Stress Case: Adventures in Pinterest

Showing posts with label Adventures in Pinterest. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Adventures in Pinterest: Quinoa Chicken Chilli

A little birdie (read: Cute Apartment) requested recipes, and this blogger is trying to deliver! I had pinned this one a long time ago, and couldn't wait to try it. I was especially interested because I had never cooked with quinoa before trying out this recipe (Fun fact: I only recently learned quinoa is pronounced keen-wah and not ki-no-ah. Thanks Sister Swimmer for helping a girl out.) and was interested in seeing if Handsome Husband would be a fan!

My Pinspiration:

Queen Bee Coupons

My Version:

I'll send you over to Queen Bee for the recipe, as I only changed a few things. I added slightly more corn (because I'm a big fan) and halved the chili powder and crushed red pepper additions per her suggestion, as I'm not a big fan of the spice.

I topped mine with lots of Mexican cheese and sour cream, on HH's I sprinkled extra chili powder and crushed red peppers, cause he does love spicy!

We were both big fans, and this is a great protein-heavy winter meal! It cooks in the crock pot (I used frozen chicken breasts and cooked mine on low for 6 hours and the chicken was perfect - my crock pot is faster than average, though), which I love. We had tons of leftovers, and HH preferred to eat his leftovers with chips!

What is your favorite winter meal?

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Adventures in Pinterest: Gender Reveal Party Details

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the video from our Gender Reveal Party, to see these fun details and more!

Pinterest was obviously my #1 go-to site when planning our Gender Reveal Party. I think Pinterest may have somehow been the one to invent these types of parties, afterall. There were definitely some pinspired elements at our party, and I wanted to share those with you!

My Pinspiration:

{Pin}

My Creation:

I absolutely loved the way the mix of patterned fabrics looked on this banner, and couldn't wait to recreate it! I picked up all my fabric and ribbon at JoAnns, the tape was from Michaels (but you can find it on HERE also). It was super simple to make, though one of the fabrics I chose just would not work with the double-sided craft tape I picked up, so I had to scrap that one from the banner. Other than that, easy peasy. I freehanded a "stencil" out of regular paper, and used that to keep the triangles roughly the same size and shape. I used tiny bits of the craft tape to hang the banner in a few places around my parents' home for some cute pink and blue decor!

My Pinspiration:

{Pin}

My Creation:

I absolutely loved the idea of putting together a "Boy or Girl" banner (clearly, I'm into banners at the moment), but wanted something that more went with our theme or bright pink and blues. Using my Silhouette Machine, I was able to cut the little flags, the letters, and punctuation in no time! I used tiny foam craft mounts to secure the letters to the flags for a little dimension, and strung the flags onto twine I had on hang to hang it.

My Pinspiration:

{Pin}

My Creation:

Funny enough, this was probably the most time consuming of the projects I'm sharing with you today! Taking the time to cut and ball the fruit was definitely intensive, but the surprising part was how hard it was to get it looking so Pinterest perfect. The above photos are completely misleading, because you can't really just put the fruits in one variety at a time. You have to layer them, keeping all the "columns" even, or it spills and fill the entire watermelon "bowl". It was a lot of trial and error, but all in all it wasn't that bad! And the result is adorable, if I do say so myself! I definitely plan to present fruit like this in the future!

Linking up with: The Vintage Apple, Something Swanky, Vintage Wanna Bee, Ginger Snap Crafts, Lil Luna, I {Heart} Nap Time, A Diamond in the Stuff, Live Laugh Rowe, 504 Main, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Six Sisters' Stuff, C.R.A.F.T., Delightful Order, House of Hepworths, Positively Splendid, BEAUtiful Mess/Keep Calm and Carry On, Southern Lovely, Someday Crafts, Chic on a Shoestring Budget, A Night Owl, House of Rose

Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Mother's Day Brunch

Last weekend, for Mother's Day, we hosted my parents, my sisters, Mother-in-Law Red and her beau, Mr. Bear for brunch. I have so loved owning our home for many reasons, but by far my number one reason? I love to entertain.

I spent quite some time deciding on the perfect spread - balancing the necessities of sweet and savory breakfast items to please all those in attendance, and I did pretty well, if I do say so myself!

This, to me, is the perfect brunch spread:

Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Hashbrowns

Bacon - soft and crispy!

Smoked Salmon

Strawberries and Bananas with Nutella

Cheesey Egg Bake

and

A Mimosa Bar (duh!)

And obviously, no Mother's Day is complete without some gifts.

My gifts for Mother-in-Law Red were lovingly bought at a craft fair (the adorable sign) and the phone case is from Etsy.

For Gardening Momma, I got a little crafty and my Pinspiration was from none other than the Saw it-Pinned it-Did it Queen herself, Steph!

My Pinspiration:

{Pinned}

My Creation:

I went with a big of a fluffier succulent arrangement, and a different type of wooden letter, and skipped the bow for Gardening Mom's wreath, but I loved Steph's so much I just couldn't stray too much for her adorable wreath.

I wasn't the only one who got crafty for Mother's Day this year, Sisters Swimmer and Singer worked with Hat Dad to create the coolest succulent planter for GM also!

So cool, right?!

Sisters showing off their handiwork.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Adventures in Pinterest: Mini Apple Pies

I am so annoyed with myself for taking forever to get these up on the blog, mostly because they were such hits that I wanted to brag right away! But scheduling posts tends to lead to a delay between real life and blog recap, so here we are almost two months after I made these adorable guys, finally seeing them on Stress Case in all their glory!

My Pinspiration:

{Pin}

{Original Source}

My Version:

I don't actually even like apple pie, but I had to try these out since it is a fave of Hat Dad's, and I made these for this birthday! I'll direct you over to Stock Piling Moms for the full recipe and instructions, as I followed them to the tee and they turned out wonderfully!

I used a tumblr I had lying around (shout out to our wedding photographer, D2 Photography!) to cut out the perfect size mini pie crusts! It didn't fully cut the shape out, so I used a paring knife to cut around the shape.

I was quite liberal with the pat of butter atop each pie.

What I didn't photograph was cutting out the inidivual shapes to go on the pies. I used the above paring knife and just freehanded each letter and the hearts. I did Daddy because ~~I am five years old~~ it was his special day, and I wanted it to be personalized! I did hearts on some, and even left some naked!

These were such a hit with the fam, I can't wait for another occasion to make some mini pies!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Adventures in Pinterest: Quick Change, A Baby Shower Gift Idea

I'm back at it with my Adventures in Pinterest, and today I have a darling baby shower gift idea to share with you! After being invited to Tutor Girl's Sip and See for sweet Lucky P (I'm a poet, and I didn't know it), I was on the prowl for a great baby shower gift for a second baby. It was my thought process that TG would have most of the essentials, and I wanted to get something different for this little bundle of joy - something unique! I got her a personalized blanket (go pressure Tutor Girl into blogging and showing it off!), but I also put together this gift to the entire TG/Ronomon family, in hopes of helping to tame the chaos that must come with two kiddos under three in the house!

My Pinspiration:

{Pin, Source}

My Version:

As you can see, I went with an entirely different look and I just adore how it turned out! TG had told me that she was going to do P's nursey in yellow with hot pink accents, and when I saw this basket (Michaels for under $13 dollars!) I had to have it! The bags are from Amazon, and you can find them through the link below:

I apologize the card is a bit blurry and hard to read! It says:

Quick Change

Each bag contains everything you need for one diaper change on-the-go:

A Size 1 Pampers Swaddlers Diaper

Cotonelle Travel Wipes

Disposable Changing Pad

Hand Sanitizer

Bag for Diaper Disposal

I got most of my products from Target, but you can find almost all of them on Amazon as well.

I decided to spring for some nice hand sanitizer for the bags, and took advantage of the 10/$10 deal at Bath and Body Works for the minis:

{B&BW}

I loved putting this gift together, and will most definitely be putting another one together for future baby showers!

And I can't possibly end this post without including an adorable photo of Little Miss Lucky P from her Sip & See:

The Cutest!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Adventures in Pinterest: Tacky Las Vegas Party

It's been mentioned on the blog here and there, but for those of you who don't know - my sweet Handsome Husband and I are a week apart in age. My birthday is exactly one week before his (I know, I'm a total cradle robber!). So, most often, we combine our birthdays and celebrate with a big ole group of special friends!

This year was no different as we turned ~~super old~~ a quarter of a century this month (actually, HH's birthday is TOMORROW!), and I was itching to throw a theme party. After lots of ideas, and many debates, we settled on a theme I had never actually heard of before. Color me original.

Tacky Las Vegas

Tacky is really in the eye of the beholder, but to me? Tacky Las Vegas begs for cocktail waitresses, tacky tourists, Hawaiian shirts, and lots and lots of sequins (though I love a good sequin piece of clothing, don't get me wrong).

Of course, I headed to Pinterest for inspiration and walked away with these two projects to ~~copy~~ make my own.

Source: entirelyeventfulday.com viaCasey on Pinterest

Source: Casey on Pinterest

With some Dollar Tree playing cards, some old white ribbon I had lying around, and a glue gun - I came up with my Playing card garland:

And while I was fresh out of adorably chic apothecary jars, but I added a little pizzaz to a vase and candle holder:

There were a few other little details here or there, and some adorable outfits from the night. The best part about the night though? Cheesy as it were, it was spending another birthday with some wonderful friends, and it was especially sweet that it was in our home that we found just before our last birthdays.

Something all of these ladies have in common? We went to high school together. What can I say, I love a good longterm friendship.

Definitely the winners of best costume: Twin Oh Yeah as a magician and his girlfriend, Future Dr. Babies as his assistant.

My very Handsome dealer, and me as a tacky cocktail waitress. You can't quite see it in the photo, but my "name tag" says "Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon: Trixie", my code name for the evening.