Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Pinterest Fails

Hi Friends,

I'm trying to ease back into this blogging regularly thing.  This is the third week in a row I've posted!  Once a week is regular, right?  :)

I'd like to share with you some ideas I tried on Pinterest that absolutely failed (mostly because of my own ineptitude).

1. This one was definitely my own fault that it failed.  It's a "bird feeder" but with yarn in it so they can use it for their nests.  I thought, "What a great way to use up all the really little ends of yarn!  (Ones too short to use in a crazy afghan.)"  All my pieces about 6 inches or shorter!  Now, in the defense of this original idea, I didn't actually go to their blog to see what they used.  I had an old plastic container that had cracked, so I decorated it with some yarn, filled it with yarn ends, and hung it up outside.  IF I had used the container they suggested - with a top to hold everything in - my problems wouldn't have happened.  But because the only hole was the large top, one gust of wind blew ALL the yarn scraps EVERYWHERE.  That was a mess.  Believe it or not, I actually picked them all up and put them back in, thinking that it was just a fluke.  The second time, I just threw the whole thing away.  I didn't even take a picture, though it would have been amusing (especially since I was working on all my rainbow projects, so the yarn was extremely colorful), so you'll just have to picture it.

2. My sister and I saw this Wax Paper and Crayon Chandelier and wanted to try it out.  We had absolutely no idea how many crayons we should shave in between the wax paper.  Let's just say we erred on the side of too many crayons.  Navy blue crayon wax melted out the sides... and I owe my mom a new ironing board cover.

3. I wanted to make these Raspberry Lemonade Bars.  They look absolutely wonderful, plus I love Raspberry Lemonade!  I don't know what I did wrong, but mine ended up a vomitous pale pink.  Maybe I didn't add enough raspberry.  I don't know.  They tasted weird, too.  I ended up bringing them over to a family reunion happening at the camp.  I said that a lady from our church made them for an event and that there were leftovers.  We'd never be able to eat all of them.  Technically that was true.  I'm a lady from our church, I made them for the Dessert of the Month club (that was Caleb's birthday present), and we'd NEVER be able to eat them!

4. This final fail (for today... I'm sure I'll find many more) is actually a true fail.  Don't try this one, because it doesn't work.  Everyone's all excited that you can write with Sharpie on a mug, bake it, and it's permanent.  Great gift, right?  I don't know how this girl got it to work, but it doesn't.  I tried it with all different colors, and some wash off at different rates, but they all eventually wear off.  If you're never going to wash it and only use it to hold paper clips and push pins on your desk - go for it.  If you want something safe that you can wash and it won't go away, use Porcelaine Pens.  Follow their directions, and you'll have a permanent design.  Here's a really great blog post with some helpful hints.

DO NOT purchase them on clearance at Michael's.  The packages in which Michael's sells them are very easy to open and close, so you can't tell what has already been opened.  If someone returns a pen to Michael's, they might just throw it back on the shelf at a clearance price.  Meaning it's dried out.  I purchased my first one this way and was extremely disappointed.  My second one I purchased from Amazon.com and had NO problems.

I've purchased mugs from Goodwill or Salvation Army (50-70 cents each) and they make great gifts!  I look for the mugs that are differently shaped than your typical mug.  I had a cute little short one that I decorated for my favorite 2-year-old.  I found matching tall thin ones that I monogrammed for a friend's wedding.  And I did use one regular shaped one for a test mug.  Since then, I've also found one of those really big mugs.  I can't wait to decorate it for someone who loves coffee!

From now on, I'll try to document my crafty and cooking adventures more in pictures, so they'll be more interesting to you.

In other news, yesterday was our first anniversary!  We had coupons for a free bowl of soup, salad, or noodles at Noodles & Company so we went out for lunch!  Caleb had never been there before and LOVED it.  We also had gift cards to Celebration, so we went to see The Bourne Legacy.  It was okay, but certainly not as great as the first three.  Then we went crazy and spent our own money - on Coldstone!  In the evening, he made me hamburgers, and I made him watch Mean Girls because he'd never seen it.  I'm not sure he appreciated that.

Love and "So Fetch",
Leah Joy

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