Valentine's DIY from a Non-DIYer

I am one of those Pinterest people that absolutely loves Pinterest and pinning 256 things per hour. But very rarely applies those pins to real life.

Except on Valentine's Day Eve.

I finally put my pinning to work!

Sloane had to have a box for all of her Valentine's from her school party - another of those momentous "firsts"! Since I knew I would be making this by myself (I knew it would be once everyone was in bed and I knew that Matt would probably be watching TV on the couch -- but to his credit, he wasn't even home so I can't give him crap for this one), I knew the task could not be too difficult or time consuming.

I pinned some options and after reviewing my pins, I narrowed it down to the easiest one, showed Sloane, got the approval, and moved forward.

Below was my inspiration:

Hello Kitty

After single-momming it for the day and everyone was bathed and in bed, I began my chore for the evening. Operation Sloane Valentine's Day Box commenced!

Thank you to Two Dots for donating a box for this event.

Also on the crafting island for the evening was a large stack of white tissue paper, a thick pad of construction paper with numerous colors, a knife, two pairs of scissors (large AND small) and two kinds of tape. A glue stick would have been a better option that double-sided tape, but go figure - I didn't have any. I don't know how because I could swear to you I've seen 30 random glue sticks lying around recently. But not tonight, not when I truly needed them!

A Coke was also apart of this evening.

You can be sure that this part of the box-making process was where I used the most brain power. 

I spent the most time cutting out small oval circles for eyes. Because they had to be perfect (not because of Sloane but because of my over-analness).

 And BOOM.

Just like that, I completed my first real do-it-yourself project and it didn't take me days to complete or tons of money. 

Just some peace, caffeine and patience when using double-sided tape on the entire project. 

I'd deem it a success! She had a smile on her face the next morning and when I asked if I could throw it away when she got home, she was very angry with me and said "Hellll no, Ma! Back off!" 

Or maybe that's just what I heard. :) 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

XXOO, Allyson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinteresting

Happy Thursday friends! Decided to go with some Pinterest action today for your Thursday dose of Tess and Elm. And as always, if you want to find all of these pins and past pins, look no further than right here!

 I got a pressure cooker for Christmas which means I have been pressure cooking and slow cooking like crazy lately! I needed to have a meal for our weekly Stacey/Clark dinner and I found this SUPER easy roast recipe and then made mashed potatoes in my pressure cooker (that took six minutes to make) and BOOM! Easy and delicious meal!

I love looking for simple ways to make an outfit just a smidge cuter. And I was browsing Pinterest for specific ideas on how to wear my new Buffalo Check Shirt Jacket from JCrew Factory, I came across this adorable outfit. The jeans I have, the shirt I have, I have many plaid scarves. Now to invest in a camel blazer and I'm good to go!

As Matt and I are house-hunting in Chicago, we are coming to the realization that we might have to make some (major) updates to our future house. Because it seems that everything in our price range was built in the 1960s. And the insides look like it came straight from the 1960s.

So now I'm hunting for inexpensive ways to update rooms.

And then I found a ship-lapped bathroom wall. Damn you, Fixer Upper! I love this! 

Speaking of Pressure Cooker (also known as an Instant Pot if you were really confused like I was), here are a good chunk of recipes to help you into your pressure cooker glory days!

We took my dad to our very favorite Italian restaurant in Bentonville for his birthday (Tavola for you locals) and we ordered the Farm Board as an appetizer (otherwise known as a cheese tray).

HOLY COW! It was awesome -- it wasn't huge like this one, but it was the perfect size for five adults. And inspired me to try this on my own. When we have people over. Which is never.

So maybe just for Matt and I... but a great idea for an "adult party"!


Yay for Pinterest and Yay for Thursdays! Finish the week strong, friends!

XXOO,
Allyson

Pinterestin'

 

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to the second installment of Pinterestin'! I found a few yummy treats to make this holiday season or New Years as well as some decor ideas, that I want and can't have. :) 

Cranberry Pecan Brie Bites --- YUM! These won't take an extreme amount of time to make, but will be a fantastic addition to your Christmas appetizers!

 

Grinch Kabobs --- an easy recipe that my kids would love to make AND eat!

LOVE this idea! And I know my mom has to have a few of these crocks laying around! :) When we moved here, my goal was actually to have a pitcher full of old wooden rolling pins in the kitchen. So far, I have two. I have some work to do!

 

Who wants to come to my house and find a place to make and install these?! I need them for shoes, hats, gloves, etc. immediately! Our was one of the few houses in the neighborhood that didn't get the 'lockers' that have hooks and seating to hang up everyone's backpacks, jackets and whatever else we feel needs to hung up!

 

Texas Toast Garlic Bread Pizza --- easy and yummy! A hit with my kids!

Just another fun kitchen with some cool touches -- I'm starting to dig the gold hardware. Three years ago, I would have never said that! And ofcourse, I'm obsessed with the butcher block counter tops!!!


I could do a 'Pinterestin' post almost every day and never show you everything I truly love. Because every five seconds, new stuff pops up that I love!

I saved all of these pins to a specific 'Pinterestin' via Tess and Elm' board, which you can find here or you can follow all of y boards here!

Enjoy the rest of your day! See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

XXOO,
Allyson 

Pinteresting

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm throwing you off a little this week. Thursdays' are usually designated for Etsy Finds of the Week. And most of the time, that will always be the case.

But today, I wanted to do something a little different. We are going 'Pinteresting' (copyright that)! I LOVE Pinterest, but never have enough time to sit and spend the hours that I want on it. So today I'm designating some time to some of the things that I have found recently that I love! 

It's hard to narrow it down, but oh-so-fun...

Enjoy! 

Wooden Church Pew

Ugh! I've wanted an old wooden church pew for awhile. I love that it is a great decor piece as well as extra seating! 

Someday. ;) 

Perfect Kitchen

This is my kitchen.  

Well, not MINE mine, but if I were to create a kitchen, this would be it. I LOVE the wood countertops and the white walls! 

I'm now on the hunt for this rug! 

Front Porch Decor

I'm constantly looking for something to put at the entryway to our front door and I LOVE this planter and boxwood! I want something that will look good in that spot all year long but that I can dress up with pumpkins or ribbon, etc. 

Anthropologie Inspired Bedroom

I love, love, love this room for a little girl! It's not too far out of my comfort zone. Plus the framed wallpaper would be a cinch to do! 

Ceramic Tile 

Ever since Joanna and Chip Gaines came into my life, I have a new found love for tiles. Not boring tiles. But fun tiles, like the one above! I would LOVE to use them on a floor or as a backsplash someday.

Keyword being someday.

Pantry Organization

I did some pantry reorganization this summer (it was fun and stressful at the same time) and this post definitely helped me out, in regards to the baskets for potatoes, labels, glass jars, etc.). A good find!

Pop of Color

  

What a fantastic pop of color during those cold winter months! Another good idea for the front entryway!

Slow Cooker Black Bean Chicken Taco Chili 

Yummmmmm.

It's finally cooling off here in northwest Arkansas so chili is on the list of must-make items!

That's all for today! Like I said, I LOVE Pinterest! If you like some of the things you've seen, you can follow my Pinterest page by clicking here!   

Don't forget to enter my Morphe Eyeshadow Palette Giveaway below - I will announce the winner on Friday Favorites! :)

XXOO,

Allyson

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Easy Fall Food Recipes

Ladies and gentlemen, it might come as a huge shock to you that I am not a good cook!

I don't have any issues with stating it, it's just not my thing.

Writing lots of words and putting them on the Internet I can do. Cook and bake, I can not.

But that doesn't stop me from trying! And during this time of year, my crock pot becomes my very favorite appliance!

I also must give a HUGE shout out to Pinterest. I own many, many cookbooks: Pioneer Woman, The Joy of Cooking and about 12 others that were my Grams' (who was a wonderful cook). But the chances of me opening on of those versus opening Pinterest is almost non-existent. The recipe options on Pinterest are endless and I LOVE it!

So here are a few of my favorites that I seem to go back to. Hope this will help you when you are meal planning for the week (because everyone is doing that now, right?)! :)

Smothered Beef Burritos

Oh you guys ... when I made these the first time, I was nervous, but they were SO good. If my husband gives me the thumbs up, then I note that as a win and save it! These were also SO easy (another important piece for me) -- there is very little you need for them, plus you throw it all in the crock pot. Boom! 

Give them a try and you'll be pleased! 

Mexican Stuffed Shells

I have been a faithful servant to Italian food for a very long time. But at some point, I seemed to start leaning towards Mexican food. And if I had Mexican food every night of the week, I'd TOTALLY be OK with it. 

I came across this one and thought it combined two of my favorite food worlds, so why not give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did! They are super yummy -- you can eat about 5-6 in one sitting (I PROBABLY wouldn't advise in making a side if you plan to eat that many though...). They are just jumbo shells filled with a mixture of ground beef, taco seasoning and cream cheese.  How can you go wrong? 

Again, they are very easy to put together, just make sure you don't leave the shells on the stove too long or they get too soft and start to fall apart, which makes it hard to keep the mixture in! 

 Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

Now, I totally understand how the word 'quinoa' immediately strikes a chord with some people!

Some would be like "OOOH! Yess! Something healthy - let's do this!" While you'd have someone like my sister that would say, "Ummm, yeah -- what else is on the menu?" 

I'm not heckling her. Because that is me about 98 percent of the time as well, but I love quinoa because it IS good for you, but it really doesn't have much of a taste, which is a win-win! 

I started making this in Minnesota and really loved it! It tastes SO yummy and again, the quinoa is a bonus that you don't even know is really there!

 Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole

Spaghetti casserole was one of the dishes in the Hills' household that you didn't touch. My Grams was the Queen of Spaghetti Casserole in my brother's mind and there was nothing that anyone could do to top it. 

And believe me, I would never try. My Grams was the Queen of the Kitchen so never would I tell her what I thought she should be doing! 

But... I have a gut feeling that if she were sitting next to her today, and I told her that by adding cream cheese to spaghetti casserole, it really gives it that 'Je Ne Sais Quoi'... I think she might believe me!

People... make this. Seriously, it's so easy, and it's so delicious and it's one of those perfect middle of the week dinners! Butter up a loaf of French bread for a side and a salad and that's it! 

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Speaking of easiest crock pot recipe ever .... this is it! This is a go-to in the Clark household because I can get a pork tenderloin at Aldi for $4, I always have bbq sauce, hamburger buns and some form of pop to make this! 

You don't even need a Dr. Pepper - I've used Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero ... whatever you have, it just keeps it moist! 

But you put the pork in the crockpot, pour a 12 oz. drink over it, let it sit for 7-8 hours, drain the liquid, shred the pork, add the bbq sauce. And that. Is. It. 

It is so easy! 

Crash Hot Potatoes 

And if you want to look like a friggin' rock star in the kitchen, make these while you're waiting on your pulled pork! They are really yummy! 

Maybe a little more nerve-wracking because you need them to be the perfect softness to be able to smash them, but not mutilate them. They are easy and so good with the pulled pork! 

So there you have it ... these are my favorite Pinterest recipes that I use as go-to's all the time! If you want to follow my Pinterest 'Food I Gotta Try' board, click here. I have tons of recipes for picky eaters that I have yet to try! :)  

Happy Tuesday everyone! Make sure you're following the Tess & Elm facebook page for an October giveaway happening soon!   

XXOO,
Allyson

 

Meals I Have ACTUALLY Made

When we lived in Minnesota, I got in a great routine of meal planning and making grocery lists. My mom was a whiz at this stuff when I was growing up. She'd buy a Gooseberry Patch calendar every year and had dinners listed for every night of the week.

And she saved these to refer back to ... or to give away to my sister and I at some point (they probably got dumped in what we refer to as the 'Great Move of 2014'). But she was/is great at this!

And I felt my skills were really coming along.

And then we moved to Arkansas. And it all went to crap. And for no good reason!

I blame either laziness. Or laziness.

I also blame it on the fact that there are zero Super Target's in Wal Mart Land that I can use my Target Red Card which gave me five percent off my purchase (and came from my husband's bank account, not mine).

So we are stuck with whatever I can think of off the cuff with usually one meal planned for the week.

Oh... I also blame Tess. Once that girl came into this world, making ANY kind of dinner became exponentially difficult! She likes to be held. All the time!

So last week when I hosted Book Club and made the Pioneer Woman's meatballs, mashed potatoes and flat apple pie, I felt on top of the world! Except that was our meal at home the rest of the week.

It was divine though and Matt kept thinking of new ways to use meatballs so kudos to him!

But I wanted to share these recipes because they were actually pretty easy (which is key for me) and super yummy (an obvious key).

Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs

Pioneer Woman's Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie 

The most important pieces of meal planning for me were Pinterest and Aunt Sherron's Cookbook. Pinterest is free to everyone and has a bazillion wonderful recipes that gave me endless options for my two-week plan.

(Sidenote: I really only made 3-4 meals a week because I refuse to make anything on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And sometimes Wednesday were leftover day. So ... meal planning shouldn't have been too difficult for me! :) )

Now Aunt Sherron's Cookbook is a little harder to come by. I got this years ago and it was a collection of recipes from family members and friends collected and put into one book... and then many, many copies made. It is glorious! It has some of my very favorites in there like her goulash and chili recipes (her chili recipe includes spaghetti - who knew, but it is truly fantastic -- see below)!

And just for good measure, here is the best Italian Dressing recipe this side of Antartica!

If you are hunting for recipes, need them to be easy, and are a semi-picky eater like myself, follow my 'Food I Gotta Try' board on Pinterest. It's full of goodies, including this meal that I made for our good friends, the Stacey's last night: Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos -- my house smelled amazing from Noon until I took the chicken out at 6. Lordy.

So ... planned meals are hard to come by at the Clark house nowadays. Luckily, my husband is a good sport and goes with it. Or curses me under his breath every single day, but has learned to whisper quite well.

What are some of your favorite, EASY meals? I need to stock up on my selection!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

XXOO,
Allyson

PS. Don't forget about the Etsy Gift Card Giveaway -- use Rafflectoper below to enter! The giveaway ends Friday and will be announced on my Friday Favorites!


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