The Em-Life: Keeping Up Appearances Day 2

**For 1 Week (and only one week, thank goodness!) Emilee and Marquette attempted to live a life that matched up to Social Media Standards, mostly just to show what that could look like in real life and how ridiculous the idea is.**

 New to the series Keeping Up Appearances? Here is where we explain our fun project, and here is where you can read how Day 1 went!

Hello!

Day two of the Keeping Up Appearances Challenge is upon us, and it is going...really good!

I had a really long shift at work today, so I didn't have much time to do all the cleaning and prep that I did the day before, but I accomplished (most) of my daily pins, and a couple extra pins on top of that!

Today was craft day! Woohoo! I have been dying to make a fall wreath, and what better time to do so than in fall and during a DIY challenge!

I took some inspiration from a BUNCH of fall wreath pins on Pinterest and then went in my own direction. I love love love that I finally have a Hobby Lobby where we live and was there for an hour and half looking at all the goodies, planning, scheming, and calculating all the 40% sales I had in my basket. It was one of the best Hobby Lobby trips I've had in a while!

Here is a shot of secret pin board with all of my Pinspirations for this project.

                                                                             

 I took inspiration from each pin and created my own smorgasbord of a wreath! Side note: I JUST NOW realized I have been saying smorgasbord wrong my entire life. Thank you internets/spellcheck, I have always said Schmorgasborg. I apologize for slaughtering the Swedish language. The more you know.

For this wreath I used a grape vine wreath form, a package of black tipped wheat, two black faux floral pieces, a package of pinecones and acorns, a faux gold leafed letter G, and some other floral accessories I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I also used hot glue and twisty-ties. There wasn't really a rhyme or reason to where anything went here, I just kind of played with the proportions and asymmetrical look and glued when I thought it looked good. How's that for directions!?

I liked this pumpkin pin a lot and decided to try it out, it didn't look too hard. I didn't know until I was picking up the supplies for this that Hobby Lobby carries fake carving pumpkins! How cool is that?! They are made from styrofoam and you can carve them like a real pumpkin, only they won't wilt or rot! Awesome right?! They are a little on the pricey side, but I used my 40% coupon and felt a little better about it.

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/diy-pumpkin-flower-pot/

Since I live in an apartment complex I didn't want to use the urns (which were really cute), because space is tight, but I thought just a little pumpkin the porch would be cute.

This pin was super easy. I bought the supplies, (I just happened to see these Mums at Lowe's and liked them, that is what she used in the original), I measured the circumference of the mums pot and cut the hole for the flowers with a knife, took the top off and placed the flowers inside. Voila! Quick and easy!

 As for fall decorating inside, I thought this pin looked quick easy and cheap!

http://www.naptimedecorator.net/

I chose to go with different colored candles (because it's fun!) and they all smelled yummy so I thought combined they would be delish, and they are!! The orange candle was the first to go, but eventually they all melted down and trickled through the corn kernals which looked a little halloweeny (especially red), so now they are extra fall-ish and I love them! This whole pin took me 10 minutes and $10 ( I didn't have any of the supplies for this one on hand). Also to note, my vases were a little smaller than the original and plastic cups wouldn't fit inside, so I cut different lengths into toilet paper rolls and used those to prop up the candles instead.

It's day two of Paleo and I am DYING for sugar. So I sucked up went for a five mile run and drank some water.

TOTALLY kidding!!! Seeing as I am not actually Pinterest Perfect, I made paleo brownies instead and they were amazing! My friend Randi gave me this recipe a while back and let me tell you it is stellar!

http://elanaspantry.com/double-chocolate-walnut-brownies/

I'm not much into walnuts, so we emitted those, but I made the rest of the recipe to the letter and they turned out fantastic!

They taste like real brownies!! Hit the spot!

Update:

#longlivereallife

Here is what my house looked like while I made my Pinterest Perfect Paleo brownies (which contained REAL chocolate, take that social media! #rebel *In all reality I would have used the "healthy" chocolate, but I forgot to get it when I was grocery shopping, because I'm not picture perfect and I still wanted brownies, so I used the chocolate I had on hand, semi-sweet Toll House and it was glorious. No regrets.*)

     

Bed head, pajamas, real chocolate, no makeup and a kitchen mess. Day two and I'm already slipping further away from the perfection that seemed so close yesterday!

For dinner I made chicken wings...and completely forgot to take a picture! Ah! A real social media savy person would gladly have their $400 Nikon ready for some kitchen action at all times. I am soooo not used to taking pictures of all of my food, so we ate all our dinner and I didn't even think about it! Sorry! But here is the pin I used and these guys were SO DANG GOOD! Relatively easy and still paleo. Booya!

www.paleonewbie.com

The new ingredient I used for this pin was chipotle. Believe it or not, this New Mexico native had never cooked with a  southwest favorite, chipotle seasoning. We just always use straight up Chili!

All in all today went really good, I don't feel as energized and rip rearin' to go today, but I feel accomplished and think this is going well for how intimidating this felt last week. Tune in tomorrow for more fun! 



Pumpkin-tober Show and Tell

We are so excited to show you the submissions we received for October's Theme Challenge! At the beginning of this month we asked you all to find a pumpkin related pin to try out and then send our direction.

I'll just start in the order in which they were sent to us.

1. Kari's Pumpkin Photo Project:

The Pinspiration:

(via)

 The Result: 

We purchased a giant pumpkin from Sam's Club.  I carved the insides out , got my one year old son naked except his diaper, and plopped him on in.  He did not like it one bit!  It's cold and wet and icky.  I couldn't get a single picture where he's not bawling.

2. Kate's Pumpkin Bars

The Pinspiration:

(via)

  The Result: 

I started with the recipe, which has gorgeous photos but confusing instructions, IF you read too fast like I tend to do.  Clearly, there are three layers in the photos, and for some reason as I was asking my husband to put ingredients in a bowl for one of the layers, my eyes skipped some instructions, and two eggs ended up in the mixture that was supposed to be crumbles for the top layer.  *sigh*  It's entirely my fault. We discussed adding something to try to make it crumbly again (flour?) but decided not to, for fear of wrecking it altogether.  And we made sure to go back and add the two eggs to the correct layer as well.

So the first two layers (cake batter crust, pumpkin in the middle) turned out normal. And I spread the much-too-sticky-and-not-crumbly-at-all mix on the top the best I could.

We baked it according to the directions - and with my fingers crossed - and when it came out of the oven, the topping had formed a thin, brownie-like crust on the top. We waited an hour for it to cool down before cutting, and gave it a try... and it was delicious.  Definitely worth trying again with the ingredients in the correct layers!

Now, after two days of enjoying, we're finding that the crunch on the top has gone soft.  The flavor is still quite good, but without the crunch it's more like eating pudding. And that's our Pumpkin Pinstrosity from our house.

3. Claire's Owl Pumpkin

I've been eyeing all of these cool, wood-block inspired pumpkins on Pinterest and just generally around the internet for a while now. They look so cool. When I finally figured out how to do them, I was pleasantly surprised. You see, people do them with something called a lino cut tool, used for making linoleum cut block prints, kind of like wood block prints but easier. You use a kind of gougey-knife thing to carve out strips of what medium you're working with, and it turns out pumpkins, both the real and foam varieties, are ideal for this. I learned how to use a lino cut tool in elementary school and again in high school (why they let ten year olds around very sharp, stabby, knife-type things is beyond me).  So this year, being that I'm a graduate of Warren Wilson College, whose mascot is an owl, and seeing as how owls are just a general trend right now, I decided to use my lino cut tool to carve an owl into my funkin pumpkin. The attached photo is what I ended up with. I used a google images picture for reference, sketched out a general design with a pencil (make sure to do this lightly if you're using a foam pumpkin or it'll make a permanent indent) and started carving. It's important to cut out chunks  all the way through as well as simply carve away strips. Also, I recommend using the biggest rounded tool that comes with the standard Speedball lino cut set. Another good pointer is that you want to think direction and texture. There is going to be a definite texture made by the carving tool, so use that to your advantage. Create wind swirls blowing leaves, recreate Starry Night, or use it to create feathers like I did on my owl. Really, the sky is the limit. Now as for that whole soft glowing from the inside from the cut away sections bit, I've never gotten that to work, even with a real pumpkin, so these pumpkins look best with enough ambient light to see the lighter carved sections. Light will only come out of the parts that are completely cut away. Well, that's it for me, and happy pumpkin projects, Pinstroteers.

4. Nicole's Fall Paper Book Pumpkin:

The Pinspiration: 

(via)

The Result: 

I think this challenge thing is great! Gets me doing pins that I probably never would've gotten to otherwise. I chose to do the 'Fall Paper Book Pumpkin' Mine isn't perfect, but I still think it's super cute! I used a really thick book and switched from a box cutter to scissors part-way through, so the pages aren't even. If I were to make another one, I'd probably use more orange spray paint. And it didn't take forever to do (the longest part was cutting the book). Maybe a couple of hours? Thanks for doing this challenge!

5. Eilonwy's Accidental Pumpkin Cheesecake: 

The Pinspirations:

(via)

(via)

The Result: 

Hi! I've been going back and forth on whether to submit my pumpkin challenge or not, since I dramatically altered a recipe and had it come out fine with no problem, and this sets a bad example for inexperienced cooks.

I was playing around with the idea of a from-scratch substitute for Krusteaz' pumpkin bars, which I recommend, but which require a trip to Big Lots. 

Messing around with their elaborate crusts was a "not gonna happen," so I made a basic graham cracker crumb crust... with olive oil instead of melted butter, hoping the milk proteins in butter don't do something magical that I'd miss. They don't.

Then I decided to substitute sweetened condensed milk for BOTH the evaporated milk and the sugar in the filling, 'cause guess what I had in the house and guess what I DIDN'T have. (Has anybody after 1970 bought evaporated milk for a purpose other than making pumpkin pie? I didn't think so.)

I used olive oil in the streusel, too, because might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, and it's not like butter had magically appeared in my refrigerator while the custard was baking. Butter has an amazing propensity to not show up on its own.

It came out with a convincing taste and texture -- a little more cheesecake-y than pumpkin-bar-y, which is apparently a win, as when I told my mother about it, she suggested I make it for Xmas dessert instead of the overwhelmingly tedious and nitpicky Cooks Illustrated recipe that I usually use and which requires a special pan, about 83 steps, and a mint on its pillow while it "rests."

The thing is, I can get away with this nonsense because I've made custards from total scratch (including sweet-potato pie that started with peeling and parboiling the sweet potato), so I know how the ingredients ought to interact. Going off-road without experience more likely leads to falling in a pothole. Next month, I promise to tackle something that I find scary!

Anyway, even though this doesn't really fit your mission, I owe y'all some thanks for prodding me to find a substitute for the Pumpkin Cheesecake of Tedium!

6. Carolyn and Wyler's Jack-o-Lantern and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

The Pinspirations:

(via)

(via)

(via)

The Results: 

Today I thought it would be fun to carve a jack-o-lantern.  Most years I have several carved by now (Oct. 30).  I guess I'm slacking.  My 3 year old, Wyler, saw me setting up to carve the pumpkin and was instantly interested.  "What you doing Mommy?" I showed him pictures of jack-o-lanterns and let him pick a face to carve.  We pulled chairs up to the table and cut into the pumpkin.  When it was time to pull the seeds and guts out Wyler dove right in.  (Last year as soon as he touched the slimy innards he took off begging for me to wash his hands.)  After it was gutted he eagerly watched me carve the face he picked out.  On the back of the pumpkin I caved a W for Wyler, since he was an awesome helper.

We then washed the seeds, and roasted them.  I combined the recipes and the idea to boil them in salt water came from from two different pins.  I boiled the seeds in salt water, then tossed them in oil and BBQ sauce.  We then roasted them for about 15 minutes.  Not sure exactly how they turned out, since they are still to hot to eat (and this is pretty much my first time eating pumpkin seeds I'm gonna wait till my husband is home to try them and pass his verdict).

I'd say it has been a Pin Win day.

Aren't those great! These are exactly what we were looking for. Projects following the pins exactly. Projects inspired by pins, but given a personalized touch. Projects that had to be tweaked. Projects that worked. Projects that didn't work quite as hoped. We just want to get you trying out pins and you did! 

We're getting November's Challenge ready, so check back soon for this month's theme! 

Kickin' Off October-Getting Cheated by Pumpkin Cheat Treats

Ello there!!!
It is OCTOBER! Can you believe it?! September came in and left all in the same minute for me. Where the heck did it go?! If the rest of the year is like last month I'm in trouble because I have zero holiday plans and I am not nearly prepared to finish up college. I'm in trouble.

Well seeing as October is here it is officially Pumpkin Everything Month, so we are going to start the month with a Pumpkin Pinstrosity and then let Marquette tell you about some of the other fun things we have planned for the month, so stick around!

Sweet reader Morgan sent us this back in 2012, and it was perfect for today's post. Check it out!

The Original

http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.ca/2011/08/pumpkin-muffins.html

This recipe is for an easy half hour (start to finish) cupcake that only requires two ingredients!! Yes, I said two! A cake mix of some sort (they used yellow here) and pumpkin pie filling (which is pure pumpkin).

Here is Morgan's take...

The Pinstrosity

Not exactly what she was looking for. Here's what she had to say about it!

"I don't ever really cook. I use to be a good cook (circa 2006) but I got a 8-5 that was really overwhelming so we mostly lived on Starbucks and Panera. Well, I lost my job a week ago and decided to take this lull in my career to be a better wife and mom, starting with cooking real meals again. These pumpkin muffins looked like a good place to start. Mix two ingredients, apply heat, enjoy.  Apparently, I'm more rusty than I originally thought because this is what I got... 

The original said to it was ok to use different kinds of cake mix. I used angel food cake mix because it has half the calories. The "muffins" foamed up like the La Brea tar pit lava scene from the movie "Volcano" in the oven, fell completely flat after cooling down, and then chemically adhered themselves to the paper cups. After I hit send on this email, I'm going to work on my resume."

Don't beat yourself up Morgan! I did some digging for this one and learned a few things. I have always known that Angel Food Cake was picky, but I didn't realize just how picky till I got to poking around for this post. I even made a call into the pro--my mom. This one stumped her too, so I will share with you what I learned and chalk this one up to a case of bad circumstances.

First off, Angel Food Cake is picky about the temperature. The mix prefers room temperature and anything other than that can have bad effects on the egg white that makes up the majority of the batter. Perhaps it was cold where Morgan lives? The e-mail was sent in mid October so it could be cold depending on where she lives.

The other big thing I learned was that because of the egg whites the mix doesn't do well with oil. Any sort of oil, or greased pan can cause the mix to fall flat. I thought I had hit the jackpot here because I thought for sure the pie mix would have some sort of oil in it. Wrong. I also learned tonight that pumpkin pie filling is just that;pumpkin, and nothing else  pumpkin, sugar, and spices; that's it. I'm not much of a pumpkin eater can you tell??

 Another thing that Angel Food cake is picky about is how long you let it sit before you cook it. It is best to mix the cake, then put it straight into the oven, and here is where it may have gone wrong *may*, it is recommended to leave the cake in the pan and flip it upside down to cool. This insures that it won't fall flat. I'm not sure if this would be helpful with the cupcakes, but perhaps turning them upside down on a cooling rack would ensure that they don't deflate like this one did (a little bit).
I should not that I read all the comments on the original site and there were zero who mentioned anything about Angel Food Cake at all, let alone it working or not working so there is that. You are paving the way Morgan!!

*I got some of my info about Cake Science here. Check it out!

Anyone have any other tips for Angel Food Cake?? Let us know in the comments!! We are happy to be back Pinstrosipeeps!! Happy Wednesday!