Pinterest Recipes To The Rescue

If you are like me, you have a ton of recipes pinned on various Pinterest boards that you have never tried. But the intention is there because they were pinned after all. I am working on trying to change that. There are some amazing recipes out there and this one that I tried is a keeper - Dr. Pepper Slow Cooker Roast Beef from Add a Pinch.

I really had a craving for a roast of some kind. It had to be super easy and not require a million ingredients that I would have to go out and purchase. And this roast fit that bill. It took all of 30 seconds put together and it made a ton. I even froze some of the leftover meat for later use!

I served the roast some mashed potatoes and roasted Brussel sprouts and had a super delicious meal! Definitely give this roast a try!

9 Steps to Making a Beautiful Ribbon Topiary

My cousin's daughter turned one on Saturday. It was a very special day because Abbi had been hoped and prayed for. She became a part of our family through adoption. Also, Abbi's finalization was earlier in August, so she was legally a part of our family. She is a happy girl and such a sweetheart.

To go along with her ladybug theme party, I volunteered to make ribbon topiaries. This was my first experience making them so I am sharing a few hints in your topiary-making endeavors.

1. Pick out really cute ribbon. I used 4 different patterns of ribbon. I don't think I would use a slew of different patterns and colors. You want to be able to see the different ribbon, but also have it look cohesive. I cut the pieces in 3-inch strips.

2. Get your glue gun ready! I mistakenly got foam discs for the base, so I glued them together. I also glued the dowel rod into the base, as well as the head. Glue everything together first before adding the ribbon. Since I was traveling with these, my glue gun became a live saver when one topiary became a little lopsided.

3. Choose a neutral paint color for the dowel rod. The ladybug theme was red, black and white, so it was pretty easy to choose black for the rod.

4. It all starts with one. Choose your starting spot. I decided to start at the bottom and put one of each color at the base. Then I worked my way up.

5. Here comes the pinning. I made a ribbon Halloween wreath last year and I hot glued all the ribbon. This time, I used straight pins. It was much less messy and saved my fingers from being burned.

6. Be patient. This is a project that takes a little bit of time. Put in a good movie and keep working.

7. Marvel at your beautiful ribbon-filled topiary. Because it looks awesome and you created it!

8. Finish it up. I used a little metal bucket from Hobby Lobby as the base for the topiary. I have seen some with flower pots that are really cute too, but I was lazy and didn't want to spray paint one. But in the end, I liked the contrast of the metal. I added a strip of ribbon around the top to spruce it up and stuffed in tissue paper for some frill.

9. Show it off! If I do say so myself, we had Pinterest-worthy cake and dessert table set up. It looked FABULOUS!!

We had a great day celebrating Abbi! Next on the topiary list will be a Mickey-inspired creation for my niece's first birthday party on Labor Day. I better get to work!

One Mess At A Time - The Desk

Full disclosure...I am a messy person. I really wish I wasn't, but I am. And living in 2 rooms of my house isn't helping with the messy situation.

In an effort to tackle my messy situation, I am trying to work on one area at a time. I know that once my kitchen is done and I am not upstairs as often, things will not get any better. I will have less motivation to actually clean up and organization.

My desk may be a small area, but I don't want to get too overwhelmed. :) I started here because this is where I sit a lot of the day. I work from home and need a spot that can be completely devoted to my job. I didn't want it mingling with my personal stuff for a few reasons. I don't want to get distracted by other things I may want to do during the day and I want to be able to close the door on work when I do need to do personal work.

My desk sits in front of the window. It is a nice little view, but it is a small desk. A few papers can make this small desk look very cluttered, which it can become rather frequently.

Thankfully, I am able to use these cute glittery containers. I made these last year for my sister-in-law's baby shower. They were a super easy Pinterest project. Now they hold pens, pencils and paper clips.

So one little area that is cleaned up...for the moment. I will be continuing to work on these little projects upstairs so when the time comes, I can tackle the downstairs.

Morning Tea

I enjoy tea, not so much in the morning because I drink coffee. But in the afternoon or at night, it is quite enjoyable. There is something very relaxing about it. Last weekend, my church hosted a women's tea. But they needed women to actually host the tables. Even though I know quite a few people at my new church since it was my old church, it was a great way to jump into serving in the church. Even though it was only for a few hours.

Trying to figure out what theme to have for my table was rather daunting. Since it was the weekend before Valentine's Day, I thought it would be a fun theme to have. I picked a centerpiece that I wanted to make and had several other ideas, but the cost was getting to be a little too high and my time was getting a little too low. So that theme was scrapped.

After walking around Hobby Lobby several times, I saw some black chargers that were 50% off. SCORE! My theme was going to black and white - easy and classic. But now about the tableware. As a hostess, I needed to provide a table cloth, plates, water glasses, tea cups and saucers, flatware and a centerpiece. All of my dishes are in Pennsylvania so I was a little out of luck there. Thankfully, Toledo is home to Libbey Glass, so I was able to get some glass plates for relatively cheaply. I also bought water goblet for $1. Another bonus buy!

So now it was time to decorate the table. This is a little more fun for me. I had an idea in my head, so I was moving full steam ahead. My mom helped to prep the food, so she was able to give me a little insight to what was already up on the tables. I used roses for my centerpiece from an image I found on Pinterest. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I even did a fancy little napkin fold. It was actually pretty easy thanks for the step-by-step directions I found. By the way, what did we do before the internet?

All in all, the event was great. The food was so yummy! And the company was great. Now I have a full year to decide what I am going to do next year.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

My dad came across this recipe several years ago. While I am not sure if this is the same recipe he used, it is probably pretty close. There is something about adding the pudding that makes these chocolate cookies stay really soft...and really good!

I was hoping that adding the pumpkin spice pudding mix would give it a little pumpkin flavor, but it didn't. There might be an ever so slight taste, but nothing to write home about. The original recipe calls for vanilla pudding mix and there isn't an overwhelming vanilla flavor with those. But I was crossing my fingers that these would have a little special fall flavor.

One thing the pudding mix did was darken the cookie dough. So I guess you could say that they have a seasonal appearance. :)

Even though I was a little disappointed that the pumpkin flavor didn't shine through, the cookies still turned out very delicious. I can't complain about that. 

The recipe that I used came from See Aimee Cook. If you stick with the traditional vanilla pudding or try the pumpkin spice cookie, you can't go wrong with this recipe. It is a definite keeper!

Autumn Welcome

A change in the seasons opens up the opportunity to update seasonal decor whether it is inside or outside of the house or, in my case, apartment. It is fun to do a little bit of both. It helps set the mood of the new season.

This past year, through the help of Pinterest, I have started making my wreaths for my front door. I can be as creative as I want when I make them. They don't take a ton of time and they are fun to do. And no matter what the final outcome looks like, it is never wrong. Changing the stuff on my front door is one of the first things I do when a new season arrives.

I saw ribbon at Hobby Lobby over Memorial Day weekend that I knew I wanted to use for a fall wreath. I worked at The Container Store for almost 6 years and in that time one of the greatest things I learned was how to make a bow. It was become an invaluable tool. I use that skill all the time!

The pumpkin burlap ribbon, along with some fall leaves and sunflowers, made a really pretty wreath. It is a welcoming sight when I come home.

Too Many Projects, Too Little Time

Can I just say that my job is getting in the way of me finishing up the projects that I really want to do? This time next week, I will be on my way to Wisconsin to see my niece for the first time. I am beyond words excited! But I am trying to finish up some projects before I go. Being gone from home for 5 days is going to put a crimp in my motivation, so I am trying to finish as much as I can now.

There is really only one project that I have to finish before I go. It is a knitted baby blanket. I have been working on this blanket for months. Even before I knew if Brynley was going to be a boy or girl, this blanket was in the works. The finished product is green, white and pink. I started with green since I could go either boy or girl from there. Once I found out the baby was going to be a girl, I had to choose between pink and purple as the other main color. I am pretty girly, so my choice was easily swayed to pink. It so happens that this blanket coordinates perfectly with the colors in Brynley's room. I am the aunt....so I know all!! :)

Another project I want to finish before I head out is for my mom. She is turning my brother's old room into a Steelers theme bedroom. I am sewing two valances for her to put up. I have already started them, but need to finish them up. It won't take too much time to do, but they are still sitting on my to-do list. I wanted to finish them before my mom was here a couple of weekends ago, but they just didn't get done.

My last two projects are for me. One I could have done a very long time ago, but of course, I am waiting until the last minute. The other one is a time consuming project.

I have a small landing with a window that leads up to my apartment. My mom bought me a little table and I decorate it seasonally. Right now, my fall stuff is up. October is right around the corner and I want to change up my decorations for Halloween. I bought Halloween fabric last year, but didn't make my valance.  Again, not a huge project, but another one that needs to be done.

To go with my valance, I am making a Halloween wreath. This is the time consuming project. Of course, it was another Pinterest find and I know the end result will be great. Getting to the end result is what is so hard. Since it is taking the most time, I want to spend more time on it. Which then takes away from the other things I want to finish. I will be posting about making this wreath later in October.

Instead of being able to dedicate a large amount of time on finishing all this up, I sit for 8 hours at work stressing over everything that I want to get finished. And to be the responsible adult, I should probably throw some cleaning in there somewhere. But with all the busyness, at least the time will go fast until I can hold my beautiful niece!