I came across this recipe on pinterest and must give credit to Tammy's Recipes. I had never made my own dough and rolls before, so I thought cooking for Jake's family for Thanksgiving was the best time to try!

The recipe was cheap, most of the ingredient you probably already have, and it did not take long to make! The longest part was waiting for the dough to set and rise.

My only tip- pay attention when measure ingredients and if you are going to double the recipe, don't talk on the phone while doing it! :) 

Follow the link to get the recipe and ENJOY! 

Pinterest Recipe Fail

This seems to be a common theme for me...Pinterest Fail. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love pinterest still and waste (?) so much of my precious time pinning! And, not all are fails... wait until you see my Christmas post.

I found what I thought would be an awesome recipe and one I knew Jake would just love. Well, I am sure he would love it if it turned out correct. Oreo Cheesecake Cookies. I mean, delightful, right? Jake loves oreos. He loves cheesecake. I love cheesecake and chocolate. I thought perfect. Whatever I did wrong made the cookies so very wrong. Table for two's look delicious...while mine look, well see for yourself. Follow the link to Table for Two and try out the recipe- I would love to hear how yours turns out!

Failed Cookie:

 

The Big FAIL

If you are like me you have definitely jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. However, also like me (or maybe you are one of the lucky ones) you may have failed pinterest projects all over your house. This is one of my favorites- because I absolutely love what the end result should have been- and, because it definitely shows that it is best to follow directions to a tee. Yes, use a ruler or tape- measure, pin down, cut properly, etc, etc. 

The FAILED Braided Scarf
-> from t-shirt to scarf <-

 So, here I started with a shirt that I absolutely love- but had a hole, so I could no longer actually wear and feel good about my self. I cut off a large section that I thought would be long enough. Also, notice how unsymmetrical the cut is- I should have stopped right there, but after the first cut, I was too far in to look back.

I then took another shirt and cut the same length but in two strands. The first shirt was pink and the second gray. I at least had the great colors going for me.

As you can see from the finished braid, it is really just too short, too tight of a braid and nothing like it is supposed to look.

But, I thought why not? I tied the ends together anyway and made it into a necklace. Ignore my awesome computer backdrop, I need a light surface and everything around me was so dark!








What do you think? EPIC FAIL or awesome new piece?

Enjoy the original here from Putapuredukes- follow her instructions and you will have a one of a kind piece you created!

Oooey, Gooey, Yummy Caramel Corn

Another great find from Pinterest- with a few rainy day alterations.

I spent most of my day today cleaning the house and reorganizing. We are hosting Jake's family for Thanksgiving, so I am working to declutter and get the place a little more kid friendly! We ended up having a late lunch so we decided we would have a snack for dinner. I love popcorn and found this recipe on pinterest and thought why not?!

It was so quick and easy to make, and I already had all of the ingredients! Popcorn- you can use a bag or kernals on the stove, brown sugar, butter and marshmallows. You can find the original recipe here. I added some marshmallows after the sauce was already made in with the popcorn- delicious! Also, after eating it, Jake and I both agreed a little less brown sugar next time. What do you think? What a great holiday treat this time of year!

Healthy and Chocolate

While pinning the other day I came across this pin for raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips. I think the pin was for a holiday treat, but I decided to go ahead and make some for myself. The flavor from the raspberry mixed with the milk chocolate was phenomenal. I did not have any white chocolate on hand, but I am sure it would taste just as great!

Thanks to Saucy Sprinkles for this great idea; you can find the original post here. But, to put an image with the idea, here is a picture of how my raspberries turned out.

6 Weeks and Counting

So, previously I posted about my goal to run a half-marathon and we are now 6 weeks away. I have always considered myself active; I even run sometimes for fun. But, not I am starting at the beginning and preparing my body, mentally and physically, for 13.1 miles in 6 weeks.

I found this great 8 week half-marathon training schedule on Pinterest, and I apologize but the source for the schedule is no longer available, but you can find the pin here.

Last week was the beginning of 7 weeks away, so yes I am technically starting this one week late...we will see what happens. Here is the schedule I used and I did make some modifications to fit my lifestyle. I run on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday is my day of rest...or I will run a short distance. Tuesday and Thursday's instead of biking I go to my Zumba class.  I absolutely love the classl my instructor is awesome; and, if you are in the Triangle area looking for a fun way to work out, I highly recommend checking out the classes! So, here we go, 6 weeks and counting...

For those sad...and happy moments

My last post was about my love for mac n cheese, I guess the one that follows should be my next favorite food- cookie dough! I was pinning and found this amazing recipe that I knew would come in handy! It was a quick eggless cookie dough that only made a small amount. You guessed it, the idea was not to make cookies, just eat the dough without feeling sick! I knew the pin would come in handy!

Jake and I had a disagreement...who even knows what for anymore. Isn't that the beauty of a healthy relationship? You argue, disagree and then you make up and don't even look back. Not once thinking about the past argument; just remembering why you are together in the first place, the love shared.

So, anyways this particular night, Jake had a project to work on, so that left me to sulk. Sulking until I remember this amazing (and quick) recipe! I made a quick bowl of the cookie dough and felt better in an instant. 

It's funny I used the dessert as a soothing treat, because a few weeks later, Jake and I were finishing dinner and wanted a sweet treat. Rather than go out and grab something I offered to make the cookie dough. It was so wonderful to share the bowl while we watch a movie on the couch together.

Not only does cookie dough help when sulking, but it is also a romantic food to share. Enjoy! You can get the recipe here at Bakers Fun Foods blog! 

Love is in the air...and you need to show it!

I absolutely adore Pinterest...you probably won't hear me say that enough! Some people, er Jake, may joke and say I spend too much time on it and not enough time doing the things I pin, but I just say he is impatient.

I came across this Pin one day and fell in love immediately! I apologize, but there was not a link attached to the image, so I am unable to give thanks where it is due.

So, the first image is the original Pin. I mean, how adorable, right?! I took the idea and made it my own by adding a double frame and a picture of my family. As you can see, sometimes we write silly sweet nothings, but often we write love notes back and forth. A quick reminder of why we love waking up to each other every day. 

Cake Batter Cookies

So, one day, as I was pinning I came across a pin for Cake Batter Cookies. Obviously as soon as I saw the word "batter" I knew I had to check it out. I am absolutely obsessed with anything that is ooey gooey, doughy, or a batter. Sometimes I think if I could eat the whole bowl of cookie dough instead of making cookies I would.

So, this particular day, I came across the Cake Batter recipe and saw just how easy it read. It barely took any ingredients, things I knew I already had and barely any time at all. The recipe, as delicious as it was, was taken from Cookin Cowgirl, so big thank you for the introduction. How delicious!

These are seriously some of the best, and softest cookies you will ever taste- and so easy! I made a first batch, just to test out the recipe. Well, I made so many that I knew I had to share or Jake and I would eat one too many. I took them to my office and my coworkers loved them! That weekend, I was heading to DC for my brother's birthday, so I thought, why not- surprise him with some cake cookies instead of a cake! I made three different types for my brother- yellow cake, chocolate cake and mix. The original recipe called for a box of yellow cake mix, but my second try I thought I was also do one with chocolate (and mix the two). The chocolate and mix were both delicious, but there is just something amazingly delightful about the yellow cake!

What are you waiting for? Don't take my word for it, make some yourself and share! You can even festive them up by adding different colored sprinkles for the upcoming holidays! If you do try, be sure to send a review over to Cookin Cowgirl and thank her for the recipe!