What Caught Your Attention in 2013

I thought it might be fun to look back at a few statistics and see what you guys loved most from this blog in 2013.

Top 3 posts:

#3 - Knitted Baby Blanket



#2 - Distressing Furniture with Baby Wipes



#1 - Handmade Christmas Part Three



Blurry pictures and all - everyone really loved hand painted wine glasses. Which isn't surprising when you see the results of the next count down - Most pinned in 2013

Top 3 most pinned items in 2013

#3 - Knitted Baby Blanket - 431 repins

#2 - Painted Wine Glasses - 604 repins

#1 - Dont Worry Be Happy Pallet Art - 777 repins

Thank you guys so much for making 2013 a great year. I cannot wait to see what this year (2014) has in store.

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Create : White Chicken Chili

If this were a PSA (which it should be) it would simply say MAKE THIS SOUP NOW.

Seriously.

So good. So easy. Tons of flavor.



I will tell you I improvised on this some. I didn't really measure the chicken but instead shredded a rotisserie chicken and added all the meat that came with it to the pot. You really can't mess it up though. Little of this and a little of that.

Depending on the salsa verde you chose - this can have a bit of a kick. I chose traditional Mexican salsa verde which gave it a major kick. Add to that pepper jack cheese and there were a few moments I needed a chip or ten to tone down the spice. If you aren't big on spicy foods then just make sure and get a mild salsa verde and add Monterrey Jack instead of pepper jack.



I think this took me all of 5-10 minutes to make and before I knew it my house smelled divine and my belly was happy!

Warning: you will have soup for days! I think I probably have 6-8 servings from one recipe.

Now, go forth and satisfy your taste buds!

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pINTERESTING : Mason Jar Blender

Pinterest is full of tips and tricks but I feel as though the majority of them wont work as seamlessly as they are portrayed.
Last night I got home from the gym late and didn’t want a big dinner. I figured a protein smoothie would be just right. The thought of cleaning out my blender just wasn’t all that appealing, though.
You see I used to have one of those knock off magic bullets… and then it went to blender heaven.
So I improvised.

I removed the blade from the bottom of my pitcher that hooks into my blender and added it to a mason jar



Protein mix, frozen strawberries, and some low fat milk – shake it up a bit and then added it to your blender just like you would the pitcher. Blend away.



Who knew it would actually work! After I was finished all I had to do was rinse out the mason jar and call it good.
I would call this one a complete pinterest success and my smoothie was tasty to boot.
Have you tried this before? Any good protein smoothie recipes?

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Cleanse: Dandelion Tea

After my workout last night I high tailed it to a local whole foods store called Akins. They sell all sorts of herbal supplements and organic foods. I knew that would be just the place to find an assortment of teas.
If you haven't ever heard of dandelion root join the club. My mom told me about its health benefits a few days ago. I decided to look around for myself.
Turns out dandelion root aids in digestion, purifying the blood of toxins, reduces inflammation, reduces high cholesterol, improves skin clarity, and it also helps reduce your sodium build up.
If you know me you know I not only have a sweet tooth but a sodium tooth also. Salt is my homeboy.
From what I read there was really no downfall of trying this tea and with all the benefits I thought why not give it a chance.

Jillian Michaels has a detox recipe for dandelion tea but I just kind of made mine up as I went.
While at Akins I grabbed 100% Cranberry Juice and 100% Lemonade. Looking back I would have just rather used lemon juice.


Personally, I like cranberry juice but the all natural lemonade was a tad too tart. I made sure neither of the juices had added sugar, sweeteners, or sodium. We are cleansing you know.


I decided to just go ahead and make a pitchers worth and drink it cold. You could adapt this recipe to make a hot tea single serving. I followed the directions on the box 1 cup of boiling water per bag. I used 6 bags and 6 cups of boiling water.


Once the tea steeped for 15 or so minutes I poured it into my pitcher and added about 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice and 1 cup lemonade. No extra sweeteners. You could add fresh lemon juice to taste.

If you really need to sweeten it up think about adding honey or agave – no artificial sweeteners or it will completely defeat the purpose.
This will “cleanse” your body so know that you will have an increased need to pee. Sorry for being so frank but its true. I would not suggest this as a tool for permanent weight loss as you are mainly loosing water weight but it’s a great weekly drink to have to make sure you are flushing your system of toxins.
Anyone else tried this tea?

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Pinteresting: Photo Booth

Recently I volunteered to do the décor for our church’s fall festival. One of the items on the list was a photo booth for families and friends to take pictures in their costumes.

Photo booths are all the rage and take on many different forms but there were three things ours needed to be : cheap, easy, and durable.

Here were my inspiration photos – thanks to pinterest.

A fabulous volunteer made the props and I was left with the photo booth itself.

Two vintage sheets, paper garland, 10 pumpkins, 3 bales of straw, 5 mums, and a chair = photo booth on a budget

The sheets were hung with clothes pins on a rope tied between the two trees with the paper dot garland also hung up by the same clothes pins.

Those amazing pumpkins came from Whole Foods at $4.99 a pop – they are a great size for the price

The sign was part Microsoft Word and part doodle – what you don’t see is the bottom of the sign that says “you are the photographer so grab you camera and snap away”

We didn’t have our photo booth manned but instead let families come and take pictures with their phones, cameras, etc.

The small metallic pumpkins are target dollar spot!

So there you have it a fall festival photo booth!

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Pinterest 101: getting your pins in order

Recently, the company I work for lifted the social networking restrictions meaning Pinterest was now available at work. Dangerous.

To be honest, I have been so busy at work that getting on Pinterest rarely happens. Wah Wah

A week or so ago I had a co-worker (hi sandra!) stop by and ask if I could show her how to pin. Since she lives alone, work is the best place to get a tutorial being that she is surrounded by pinners.

We havent been able to connect for that tutorial – but it got me to thinking – how many people out there don’t know the ins and outs of pinterest?

My mom (sorry mom!) still pins everything to that initial board pinterest sets up for you. I see double pins by the same person all the time and wonder if they know how to delete a pin… needless to say some organization is in order

So here it is – pinterest 101: getting your pins in order.

For those of you who are pinterest wizards, come back tomorrow for more fun.

Otherwise, keep reading!

Above is a basic look at your home screen. This screen will show you recent pins from other pinners that you decided to follow along with your own.

The “add” button is a way to add a pin, upload a pin from your computer, or create a board.

Creating a board helps categorize your pins – for example “recipes” “home décor” “DIY”

Adding a pin can be done by placing the add button in your browser (search pinterest for the how to)

Clicking on the button with your user name will get you to your personal dashboard. Here is where the real magic happens.

From here you can see all your boards, followers, who you follow, your profile, and your activity.

Lets look at editing a board

By clicking on the board (grouping of pictures) you can edit your board or edit a pin in that board.

Click the edit board button

Need to adjust the title, description, or category? Here you can also give someone else permission to pin to the selected board.

The best part – you can delete a board. So, those standard boards that pinterest gives you? no more!

Back to the selected boards home page

Now hover your mouse over a specific pin and notice the buttons that show. Click edit

Here you can edit the selected pin. By selecting the drop down on the “board” line you can add the selected pin to another board. NOTE: this does not delete it from the current board just duplicates it.

Moving on, back at our home page (click the pinterest logo to get there) lets look at the “everything tab” also known as the revolving door of pinterest

lets say I want to repin something. Hover your mouse over the picture you would like to repin and hit the repin button that pops up

At this point I can re-write the description AND decide which board I would like this pin to reside in. For example this isn't a work out and wouldn’t go on my “hot bod” board but instead on my “recipes” board.

NOTE: if you see something interesting PIN IT NOW – a lot of the time pins are moving pretty fast and refreshing will make you loose your spot therefore you wont be able to find that pin you just fell in love with.

Now – go forth and pin away… with some sort of order.

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Recent Finds : Pinterest

I, like every other breathing human, LOVE pinterest. All it takes is one pin and next thing I know its 2 hours later and I have a grocery list and party décor ideas for a gathering that isn't going to happen.

Here are some ditties I found oh so pINTERESTING this week

For the love of watercolor! My friend, Jessica, pinned this… so great. Doesn’t it make you want to pick up a paint brush and have at it! By the way – if you are a creative soul – check out her pins. So inspiring

here

here

here

I am looking at starting to brand this little thing I have going on. First up, business cards. Brit is working through some designs for me – you’ll be seeing those in the near future. But first I needed some inspiration.

don’t fret, you'll be seeing this happening in the near future! The paper covered drawers is such a fun sneak of color/texture. I have the perfect piece for this.

Anyone getting lost in the pinterest maze lately? Find some fantastic pins you are itching to try out?

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