Pumpkin Pie Layer Dessert

First off, I take absolutely no credit for this recipe. Whenever my family likes a new dish or dessert I make, I ask "And where did I get this recipe from?" They all respond with "Piiiinnnnnterest!!" Yes, Pinterest, where all us foodies gather for inspiration.

When describing this to friends, I struggled to say what it was. Is it pie or cake? Um, it's both? This magical dessert features a pumpkin pie bottom, a vanilla cake layer and a vanilla-pumpkin spiced whipped topping. (The magic is how the pumpkin pie filling sinks to the bottom!)

The only thing I did to this recipe is rename it for when I want to make it again. If you want to make it, you have to visit Shawn, at I Wash You Dry, because she created it and I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this is!

This will definitely be served at Thanksgiving this year! Hope you try it!

Tried And True Pinterest Recipes

A lot of people have asked me if the recipes I've tried on Pinterest are any good. I have to say, some were complete flops, but a good majority of recipes were worth making. Here are my favorite Pinterest recipes (and links to the recipes) I've tried so far:

Scooter's Spaghetti (Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti)

California Sandwich (I've made this on a bagel)

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Pink Lemonade Pie

DIY Instant Oatmeal Packets (Kind of a recipe, works great during the school year)

What have you found on Pinterest that you (or your family) really liked?

DIY Organized Drawers On A Dime

It's been pretty busy lately at our house, what with new clients, our kids' sports activities and end-of-school concerts and events, I haven't had a minute to sit and blog! Husband and I keep talking about painting the living room, but we just don't have the time to do it! I did tackle one small DIY project.

Taking a cue from Pinterest, I organized a drawer that has some of my work stuff. Of course I didn't want to spend much money, so I used the cereal boxes we already had...

Cut them up to make them fit the drawer and covered them with cute wrapping paper I found at Goodwill.

It took me forever to find paper because I don't scrapbook and I won't spend a lot of $ on nice scrapbook paper. (Cheap, cheap.)

I have to admit, it turned out really well. 'Cause I'm all about making things pretty. :)

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot of what it really looks like when you're doing a DIY project!

That's not pretty at all! What have you done lately to beautify (and organize) your home office or craft room? Let me know and include a link to your blog so I can drop by!

Social Media Equals Sales?

I've read a lot about how businesses must embrace the channels of social media. But I've also witnessed firsthand the criticism of how social media does not grow a business. I really had to think about this...and it hit me.

Social media can increase sales, but sometimes it does it in a round-about way.

Meryl Streep said it well in the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada," where she repudiates Anne Hathaway's snubbing of what seems to be insignificant decisions in fashion.

"...You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select...

I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."

What may look like a "pile of stuff" to a novice (or a business owner) may really be a necessary tool into sending your business/products/services skyrocketing out of the red and into the black.

Here are some brands that are trending on the growing social media giant, Pinterest.

Nutella, RumChata, Hershey's, NYX Cosmetics and Sephora, just to name a few.

These brands, like RumChata (a rum-based cream liqueur) are now the fundamental ingredient for making "RumChata Cupcakes," which has been re-pinned over 500 times
(at last count.) Did RumChata ever think about the cupcake business? I doubt it.

INFOGRAPHIC: Pinterest Infographic via Cool Daily Infographics

In this day of recycling and repurposing, women, who make up 80% of the Pinterest market, are now scouring for the above-mentioned ingredients/products or even discarded items (old Mason jars, shipping pallets, etc.) in hopes of creating the next best ____ (fill in the blank.)

So even if businesses are not seeing direct sales increases right now, give it time, and don't discredit social media. Because let's face it, it is everywhere and its influence, although seemingly insignificant at this point, might just be your next secret weapon in growing your profit margin.

Enjoy those cupcakes, people.
 

Valentine's Day Around My House

I've already started decorating for Valentine's Day. It's my way of cutting through the dreariness of the Midwest winter blues. Anyhoo. In my ongoing quest to stay as frugal as possible, I'm also decorating on a budget. Let me tell you, you have to be creative when you're cheap frugal. Here's my creation which was inspired by Pinterest, of course.

Last year I bought the "LOVE" foam shape for only 97 cents. What a deal.

I created the background using the Janda Stylish Script font (which you can download for free here) and printed it on photo paper.

After, I stuck the foam on the outside of the frame (which I already owned.)

It took me all of 15, 20 minutes to make this? I love cheap and fast seasonal decorating!

Of course you do realize that you won't be able to get this song out of your head, whether you like the song or not...

Here are some other Valentine's Day inspired decorating around our house:

Hope you're putting a little love into your decorating this time of year!

Super Easy Strawberry Banana Bread

I'm on this kick to use what we have in our fridge or pantry without having to run to the store for one or two items. So call me frugal, s'okay.

Here's where the beauty of Pinterest comes in. Most of the recipes (especially if they come from a blog) are usually tried and true. So when I searched for a recipe using frozen strawberries (which we picked last summer) and a ripe banana, I found a recipe for 'Strawberry Banana Bread.'

Though this recipe was for one loaf, I doubled it to make two loaves and adapted it so I could use whole eggs instead of egg whites and increased the amount of baking soda*.

Strawberry Banana Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2  teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 medium ripe bananas (mash one and slice the other)

1/2  cup canola oil
2 eggs beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries, diced (can use frozen berries)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9x5 bread loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon and stir to combine. Mash one banana with a fork and slice the other one.

3. Add the mashed banana to the dry ingredients and stir. Add the oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and stir until just combined. Gently fold in 3/4 cup strawberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with 1/4 cup strawberries and banana slices, pressing them gently into the surface of the batter.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (Depending on moisture content bananas and berries, cooking times may vary from 40 to 50 minutes).
Allow bread to cool before removing it from the pan.

* I read somewhere that if your cakes are turning out deflated it's because there isn't enough baking soda. The original recipe used half the amount of baking soda, so I doubled it to make sure the cake wasn't too flat.

Thanks to Averie from Averie Cooks, for her rendition. This cake is moist and not too sweet and yet our kids still like it. It's also very easy to make, hope you enjoy this recipe!

O Christmas Tree, How I Hate You

You know the saying "less is more?" What I've discovered this year is that "more is more" when it comes to decorating a Christmas tree.

(Well, that is unless you want a Charlie Brown tree, and that's the look you're going for, then less is more, because, less is less, right? I'm confused.)

Isn't this one from Sweet Something Design just gorgeous?

Anyway, with our move to the lakehouse, I wanted to go for a more "natural" look with our tree, the problem was: A) we have an artificial tree (around $80 clearance from Target after Christmas sale six years ago,) that is sparse and you can see the individual levels and B) going "natural" can be costly even if you are shopping the sales (i.e. burlap garland runs between $9.99-$11.99 a roll!)

As usual, I decorate on a budget, heck, there isn't even a budget for Christmas decorating, more like I decorate as cheaply as possible.

So back to my story, I put up my tree, trimmed it, had a housewarming party, and hated how it looked, so instead of shopping (Husband would die) with the exception of a few rustic ornaments that I bought for a dollar a piece, I decided to just keep adding and adding all the ornaments, ribbons, etc.,  I've ever owned until I filled that tree up so you could not longer see the gaps between the levels.

Ahh...that's better. Let's call this "chaotic tree trimming."

I mean we have all sorts of crap whimsical trimmings here like candles, glass ornaments, ribbons, homemade star ornaments and those little sparkly green rattan balls (which I didn't bother to hang, I pretty much threw them in there and let them land where they may! Ha!)

So how does it look? It looks fantabulous! Well, let's not get carried away...

I think it will do, for this year anyway. ;)

Christmas Wreath On Chalkboard

It didn't surprise me that the day after Thanksgiving, people were outside decorating for Christmas. There's something about this season that makes people want to prolong the happy tidings. I'm all for it, by the way...

Inspired once again from Pinterest, (where I get all my ideas,) I basically did this:

Homemade chalkboard + old wreath + Christmas ribbon + chalk writing = a new Christmas decoration!

 

Another tip from Pinterest was to use a push pin behind the frame to hang the wreath. Genius, I tell ya.

Happy decorating!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

If you were to visit the local retail stores, it would seem that Christmas has come upon us! I'm guilty of adding to that premature Christmas cheer, seeing as I've spent the last two weeks getting Christmas displays up for several of my clients.

"Do you really want Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?" I asked.

"Yes, yes we do." *sigh*

So here's a little pre-Christmas inspiration and a look at what I've been up to!

What a wonderful Christmas Advent Calendar idea from Pinterest!

How about this rustic table centerpiece I found and has been repined 714 times!

Other than Christmas merchandising and displays, I've been dealing with a lot of cupcakes again, this time for a client's anniversary event. These cupcakes were just beautiful!

Both of the above cupcakes were made by Angela at Angel Cakes It was fun taking photos of these masterpieces!

As I was setting them up, I felt like I was on Cupcake Wars! Hurry, hurry...

But who's complaining? I was fortunate enough to taste some great cupcakes from 'Amanda Cupcake,' she made sparkly cake pops for the event and I got to try her red velvet cupcakes and her vanilla, cranberry-filled cupcake! Yum-o! (Nothing says 'holidays' like sugared cranberries!)

Other than work, (and a bad cold - cough, cough) I've been trying to share the love, but not the cold, with my family. I made them some Pumpkin Pie French Toast for breakfast this morning and Husband and I shopped for our Thanksgiving festivities today. Hello Mr. 12 lb. turkey!

And if you must know, I put up my outdoor Christmas lights. Oh well, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" ;)

I'm sure everyone is as busy as I am, so if I don't see you before Thursday, have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

There's Always Room For Cupcakes

I keep forgetting how busy the school year is for me, maybe because Husband and I were so busy with the kids all summer! Anyway, I've got two birthday celebrations under my belt and one left to go before  Thanksgiving. Phew.

I made these super cute and delicious homemade cupcakes and frosting, adapted from this recipe I pinned on Pinterest. They're a "hoot," hehe...

The owl cupcake liners and owl toothpicks I found at TJMaxx for $6.99. Very cute for this Halloween-themed birthday party.

Remember all the preparation for our youngest daughter's birthday party? Here's her red and white cupcake. Cupcake liners were from Michael's.

Husband's birthday is up next, and I'd love to make a mini cake, something like this, only not in those colors!

To make these Ombre Mini Cakes you can find directions at  Glorious Treats.

Do you have a favorite cupcake or cake recipe? Go ahead and share the link in your comments! Thanks!

Why Moms Don't Sleep (Much)

This week I made an awesome raspberry vinaigrette, baked homemade brown sugar cupcakes (which will be frosted with a salted-caramel frosting later this week) and decided once in a while, fast food is okay. Every supper can't be a Pinterest supper, right?

Other than that...well, let's just say I've had a busy month. Someone once told me (when I was pregnant with our first child) that I would never sleep again. I do sleep, just not so much. Here's my Instagram overview:

1) Cleaned and organized my craft room (aka the laundry room) 2) Got our eldest daughter ready for Homecoming 3) Bought an iPhone, dumped my dumb phone 4) Learned more about Instagram 5) Made sure our 2 younger kids made it to soccer practices and games on time 6) Oh, they're on the swim team too... three times a week 7) Carved pumpkins, baked pumpkin seeds (an annual tradition) while listing to 'Monster Mash' 8) Baked cupcakes for two October birthdays 9) Redesigned a client's website.

Not pictured: Studying Facebook analytics for a client, merchandising a store, marketing meetings, scrubbing windows, doing laundry, huffing and puffing on a treadmill and coffee time with Husband five times a week at 5:30 am. <3

So on that note:

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?"

-Henry David Thoreau

It's all good.

Goodbye Dumb Phone, Hello iPhone

It's no secret that I've fallen in love with my new iPhone which I finally got last week. It's my first smart phone and I love that I can sync my whole 'Apple family' together.

As I say goodbye to my dumb phone, I'm giddy with excitement about all the accessories and apps I get to nab. (Here comes my weekly ode to Pinterest...)

- Thank you Pinterest for my free apps:

- For the assortment of amazing iPhone cases I get to pick from:

- For the cute and sensible idea of labeling my iPhone charger:

- And for the inspiration to bake 'Apple' cookies in the near future (okay, not really, well maybe.)

Do you have an iPhone? What are your best tips/tricks/advice for a newbie like me?