month of pinspiration: that's a wrap! a round-up of my posts

Wow, can't believe I actually successfully completed my challenge! I may have been a couple days late getting everything posted, but I had it all done by Friday, promise! And I don't even feel like I took a whole lot of short cuts!

It was easily the most productive month I've had in a long time. Maybe over a year. I also spent a whole lot of money, but it was [mostly] worth it! With only a couple pinBUSTS, I'd say I did pretty damn good.

Here's a look at all of them:

I actually made all of that [and even more!] within one month. [See all of the posts by clicking here!] Hot damn, it's unbelievable.

It's been really incredible to see a bunch of people tweeting/Facebooking that I've inspired them to actually do things on Pinterest. First of all- saying I inspire you to do anything is one of the best compliments I could ever ask for. Knowing something I randomly challenged myself to do to put on my blog is helping you out is just great... cuz that means you're reading what I'm doing and actually interested. Thank you!

Also, if you do start making Pinspired crafts, outfits, whatever, make sure you send me pictures! I'll definitely be featuring some of yours on the blog, plus I'm just as interested in what you do as you are with me! 

My blog has been through a lot of changes over the years, but I'm excited that it's going in a direction that is really all of my interests and what I do. Not because I'm cocky [attention whorey, maybe... but not cocky!], but because I feel like it's finally unique and it's own thing... not just reposts of others. 

But don't you worry.... Pinspired posts will continue as well as all of the other things I've always liked posting. 

Now it's time to make me some money. Any takers/helpers?! :)

love,

elizabethany

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month on pinspiration: a collection of smaller projects

There are some things I did in May that aren't totally worthy of their own post/because I'm late, I might as well bunch them all up... so here we go!

This photography of shaped lights is freaking beautiful.

I've been playing around with it with a couple different things, but it seems to be hard to do in my environment unless Christmas lights are around. Luckily, my dad's drums have some lights all around them. I cut out a little heart on a Post-It Note [it's seriously smaller than my pinky nail], and held it up to the lens.

I'm still no photography pro, so I don't even really know how I was adjusting everything. It's a lot of trial and error. A lot of times the heart/paper was totally visible like the picture on the right. I do like the picture on the left quite a bit, but obviously only a couple of the lights are actually shaped. 

Real photographers are more than welcome to leave a comment and help a girl out... but for now, I'm going to say this is a pin that should be left to the professionals. 

There are a bajillion different drinks and foods that will help you "slim down" for the summer, so I decided to try the "Dr Oz Slimdown Drink" because I've heard a lot of good things about grapefruit juice... and he's a doctor, so duh.

Let me just tell you right now.... this s#!* is GROSS. I poured honey in it, plugged my nose, chugged, and still wanted some kind of a chaser.... and this is coming from a girl who can down some straight vodka like it's soda. The after taste of this is just not okay, and you gotta do it before every meal.

However, there may be some good coming from it. While I don't think it helped me lose any weight or anything, I do think it helped burn the fat of the meal I was about to eat quicker. There was a week that I ate out about half of my meals [had some visitors], and normally I never eat out. Typically I gain a solid five pounds on these weeks, but I felt pretty confident in a bathing suit at the end of it... so that's gotta mean something, right?!

Next up, I got my swim on and "partied" my bathing suit and towel. [In Texas, my friends say they "party" something whenever they switch it up... like upside down sunglasses.]

You've probably seen the many ways you can tie your triangle top to make it a little different... 

Well, most of them make your boobs look absolutely ridiculous. The one I did and totally love and will change my life forever was this one: 

And just to make it more fun, I decided to make one of those towel dresses that people are trying to sell. [Unless you find them for cheap, don't waste your money! All you need is a towel, ribbon, needle and thread.]

The towel that you use is key. I just grabbed an old bath towel that was relatively thin... but if you're looking to be "sexy," or something like it, you want a really thin, long, and skinny towel. You can always try them out before you sew on the ribbon.

Then I just cut two foot-long ribbons and sewed them onto the corners of the towel. BAM! No more wearing an outfit to the beach or pool, cuz this baby is totally restaurant or public appropriate.

While we're showing off our boobs, how 'bout remixing a bra?! It's a genius idea, really. Cut the back off the bra and sew on a couple pieces of elastic... suddenly it's acceptable to see it when wearing a backless shirt.

You're going to have to measure out how long the elastic bands should be for you, but I normally wear a 34B [*GASP!* I'm sharing my bra size with the Internet! Syke. I don't care.] and used 11" pieces of elastic. 

I really wanted to find multiple colors of the elastic and find some clasps to attach so I could switch the straps in and out, but I didn't find multiple colors in store. 

And finally, I did the "no sew pillow covers."

While it's easy to do, it's kinda hard to figure out how much fabric you'll need. I couldn't find a guide for that anywhere, so I practiced with a yard of stretch jersey fabric I ordered for another skirt. For my 15x15" pillows, it worked perfectly, so I went out and got two yards of a cotton fabric to use. It was definitely not enough. I had to use the two yards to barely cover my 15x20" pillow.

I was so frustrated with the lack of fabric that I didn't try too hard to make it a clean knot. Still not sure what I'll do about this sitch.

The one on the right is the stretchy yard of jersey fabric. It's a lot easier to work with and looks cleaner in the end, I think.

 And there we have it! My month of Pinspiration has come to an end. HIGH FIVE!

love,
elizabethany

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pinspired: turning a long sleeved shirt into a skirt

One of those pins that everyone pins without even really trying it is this one: Turn a long sleeve shirt into a skirt!

Well, I finally decided to give it a whirl... but I wanted mine to be a little shorter since I don't really have the typical "work environment." Turns out, it wassss a little easier said than done, but not impossible.

Hopefully that's not impossible to follow. For me, the bow looked ridiculous because my shirt was so thin and I just couldn't get it right. I liked this twisty knot front, but the sides definitely needed some tweaking to make it wearable. 

Who am I kidding?! The whole experiment takes a lot of tweaking! You tie it, and tuck the ends under and roll, until nothing is sticking out and it's flat enough for you're liking.

Eventually it worked out and I wore it with my crochet-back tank. 

Oh! And Target Clearance wedges!

My review: It's not something I plan on doing often... at least not with my collection of shirts. It rode up a lot after an hour of wearing it, probably exposing my vajayjay to the world several times. It also requires way too much fixing, bunching up, and perfecting. You could try the longer version [don't push the neck down/pull the arms up] and it might be a little better.

love,

elizabethany

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pinspired recipe: apple turkey burgers

Fruit + meat = a highly underrated combination in my opinion. The only fruit most people ever put with meat is tomato... and those people are missing out. Pineapples added to BBQ chicken= freaking great. Any citrus added to chicken in general is fantastic. Apples and turkey burgers= delicious!

I found this pin and wasn't totally sure what to expect, but it seemed like the perfect thing to make on Memorial Day... especially considering I had just picked up a pack of Redd's apple ale [which is new and also delicious. It's not a cider, it's an apple flavored beer, so dudes can like it too!].

The recipe is from Panera, so I definitely tweaked it a little bit.... but these are easy to make and so juicy-good. [Even for a beginner on the grill!]

NEED [for 4 big ol' burgers]:

• 1.5 pounds of ground turkey
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2.5 tbs apple butter
• 2 tbs ketchup
• half of a small, sweet onion, grated or minced
• 1 tbs fresh parsley, or 1-2 tsp dried
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• lettuce, mayo, and buns for toppings

DO: 

1. Combine everything in a large mixing bowl and mix/mash it up with your hands.
2. Mold into burgers. I used wax paper to help me out. 
3. Coat burgers and grill with cooking oil/spray. 
4. Grill them for about 9 minutes at 425 degrees, and flip 5 minutes through.
5. Toast some buns, throw a little mayo on them and lettuce, and grab a napkin for the juice that will probably come out!

I really wanted some Hawaiian buns to go with them, but I couldn't find any that day. It didn't really matter, though. These are so tasteful, but not overwhelming! You can taste the apple butter but it doesn't taste like an apple burger. Yum.

I do think there is a better sauce to accompany them, though.. I just can't figure out what it is. Each bite I kept trying to figure out what it was I wanted to replace the mayo with, and just couldn't. If you think of something, let me know!

And yes, the Redd's was great with it... obviously.

love,

elizabethany

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pinspired: shower curtains turned window curtains

Maybe one of my most favorite, genius ideas Pinterest has taught me is the *art* of turning one shower curtain into two window curtains.

Were you aware you could get a fantastic shower curtain from Ross or TJ Maxx for $8? I got a yellow damask one for that price, and it was originally $28!

BTW- this is how ugly the curtains in the bedroom were before.

That doesn't even show the horrid-ness of it. They were a black-out beige that blended in to the walls and just made the room feel dull and dark. 

Originally I planned on making yellow an accent color in the room with the thrift store lamps and other things, but when I found these yellow curtains, I loved them. I was excited to mix up patterns and bring some light to the room. 

Because my room came with built in curtain rods, and I didn't plan on having some huge drapes in there, cutting a shower curtain in half was the perfect width for both sides. 

It's the easiest thing you'll ever make for your house. You cut in half, sew or bond the cut end under as a hem, then either hang them with shower curtain rings or attach pieces of ribbon across the top. 

I went the ribbon route, but I think I'll be undo'ing that action and probably just getting some rings for it. Because my curtains are so light, you can see the ribbon through them when the sun is shining through.

Also when the shining through, it makes it a bit difficult to show you the design and how light, colorful, and fun they really are in the room. 

...so here they are with a little flash/nighttime help.

I'm not/wasn't worried about the pattern being centered, especially because the curtains are perfectly aligned on the outer sides of the bed. Plus, I don't think anyone is really ever going to notice unless they're looking at that picture. 

So to sum it all up, you can get two curtains for the price of one. You don't even have to spend $20-30 at Target. Two curtain panels for $8 total. That's a freakin' bargain, my friends.

Also, they look fabulous if you use two panels on one window. I really enjoy the one Little Pink Monster [Kane's wife] used for her daughter's bedroom.

Next up in my bedroom: fixing up that nightstand. It really brings everything down, huh? All I want is a "grown up room!"

love,
elizabethany

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pinspired recipe: cream of chicken spaghetti

Tomatoes: Not my thing.. but for some reason, different recipes with a slight hint of them make my mouth water. They look good, just don't taste fabulous.

A lot of recipes that have been catching my eye have included Rotel tomatoes, which I can handle thanks to their spice, size, and mix with chilie peppers. This angel hair/spaghetti pasta with chicken was one of those recipes.

It said 7 ingredients were needed, but I used even less. A solid five is all you need for a good 6 servings!

• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup [or mix in cream of mushroom/cream of celery/whatever]
• 8 ounces of angel hair pasta 
• 2 cups of chopped, grilled chicken
• 1 can of RoTel tomatoes and green chilies
• 8 ounces of greek yogurt [or sour cream if you're not counting calories]

Easy how-to: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook pasta according to package
3. Mix pasta, cans of soup, tomatoes, chicken, and yogurt together, and put in 9x13 baking dish
4. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. 

The original said to add cheese to the top and put back into the oven until melted, but it was so creamy you really don't need to do that. I honestly don't even think it would make it better if you weren't worried about the added calories. 

FYI: The pasta was absolutely delicious. 

Bonus: I love leftover pasta and this was freaking fantastic a couple days later... still just as creamy!

Even if you're not a tomato person like me, the juices from the RoTel add a lot. You can work around the chunks if necessary.

Just make it.

love,
elizabethany

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pinspired recipe: crockpot ranch potatoes

Ready for an easy side that's scrumdiddliumptious?!

Ranch crock-pot potatoes, as Pinspired by this here recipe.

They're super easy! All you do is throw some cut up red potatoes, water, and minced garlic in the crock-pot and let it sit on high for 3-5 hours, or low 6-8 hours, then add some seasonings, ranch dressing, and cheeses!

You should know, however, they probably won't come out looking like up there. Mine were more like this: 

Basically a sloppy, kinda mashed up mess... but it didn't matter! They were still delicious.

I will say that I will probably make a couple changes next time I make them. Instead of using ranch dressing after they're cooked, I feel like it'd be great to mix in ranch dressing mix halfway through the cook-time. Same with the other spices. I like to really let the flavor soak into whatever I'm cooking in the crock-pot.

Also, you don't need nearly as much cheese as they suggest [1/2 cup]. In fact, I don't think you really need any at all, except maybe a little bit of parmesan cheese. [If you're on a diet, anyway. If you don't count calories- the more cheese the better, right?!]

Here's the thing.... a lot of these food bloggers are all fancy with their photography too. They find the perfect dish and the perfect lighting and the perfect set-up as if they're a restaurant trying to sell their food. Not me. I'm showin' you like it is... and I'm pretty sure it still looks delicious.

So there ya go! Try this recipe this weekend. It's easy to make, can feed a lot of people for a cook-out or whatever, and everyone will like it. I mean, duh- it's ranch flavored. 

love,

elizabethany

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pinspired: 'merica nails and cut-offs for memorial day!

I know my DIY last week was all 'Merica-fied, but can you really have too much of it?! Abso-freakin-lutely not!

I've seen a lot of USA inspired nails in my day, but this one totally stood out to me.

There were no instructions, but I didn't really need any. I've done the red/white stripes before, and I figured I could use pins for the polka dots! That I did!

[I feel like I have 80 year old hands to match my knees... heyzeus]

You might be able to see that there's a stripe down the middle of the red. I originally tried to do vertical stripes, but liked it better just plain red.. so I painted right over it.

Just in case you wanted to know my colors, even though I don't know what they're called.

I found a pair of red jeans that totally didn't fit me and I couldn't return, so I've been trying to figure out what to do with them.... then I saw this.

How cute are those?! Since my pants were red and JoAnn's has a whole section of 'Merica fabric at the front of the store, I knew exactly what to do.

There aren't a whole lot of pictures of the process [and by not a whole lot, I mean zero], but that's because it's basically just tracing, cutting, and pasting once you've cut your pants to the desired short length.

I got 1/4 yard of fabric, put it over the front pant leg, traced with a washable marker, and then cut it out. Then you just repeat for the back pocket, and either sew the pieces on or use your fusible web tape that I've been preaching.

And even though it's What Ya Wearin Wednesday, I'll give you a look at my outfit right here. 

More proof that I need to work on my ass.

I'm probably going to change the length of them and either roll them up or just cut them. I feel like they look horrible when they hit at that length.

The whole cost for this: $2. That's it. The fabric was about $1.50. Wham, bam, thank ya ma'am!

Do it. Like now. Maybe to all of your shorts or old pants.

love,
elizabethany

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pinspired video: trying all the booty workouts in the studio

Hopefully you follow me on Twitter and have seen me talking about doing all my ass workouts while doing my show. It's true, I really do them. I found one pin that has "the 22 best exercises for your butt" and have been doing at least half of them pretty regularly.

Here are some of them, in fun EB's vlog form.


And here's how I'm feeling about them:

• Squat challenge: NEGATIVE. Doing only this is not going to do much for your ass, and I've had many friends try it for the full month and see nothing... even the girls with the smallest of butts. Do other things in addition, silly!
• I call them "scales," but the standing straight up, holding your leg behind/a little to the side for 30 seconds-1 minute [depending on your strength] then doing 30 small raises afterwards... they're my favorite. I feel like my cheeks are instantly lifted after doing 3 sets. 
• "Simple Bridge"- I think it works, but it looks hella awkward. I like to do about 30 of them and then hold for a minute. Seems to work a lot of muscles!
• Single leg squats [that I forgot to include for some reason]- THESE work, but they work everything! My 80 year old knees can't handle them well. I did two sets of 10 or 15, and my knees kept giving out for the next couple hours.
• Butt pinchers- Stop. This is a joke of an exercise.
• Side squats: These seem to work more than just regular squats for me, but I still wouldn't use it as my only exercise.
• Squat sit- Another one that I can feel right away, specifically in my butt, but also in my knees. I need a replacement. 

If you've found some that aren't in the pin or the video that totally work, share with me/us puh-lease! I know I had a ton that we always did in gymnastics, but I'm totally brain-farting on the ones that would bring my gymnast booty back without making it impossible to walk on my knees. 

love,

elizabethany

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pinspired: i made myself a maxi skirt!

I don't know what's come over me, y'all. It's like... I actually want a sewing machine. WHAT?! I have all of these things I want to make and as much as I pretend my little fusible tape can do it all, it definitely won't... at least it won't look as good.

This time, I decided to make a maxi skirt! I had been boycotting the maxi trend the past two years because I thought it just looked weird on me and I couldn't figure out how to make them casual... but I was loving this easy idea!

I ordered a yard of a jersey material [or so it told me... it ended up being mostly polyester which wasn't awesome] for $4, and got to work!

I took the measurement of my waist, and pinned where it needed to be fused, then basically did a steady diagonal all the way to the bottom of the fabric [at first I did a more drastic diagonal at my hips, but that looked ridiculous].. then I ironed the fusible tape to seal it!

I put it on and folded it over twice and measured out how much I wanted to cut off the buttom, then did that.

And then I cut the tape in half so it was even smaller for the hem "seam."

Voila! I got me a skirt!

The only complaints I have are because of the fabric/hem tape that I used. The fabric/color shows every little dimple I have in my thighs, and shows the hem tape more than I'd like. The seam looks pretty good for the most part, but had it been sewn, it'd be perfect. 

I'd also recommend making the bottom of your skirt more than 5 inches wider than your waist, if you want ample room to walk. I wanted the skinny skirt, so ya gotta decide which one is your style. 

SO... if you have a sewing machine or can pick out your perfect fabric from a store instead of online, I'd say you need to make this. It's so easy, and I will absolutely be wearing it more.

love,
elizabethany

PS: My outfit cost about $10 total, considering the skirt was $4, the shirt is so old but I doubt I paid more than $5 for it, the owl necklace was $1, and I had bejeweled black flops that I *acquired* from a friend.

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