PIN-tastic!

Here's where my Pinterest obsession comes to life!! I. LOVE. PINTEREST. I could spend all day and night, and quite frequently do, on Pinterest! :) If all my boards came to life my house would look amazing and be organized, my closet would rival a fashionable celeb's, and my tummy would be full of yummy food.

To follow me on Pinterest, just click HERE. I guarantee that you'll see new pins daily!

So, this page is dedicated to pins that I've tried and how they turned out... this is a DIY blog after all! ;) Just click the title of each "Pin-spiration" to find the tutorial/recipe/etc.

Completed Projects

Growth Chart Ruler

Pin-Spiration

NAILED IT! :)

After about three months, it's finished!! We love it so much!
P.S. It looks a little dark here, but that's just because of the lighting when I took the picture. The walnut stain looks pretty rustic, which is exactly what we were going/hoping for! :)

Super Easy Tote Bag

Pin-spiration


NAILED IT! :)

 Jordan LOVES her new ballet bag. It actually WAS super easy to make, other than my concern of sewing through so many layers, but my machine did fine. And the pockets still function, we just hot glued some sparkle to the tops of them for a super-girly touch! Jordan has successfully packed and unpacked it about 20 times already, and it's the perfect size for her (3 1/2 years old). Overall, I would totally make this again! And, now that I know how basic it is to sew, I'm sure it can be reproduced in just about any size.

Chicken Florentine Bowtie Pasta

Pin-spiration

NAILED IT!

I liked this recipe for a few reasons:

1. I used 1/2 a left-over rotisserie chicken, so I didn't have to cook chicken the night I made this dish. The chicken was $6 at Walmart, and I had previously used it to make a double batch of chicken noodle soup. That means I got THREE meals out of the $6 pre-cooked chicken. I think $2/meal is pretty awesome.
2. It was YUMMY!
3. It fed 4 adults and 2 kids, with enough left-over for two adult lunches!

Overall, we will make this again. I think it turned out a little less creamy than I expected, so I'm going to try adding some more cooking cream next time.

Letter to Disney

Pin-spiration

NAILED IT!

She had fun telling me what she wanted to write, which included "I love watching your movies before bedtime!" and "My mommy reads me your stories!" :) Postcard received in about a month maybe!
She loved getting "princess mail"!

White Chicken Enchiladas

Pin-spiration

NAILED IT!

These enchiladas were pretty amazing! I ended up with 8, instead of the 10 the recipe makes, but it was enough for 3 adults and 2 kids... and 2 lunches.
Overall, I think it was a little too "sour-creamy" for my tastes, but I don't like sour cream... but I still loved every bite I took! :) Also, I used a rotisserie chicken for the shredded chicken (and even saved some for a "kid lunch" of chicken quesadillas)... total costs for this meal(s) was around $15! Not too shabby. And, considering this recipe was added to our "Favorite Recipes" binder, I would say it was a success!
UPDATE: We made this recipe for our friends and they LOVED it! :) I even gave her my copy of the recipe. I did make a change the 2nd time around though; I added Paprika as an added, final step to making the sauce. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't even taste the sour cream this time!! I think it still needs a little something to be more "Mexican flavored", but I'm not quite sure what that is. 

Hasselback Potatoes

Pin-spiration

NAILED IT!

(Okay, so my picture doesn't look nearly as good. Don't mind the white at the bottom, that was a "slice" of potato that came out)

The Verdict: GREAT way to change up the good ole baked potato!! We will DEFINITELY be doing these often. They were a hit for adults AND kids, and my husband even asked me how I sliced them so "perfectly"! (Bonus: compliments!) 

Let's see.. I would like you to know that the recipe says bake for 40 minutes, but our "medium" potatoes were in for at least 60 minutes and could have probably used an additional 10. Other than that, I used kosher salt, not sea salt, and loved the way that it stuck to the skin. Another thing to note: this is a great recipe because you eat the skin without even realizing it! (NO PEELING!!)

Corndog Muffins

Pin-spiration



NAILED IT!

(Don't you just love how the hot dogs are hidden? Like a real corndog!)

These little muffins were a hit with adults and kids! :)
Note: I made normal size muffins and the recipe/picture is for mini-muffins.
I'll admit, I did not make my own cornbread from scratch, but I think Marie Callender perfected the recipe, so why reinvent the wheel, right? Anyway, bought a big bag of cornbread mix on our last trip to Costco, bought a HUGE package of turkey dogs recently at Winco, and Jordan already requested baked beans for dinner... so we were set!! Literally a QUICK dinner, perfect for my Women's Group night.
Only Complaint:
Even with thoroughly spraying the muffin pan with Pam, the muffins still stuck. We will definitely be using cups next time. (I actually used my Pampered Chef avacado peeler to loosen them out)

And Justin laughed at me when I bought this! HA! Who's laughin' now?