Pin Fail (aka- Who needs a laugh today?)

So almost anyone who has attempted to replicate some 'pins' on Pinterest has been here:  Someone pins something adorable/tasty/eye catching/whatever with a title exclaiming how easy it is, and so you want to try it too!

And then you find out, it is not quite so easy.  Or maybe they missed a few steps in the tutorial.  It can't be me, right?  (Ok, with my track record, it probably is me!)

I recently discovered a hilarious blog, Pinstrosity.  This blog is a collection of everyone's failed pins, with descriptions and photos.  I laughed my face off at a banana bread gone wrong.  Who knew that frozen-then-defrosted bananas could look like poo?

The following is what I would submit to Pinstrosity, after a do-it-myself Halloween wreath went awry this morning:

The Original Pin:

via Mom Endeavors

Adorable, supposed to be easy, and cheap.  My kind of craft!

So in this tutuorial, "Mom" used a tube of pipe insulation to make her wreath, because it was black and cheap ($1.50 for 6 ft, and cut to only use 3 ft of it).  Alright, hubby was going to Lowe's anyways, so I had him get me some of the pipe insulation.   I had already picked up spider webbing and fake spiders at Walmart, and had duct tape (to turn insulation into a circle) and ribbon here.  Let's go!

Well, the main problem with the whole thing was that my wreath would NOT conform into a circle.  This was as close as I could get it:

Not a circle, but not quite a square?

Yikes.  I continued trying to turn it into a circle, and added black electrical tape over the duct tape to hide the gray.  And then I added spider webs and spiders.

Final product.... That is scary alright....

I just could NOT get that wreath form correct.  I could have gotten the spider web to look less clumpy, but finally gave up, realizing I'll have to just go buy a true wreath form and some black spray paint.  Not a terrible fail, but not something I want to hang on my front door either!

And not my first fail either.  I had a delicious fail when I tried to make Oreo truffle footballs for the Super Bowl last year.

Foot-blobs?

Luckily these ones tasted so good, they didn't sit on the table mocking me for too long!

Still fun to try out pins, to get new recipes, decor, fashion, hair, craft ideas, etc.  And if I ever get the money to put my Pinterest Dream Home in action, watch out HGTV!

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Also wanted to post how my mantle came out, from the last entry.  No fail here!

Should I add a little garland or something?

 

Who doesn't love a vase of skulls?

Love free printables! 

 

Ok, heading to the craft store.  Have a great weekend!

Halloween

Not sure about my counterparts, but I LOVE Halloween.  Especially decorating for it!  And now thanks to Pinterest, I also love making my own decorations or getting design inspiration from others.

Back in college, and when hubby and I first got married, I bought decorations, but they were cheap and cheap LOOKING.  I didn't even think of making things on my own.  I thought there was just cutebutsoexpensive stuff at stores like Pier One, and cheapbutnotsocute stuff at Walmart.  I just tossed a few cheap things up, yay decorations!, and that was it.  I was never all that proud or inspired by it though.

But check out these adorable things found on Pinterest:



via

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I didn't think to take a picture of any of the things I've done so far, but one thing I'm loving is my mantle.  I have 3 glass vases of different sizes that I try to fill each season or holiday month with something specific to that holiday.  So right now I have a candle in one, some mini pumpkins in another, and then one filled with skulls and eyeballs.  Came out great!  And I framed this picture and put it up there too.



via

I haven't really thought of any decorating upstairs though.  Do people decorate bedrooms or bathrooms for Halloween at all? Or just their common areas (living room, kitchen, etc.)? 

A Day of Reflection

Today is the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks and it's crazy to think that it has really been that long. I'll never forget that morning and it seems like it was only yesterday. I remember sitting in a freshman college class called "Shakespeare in Love" during only the second week of classes at St. John Fisher College, in New York. There was some chatter in the hallway after the first plane went into the towers, but no one really thought much of it at that time and believed it to be a horrible accident. As my second class started, "Sex and the Body Politic", I remember kids coming in and telling us to turn on the television. And there is was...horror, panic, tragedy, and disbelief all laid out in front of us.

The rest of the day seems like a blur. Classes were cancelled and students gathered in the dining halls to watch it over and over again on television. After leaving the dining hall I remember gathering in a classmates room to watch all the news coverage. There we sat...probably six or eight of us, with other people coming in and out, and we all just cried. There was nothing else to do...we could not explain it and anger had not yet set in, so we just cried.

Looking back it is ironic that such a horrible tragedy was able to bring about such a close bond and friendship amongst strangers. None of us knew each other that well, as I said we'd only been there two weeks, but by the end of the week, we were all friends. To this day, eleven years later, I still speak with most of the people who sat in the dorm room with me as we watched the tragic events unfold.

There truly is something to be said about tragedy bringing people together. I'm not just talking about a group of college students, but a nation as a whole. We have turned this tragic day into something more important, a national day of service. There is no better way to honor those who lost their lives than by helping someone else.

*9/11/01-Never Forget*

Volunteering

One of my hobbies/passions in life is volunteering.  I don't have a lot of extra money at hand (especially as we go through the adoption process), but I can share my time with those who need the help.

I wasn't always as gung-ho about volunteering. When I was younger/more immature, I wasn't as interested in volunteering, mostly because it was usually a requirement, and what teen doesn't hate being told what to do? I also didn't have a big pick of what I could do, due to age.  But things changed in college.

I loved college, loved it!  But I did get homesick from time to time, including missing my dog and cat back home.  Living in a dorm, those types of pets were not allowed, and the turtle I'd bought as a "pet" was not cutting it.  (side note, did you know turtles can live for decades? Crap!). I one day had the idea to call the city shelter to see if they had any volunteer programs, and wound up a dog walker, going a few times a week to get dogs sunshine, fresh air, socialization, etc. I also got to play with the cats and kittens.  I was helping the small shelter out a lot. But I was actually getting a lot more out of it for myself.  And that is when it clicked.

In the years since, I have volunteered for the Humane Society, Ronald McDonald House, Hands On Charlotte, and more. And I have been lucky enough to work for a company that provides volunteer opportunities for us as well.  And no matter what I do for each organization, I get so much more back for myself.

With the Ronald McDonald House, I help with a volunteer leader committee, studying the ages of volunteers and finding was to connect with them. Because of that, I know that only a small percentage of our volunteers are under 40, or even 50, years old.  It doesn't have to be that way.

I don't write this as a "Go Me!" piece. I write it to try to convince others to give it a try. Not because someone is requiring you to. But because you relate to a cause, and it just clicks for you too.