steve's top ten

steve's top ten creations from pinterest 365

10.  lego picture frame

it involved lego, what more do i have to say :)

9.  lemon yoghurt cake

this was totally divine, definitely i good choice!

8.  reindeer bottles

i totally didn't see this choice coming, it's amazing what others see and apparently these were just too cool not to add into the top ten!

7.  honey glaze for the christmas ham

6.  black board

black board paint was a total addiction for everyone in the family ;)

5.  brownie trifle

apparently this is the quickest way to my man's heart!

4.  tipsy pots

had to bring the egg's in somewhere, but these pots are well established in the garden and are so cool!

3.  lego minifig storage

his favourite things together, good design and lego!

2.  the bored jar

steve's number two because of the amount of fun we have had watching the peeps deal with this jar!

and his number one which totally surprised me but we use daily is the i love you because frame

YOUR TOP TEN

this is your top ten for the 365 days according to the most viewed:

10.  halloween neighbour gifts

pimped out pringles cans

9.  home management binder

this is something that has made my life SO much easier and far more organised

8.  reindeer noses

these are totally awesome, i have to agree .. :)

7.  travel toothbrush holders

these were so easy to make and we use them ALL the time

6.  emergency preparedness kit

this is one of those things you should just start doing and while we still have a couple of months of filling left to go, this has made me so prepared for any emergency, it's definitely in my top creations too!

5. the bored jar

this jar changed our life for the better, if you have kids give it a go.  we love it so much it was one of the projects we offered at the pinterest party!

4.  me on the map

the peeps totally loved doing this and it was a fantastic way to learn how each different subset of how we live fit together

3.  lego minifig storage

this has been so popular and someone else's favourite too ;)

2.  witches broomsticks

yes these babies have been popular on pinterest ... of course it had to be a pinterest creation were i took some REALLY bad photos!



and the number one pinterest project that has had twice as many views as any other:  kids travel packs tutorial

these are still going strong over three hundred days later and the peeps still love them when we travel away :)

check back next time for the families top ten, there were some surprises in there for me!

DAY 365: PINTEREST PARTY

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DONE :)

what better way to finish pinterest 365 than with a pinterest party inspired by all the other pinterest parties i have read about on pinterest's website, blog, and their facebook page!  today's party was inspired by these ones on my pinterest party board and there were plenty of amazing ideas including party ideas from the little things, design improvised, catch my party and many others.  thank you to all the pin providers on my pinterest party board, you made organising this party a dream to do and even better the perfect project for my 365th day :)

pinterest parties are all about getting people together to have a great time and get creative, today's was no different.  it was about me getting friends and family doing more projects and providing them with all the things they needed to achieve them while having some fun, food, drink, and a little bit of celebrating ;)

with the help of mum, steve, and the peeps we set up 25 projects that were suitable for young and old alike.  everything from my favourite projects over the year to projects i had only tried while making samples for all the different craft stations, to hands on blokey shed projects, to fussy felt flowers, to kitchen spice mixes, there was something for everyone ... even tracy, who swears she can't craft even though i know better!

to attend each person had to bring a recipe they had made from pinterest to share for morning tea ... the results were hilarious, everything from mulled wine to noel's cookies which were his first ever foray into baking!  there was food everywhere and it was ALL so delicious i won't need to eat for a year!

there was amazing food

there was celebrating

there were PLENTY of projects completed

there were tears when i one of my dearest friends gave me this

thank you lana :)

there were more tears as i sat down for this evening after everyone had left and i realised what i had done and completed ... in my own space, in my own way, and in 365 days (+ 1, thank you leap year!)

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my absolute gratitude to my family and friends who have encouraged me throughout the year and have been willing guinea pigs for all sorts of daily experiments.  it has been an incredible journey and something that has been life changing.  i have made friends worldwide that i cherish, and blogs that i visit often for inspiration.  over the next week i will share some top tens of the last 365 days with you and wrap this year up, because a new year is going to begin ... but that's for next week ;)

i gaurantee it :)

penultimate day: spray painting!

my new christmas friend, definitely reminds me of one of the reindeer but which one?

the penultimate day for pinterest 365 and i figured it was about time i got some spray painting done, i was prepared to spray paint ANYTHING today just to get some done before the end of the year.  i had LOTS on today so sent the rest of the family to the 2nd hand shop to find me something i could change the colour of.  they came back with this ... poor thing it looks as if it's seen a few christmas's and didn't have a lot of spirit left to give.  definitely a perfect candidate for makeover :)

becky higgins has spray painted a great many things to give them a second life and i love that she provides you with spray painting know-how in this post.  it's a really comprehensive list that gave me the confidence to take my reindeer out to the shed and give it a go.  the advice is also pinned to my general crafts board on pinterest.

i started with red and realised it wasn't a deep enough red to make it that really rich colour of christmas.  undeterred i decided to put a black on top and then do another coat of the red on top of that so it would give the red more depth.  after i had done the black it looked so cute in a warm chocolate colour i left it ... :)

the $5 find ... it was far more yellow it really life!

i masked over his eyes and nose before starting the spraying

i think it looks like comet ;)

outcome: this little reindeer will fight to see another festive season ... not finished with his trimming yet ... the christmas stuff is a little hard to get to today ... but the colour of his fur is much improved and gives me the perfect base to make him a little more festive at christmas with some bells etc :)

sincere thanks to  becky higgins for all the advice she offers in her various posts on spray painting.  i loved my first foray into this up-cycling area and have been going around looking at things i can redo with spray painting!

come join in with me at the bloggy olympics :)

i'm joining the bloggy olympics over at hating martha, imperfection at its best ... come join me and play along to get heaps of inspiration.

this is the timetable for the olympics, sign up and have some fun with me :)

day 363: serving ware of the pimped out plastic variety

NOW these plates look ready for a party :)

day 363 and we had a pinterest party working bee tonight as we get prepared for sunday.  my dear friend lana came for dinner and once we had finished homemade burgers, i got everyone into work mode making samples, organising party things, experimenting in the shed!  today's pinterest creation tied in nicely with all the party prep and i even managed to get my sweet mum to help me out while lana and steve where busy with some project samples for sunday.

we have settled on 25 crafts that will be available to make on the day so people can pick and chose which ones they want to make and ensure they have a couple of pinterest projects to take home.  with there being 25 we have had to spread them out over our three barns including our large shed.  i didn't want my nice serving platters going down to the shed so i have opted for plastic ... as a bonus there will also be less dishes to do after the party :)  the plastic plates did need a bit of modifying to be acceptable for a pinterest party though and luckily this idea from lauren geiger is perfect!  what a great way to dress up a plate and not worry about whether it comes back to you or is broken or destroyed during projects in the shed ;)

all you need to do is punch holes evenly around the edge of the plate and then thread ribbon that matches the theme for the occasion through the holes, tie a bow, and fill as required.  i obviously had to go with red and white for my colour scheme ;)

the materials

worker one

worker two

worker three

... you can see why i don't want my serving platters heading out to the shed ... honestly with this guy in charge, would you trust him ;)

outcome: totally impressed with how they changed the appearance of the cheap plates to something far more funky and exciting ... hopefully just like the party projects will be!

my thanks to lauren geiger for this cool idea, in fact, it's so cool i have stored it away on my pinterest 2012 advent crafts board for the peeps to use at christmas. and thanks to my hard working team tonight, you guys saved me heaps of time, i had better head back to it ... see you all tomorrow :)

* 2 DAYS TO GO! *

day 362: hot chocolates from the pioneer woman

orange hot chocolates ... seriously good!

day 362 and the winter cold REALLY set in today ... it was cold, i am cold, i longed for everlasting hot showers and warm drinks to take away the winter chills.  i found inspiration mid afternoon after trying every tea and coffee in the house to try a new hot cocoa recipe.  i had no cocoa so couldn't make the usual concoction the peeps and i love, but i had chocolate so i went with the pioneer woman's recipe.  Ree has all sorts of different versions of her delicious hot chocolate, i went for the healthiest looking one that used something similar to these ;)

the healthy part of the recipe :)

i didn't have the recommended oranges but we still have a tree laden with mandarins, so they made the cut.  the recipe also made the cut and is now pinned to my winter wonderland board on pinterest.

the recipe is painless, and i halved it to serve three instead of six.  for three you need two cups of milk, 1/2 cup of chocolate melts, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and for the orange, or in my case mandarin version, orange rind, and a couple of orange rounds.  as it was evening when i got around to making this, i couldn't be bothered peeling the mandarins so just added two clementine mandarins sliced to the pot and left them to simmer with the milk, then added the chocolate pieces ... it has been a long day.

the mandarins simmering with the milk

then in went the chocolate

i wish you could smell and taste this!

outcome:  steve declared this was the BEST hot chocolate he had ever tasted ... and i would have to agree .... why did i halve the recipe, why oh why? honestly the sweetness of the clementines in with the milk chocolate is divine and you just want to keep drinking it.  i didn't think i would like it because i am not a big fan of really sweet things.  but this isn't, it hits just the right balance and as our clementines were a little tart i think that only added to taste!  if you are a new zealander, think hot jaffas ... yum aye!

my sincere thanks to ree from the pioneer woman.  doesn't she have an amazing website for ... well, um, everything ... i have spent way to much time there this evening looking over all she has to offer :)

and as for those pineapple flowers ... AWESOME, even us mere mortals in the kitchen can make them :)  you will see more of them in the coming days, but here is a finished crisp one and i can tell you the intense pineapple flavour of them is magnificent ;)

this is the finished pineapple flower ... the rest are for a special project you will see soon ;)