Pinspiration(s) 1-2/5

At the beginning of each year, Clinton and I make a list of things we want to do through the year. Not to be confused with a typical "Resolution" list of things like "lose weight", "stop smoking", "eat a carrot everyday" or anything like that. Just a list of goals. Some are lofty and some, like this one, are not.

Like approximately 58,966,544,124,589,654 other people, I have a slight addiction to Pinterest. I like to think that I use mine pretty practically, and I don't use it to pin every pretty thing I've ever seen in my life. I only pin things that I can realistically achieve. I have several things pinned that I'm waiting on until we buy a house, mainly just because I don't want to build a piece of furniture or something and then just have to move it. However, I put it on my 2013 list that instead of just "someday pinning" I was going to actually do at least 5 things from Pinterest this year.

The first two I'm going to post were super easy ones but hey - if it's something I pinned and then actually followed through on, it counts!

Pin 1 - The Fruit Saver:

The original pin.

We buy a LOT of produce because I'm not a terribly big meat-eater, and we just prefer fruit and veg for snacks to chips and stuff like that. Sometimes we get a little overzealous in the produce department and wind up with some extra fruit that I have to make smoothies out of or something because it's getting too ripe - so I decided to give this a go. Can't hurt, right?

GUYS. IT TOTALLY WORKS. Seriously. That was my first attempt and not only was the water waxy, but the fruit lasted forever. I left it uneaten for longer than normal just to see if it actually worked and it did not disappoint. I do this with all of our produce now as soon as we get home from the store. I seriously cannot recommend this enough! Oh, and if anyone is wondering - no, the vinegar does not have any effect whatsoever on the taste of the produce. Pretty sweet and if you're not doing this already, I definitely recommend it.

Pin 2 - Love Notes:

I actually pinned this ages ago, but I just never got around to finishing it. I half started it a few months ago and then kept forgetting that I needed ink for our printer, so the frame sat in the spare room just waiting.

 The original pin.

 

I thought this was super cute - we already leave each other little notes sometimes so I thought having a place for it was a good idea. I knew I wanted to put it in our bedroom, which is full of black furniture, grey linens, and pops of color in the other decor (candles, vases, etc.) so I needed something fairly neutral. I used a black wood frame that I already had, and picked up some printed cardstock on one of my many trips to Hobby Lobby - only later did I realize that I had picked the same cardstock used in the pin - it honestly wasn't my intention, I just picked a neutral one that I thought was pretty! I can't remember where the flowers I used were from - they are something I had leftover from a previous project and I found them in my craft box.

 

When I sat down at the computer yesterday to finally print out the "I love you because..." part, I ended up getting super frustrated and failing a few test prints, so I just did it the old fashioned way - held the paper up to the computer screen and traced it. I traced with pencil first (so it wouldn't bleed through onto the computer), and then filled it in with a fine tipped permanent marker.

 

My version now sits on a corner of our dresser in the bedroom - and of course I had to get things started by mentioning my source of inspiration! I think it'll be a fun little thing to have, so I'm happy I finally decided to finish it.

2 down, 3 (or more!) to go. It's the little things, people. :)