A Pinteresting Mother's Day! And a Party! And Potentially Some Light BYU Bashing...

Okay Internets...I hope you're ready for a lengthy post because boy do I have a WHOLE BUNCH to share with you!! Grab a snack and a beverage (go ahead, I'll wait...) and let's dive right in!!!

Last week was a CRAZY busy week. I felt like I was at a dead sprint all week! Mother's Day was coming up and while the Boy has many redeeming qualities (doing laundry among them!) he is not so much a gift-giver. So any and all gifting falls squarely on yours truly. Since I'm quite handy with ye ole debit card, that's not a heavy cross to bear. Except, when Mother's Day, Teacher Appreciation Week and my annual Pinterest Party fall in the same week, I get a little stabby. Last week I promised a post on a Mother's Day gift. Initially this was the pin I had in mind:

How cute are these! I love them and thought they'd make a perfect Mother's Day gift...and then realized they could double as Pinterest Party offerings! Hooray for "Two Birds, One Stone!!" I also had this pin in mind...

What a combo! Like peanut butter and jelly! So I made the 2.5 mile journey to my local Lowe's to purchase supplies. First, I went looking for paint! The post over at Mom 4 Real says to use Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint, which she found at Home Depot. Now, lest you're as naive as I am and think that Lowe's has everything Home Depot has, let me assure you that is not actually the case. I asked the friends in the paint department where the "chalky finish" paint was and found out that it was at Home Depot. Sigh. So then I remembered this pin:

link 

I switched gears and grabbed a sample bottle of Valspar paint and some unsanded grout (over by the tile..I had to really search for the small container of unsanded grout, all I could see was the 5lb bag which I was not super stoked about since all I needed was 1 tablespoon of the stuff!) and then started searching for those little bracket things used to hold the jar. (Okay, I still don't know what they're called, but they're in the plumbing department!) I was trying to figure out how to attach the bracket to the wall..I didn't REALLY want to attach it to a wooden sort of sconce-thing. I talked to Pete in the hardware department who did NOT catch the vision and tried to set me up with some sort of L-Bracket which did NOT look pretty, leading me to believe that Pete isn't married to a woman who has EVER looked at Pinterest. While wandering, I found these little friends called "Monkey Hooks." Ever seen them?

They thread into the drywall and can hold like 50 pounds. Perfect! (More on that later!) Sold. So I had all of my materials--I have a million Mason jars and a whole bunch more plain glass spaghetti sauce jars because Pinterest has turned me into a hoarder. I came home where they sat until the last possible minute, then I decided to get to work. What do we do first class?

Materials!

First I dumped some paint in a plastic cup and added a tablespoon of unsanded grout and mixed it up!

Then I flipped those jars over and started painting them with the (now) chalkboard paint. My friend Alisa happened to be there working on a Pinterest project of her own (wait for it...) and she LOVES taking pictures so she snapped some shots of me painting the jars. What a goof! (Her, not me! Well..)

Now, I needed 2 coats to cover the brush marks so I did the 2nd coat with a foam brush...meh. It was a little flimsy.

And in my over-exhuberance, I apparently sort of glopped it too much because it got thick and sort of crack-y. Can you see it in this picture?

Once it was dry, I used some sandpaper to sort of rough the jars up a bit and then sprayed them with a clear acrylic spray (with a flat finish to maintain the chalky look)

I screwed the little bracket on (first I tried just using my hand to tighten the screw but it was MUCH faster going once I used a screwdriver!) stuck some flowers in and I had some Mother's Day gifts AND something to give away at my Pinterest party! Hooray!!

(Here's the part about the Monkey Hook that I said was coming) I tried sticking the Monkey Hook in my wall to mount the jar and apparently the wall I tried using isn't entirely drywall because it wouldn't thread around like it's supposed to. 

So I'm going to have to sconce it. Sigh. Oh well. I have some barnwood in my garage that will work. All things considering, I would say all three of these pins are a success! (I didn't try to actually write on the jar with chalk, and I think spraying it with the acrylic clear coat will prohibit any sort of chalk-ing. But I definitely got the chalky look I was going for and it worked great for me!)

Now let's talk about Alisa. Remember that time I made a wreath out of plastic easter eggs? She was the delighted recipient and she's a dear friend. So when she wasn't sure what to make for my Pinterest party, I remembered this pin and thought it would be quick and easy (and fun and delicious!)

The instructions on the pin say to fill a small empty container with non-petroleum jelly and add Crystal Light, adding and stirring enough to get your desired flavor. Easy enough, right?

Now, Alisa bought Petroleum Jelly instead of non-petroleum jelly. The only difference I can find is that Non-Petroleum jelly is more natural. There was an article that popped up on Google about petroleum jelly being potentially harmful but it was from the Huffington Post which I don't personally take SUPER seriously. Anyone know much about this? Comment below! I am, however, the girl who uses margarine not butter so for me it's not a big deal. If it's a big deal to you, by all means, use non-petroleum. Here is Alisa making her homemade lip gloss:

 In case you were wondering, petroleum jelly is NOT 

for eating. Silly Alisa! (I blame the fact that she's 

a BYU fan..since she puts the "I" in BYU. Ummmm...

am I missing something?)

Apparently Cougar fans eat more than just paste!

I joke, I joke. Here in Utah, we celebrate a "Holy War" of our own..between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. While Taylor roots solidly for the Utah State Aggies (and I can appreciate that) I am a Ute fan through and through! This requires me, on occasion, to poke a little fun at the Cougs. I have to do it or they'll take my card away. (Kidding!)

Anyhooo...let's move on shall we? So she put a spoonful of petroleum jelly in a bowl and added a packet of Crystal Light (actually she did this 3 times with 3 different flavors. This particular batch was Tangerine Strawberry powdered mix drink from Target's Market Pantry brand.

She mixed it all up...(this is her mixing face)

And mixed...

And, apparently with much shock, put it in empty containers. Now, I got these from Majestic Mountain Sage but apparently Sephora will give out sample containers for free about the same size? Dunno. Never tested the theory because I had these onhand but it doesn't hurt to ask!

Then she tried out her concoction and deemed it "delicious and exfoliating!" Apparently the drink mix melts and it's not as exfoliating after a bit but I really liked it kind of grainy! And it WAS delish!

So there you have it! Another Pinterest success and they were a hit at the Pinterest party!

(Official tagline: Homemade Lip Gloss--So Easy a BYU Alumni Can Make It!)

Okay, so finally let me tell you about this Pinterest Party I've been going on and on about! Every year I host a party where I give my friends the opportunity to actually MAKE the projects they spend so much time pinning! The way it works is this: Everyone makes 3 of the same project they've pinned. So Alisa made 3 lip glosses, I made 3 jars..you get the point. They bring those as well as some food to share that is ALSO something they pinned on Pinterest. I made these won-ton taco cups:

Sorry, I didn't take pictures. Anyhoo...everyone who comes writes their name on 3 pieces of paper and those papers are distributed among the guests (making sure they don't draw their own names). Everyone takes turns showing off what they made and then gives them to each of the 3 people whose names they've drawn. It's SO much fun! Everyone gets the chance to make some stuff they've pinned and everyone leaves with 3 fun gifties that someone else made! It's so much fun! I ended up with a cute tooth pillow, an awesome little boy tie with an elastic neck band and a super cute tic-tac-toe game! Here are some of the girls with their spoils:

So successes all around. The pins! The projects! The party! Winning. Until next time, Internets!