Week 2: 52 weeks of Pinterest

Its a keeper!  Wow, the summer salad from last week was awesome!  See post here:

http://themechanicswife.blogspot.com/2012/07/52-weeks-of-pinterest.html

My local store didn't have any black beans, so I used Black Eyed Peas instead and it was still wonderful.  (Sorry didn't get a photo, but it looked just like their photo just different beans!)

It did last several days and I ate it with Alfredo Tortillini, scrambled eggs, with chips, and with chicken.

The Mechanic has been working some late nights with the cooler weather, so he missed out on the awesome salad, which just left more for me!  It was kinda strange to eat just strait, but was good.

It will be a great summer salad to take for a get together or BBQ.  I would just make sure and take some chips to use it more as a "dip" (make sure to get pita chips or a thicker corn chip!).

Next going to try the Butterfingers recipe from Pinterest.

My friend, Honey tried it and said it was wonderful, and with only 3 ingreedents you can't go wrong!!

Candy Corn Butterfingers
Taste of Home forums
(Printable Recipe)


1 lb. candy corn
16oz jar peanut butter (I used Peter Pan Honey Roasted peanut butter)
16oz pkg. chocolate candy coating

Melt candy corn in microwave on high 1 minute. Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals til melted, stirring after each interval. Stir in peanut butter. Spread mixture in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Dip in melted chocolate candy coating. Lay on waxed paper to set.

Hope our little local store has all I need for these, or I may have to wait till candy corn comes out for Halloween!

Wishing you a wonderful week!!

Burnt Polymer and Pinterest (again)

Earlier today I had put a few pieces of Polymer clay into my little oven to harden.  I had everything set then walked away to get some other chores done.

About 20 minutes later I walk into my kitchen and my eyes go wide as I think, what is burning???

Look into the mud room and my Polymer clay oven has smoke coming out of it!  My first thought was so glad my husband isn't home, second thought was, what the heck happened?

I quickly got over to it and low and behold the temperature was set to 450!  I had set it at 250.  My adorable always active little 2 year old, Axle had to of turned it up! 

Thankfully I just had some practice/scrap pieces in there.

In the mean time I have moved the smoking oven outside on top of the air conditioner and have begun to try to air out the house (hopefully before The Mechanic comes home!)

So as I am sitting here shaking my head I check out Pinterest and lo and behold my friend Casey has pinned a photo of a DIY room air freshner.

Which means...one more project done!

Its from The Burlap Bag


What you need:
A container
Baking soda
Essential oil
Foil (or a lid you want to ruin and poke holes in)

Put in Jar, add 8 or so drops of Essential Oil.



Easy as pie to get done!  I added Young Livings Abundance (as who doesn't need more of it, and Lemon Grass.)  

 Axle also decided to give one of the little puppies a bath as well! 

 

Paper eyelashes...hum...

How cool are these!?

 Definitely would have to have somewhere to go to put these on - as the ladies at the grocery store might think I went off my rocker if I had these on!  But, oh they would be so fun!

Would love to get a Sihoutte cutting machine and could possible just make some, but how to get them to curl??  (wrap around a pencil or pen perhaps??)

Their website says they were seen in the movie The Hunger Games.  I'm guessing Effie Trinket work them.

 

Paper Eyelashes - Deer and Butterfly (regular)

 

         Peacock                                           Horse                                                  Peony

These come from www.paperself.com out of the UK.

They cost around $12.50 for the small ones and $15.00 for the full eye.  Not including shipping.           

52 Weeks of Pinterest

New goal:
Do something, create something, make something from my Pinterest wall each week.

I have a ton of pins on my Pinterest wall and decided today that I need to start experimenting and trying some more of these.


I have made these Hot Buttered Pretzels from kingarthurflour.com. 

We loved them, but found it was actually easier to make them into twists instead of the pretzel shape.

This recipe went into the "notebook".


I also gave a spin at trying the Sonic's Cherry Limeade by http://thelittlebrownhouse.us/2011/07/25/diy-sonic-cherry-limeade/

This was awesome as well!  Just wish I had the ice machine for the little ice that they have!

1 can frozen limeade concentrate,

1- 2 liter bottle Sprite,

Juice from 1 10 oz jar cherries

Fresh limes (optional)

Simply put it all together.. tough huh?

Tonight I'm going back on the food wagon with attempting this yummy looking summer dish (which has all of my favorite things in it!!) from   http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/08/black-bean-salad-with-corn-red-peppers-avocado-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette.html

Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

 

Ingredients

• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 ears fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots, from one medium shallot
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best quality such as Colavita
• 1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest limes before juicing them)
• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 2 Hass avocados, chopped

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a more chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Now I'm off to the shower then loading Miss Elexx up and heading to our local store to load up!!  (Plus might hit up the bargain store while in town!)

Happy Friday the 13th!  Make it an exceptional day!

Window frame upcycle

So excited I finally took the time in this 100 degree heat to start a project I had been wanting to get done for a while now.

A couple months ago when I accompanied my husband to the dump, there was a dumpster full of old windows!  I was able to snag 3 out of the pile.  Even though the glass was broken they were gems in my eyes!  If I could have gotten my hubby to fetch all of them for me I would have really been happy, or if he would have let me get in and dig them out I would have been really happy, but being a full 8 months pregnant, he didn't want me in there and I figured 3 was better than none!

Yesterday I grabbed one out of the garage as well as the old cork board I had that was needing a new life.
The window had been painted white on one side and was still a varnished brown on the other.  I had hoped to use the white side as it was the old look I wanted, but the window panes actually went in on this side so I was going to need to use the brown side.

Out came the reliable off white paint gallon and in no time I had her painted.  I didn't do the best job, as I thought I might scuff it up a bit later.

I had some awesome heavier fabric that I wanted to use to cover the cork board, as it was looking pretty shabby.

My son Ax, and I got it out of the frame, measured it out and begin cutting away.

Unfortunately it wasn't quite the right length, but I did have an extra piece so we cut those to fill in the bottom gaps.

After laying out the material and hot gluing the fabric to the cork board we put the panels in place and tacked in some small nails on the back to hold everything in place.

I cut off the side ropes and put her on my old dresser on the back porch.  Ready for use!

I'm sure it won't take any time at all to fill it (and the dresser) up!