photos in mason jars - love it, hate it, or meh?

After seeing this pin 50,000 times I gave in and re-pinned it.  It could be an interesting craft project. Maybe.

I was not so crazy about the look of the mason jar, so I went with rounder jar for a more up-to-date look.  The scientist in me was thinking of specimen in jar versus vintage.  Various online directions I found suggested using olive oil  or vegetable oil.  I used what I had on hand - canola oil, some pictures from our last vacation, and clear glass jar.

Craft items assemble!!

 Before I cut the photograph I placed it under the jar to figure out where I wanted to crop it.

I tried an iguana, not crazy about it.

So I tried some seaweed that had washed up on the beach.  I liked this one better.

At the end of the day I would say meh to this craft project.  It ended up on top of the refrigerator.  I think I will try a variation of this where I put rocks in oil inside of laboratory specimen jars and just skip the picture.

my lazy spin on strawberry mascarpone cake...

I re-pinned this because it looked yummy and beautiful. It originally hails from shesimmers blog (great name for a blog!).  I was going to make it for a summer dinner party and end up looking like an accomplished baker.  But when it came to actually making it I was racing the clock to get to a picnic, so I did the lazy suburban trick of turning it into a trifle.  The end result was not as flawlessly beautiful, but it tasted good.

Ingredients:

• One 4-ounce container of mascarpone cheese, softened on the counter
• Two pounds of beautiful strawberries
• 1 pint of heavy cream
• 1 unflavored gelatin packet
• sugar to taste, I used about 1/3 cup
• vanilla to taste (I don't measure I just pour...)
• Angel food cake - I was lazy and used one from the store. 

-Place 1 cup of cold whipping cream in a bowl, I used the bowl from my mixer.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let it sit  until it is dissolved (it won't look crystalline any more, it will look sort of wrinkly).

- Add the softened mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla.  Mix until fluffy, but as shesimmers warns, don't over mix or you will have butter.

- Cut the "pretty" strawberries, enough to line your container walls, chop up the rest into little bite-sized bits.

 - Add the chopped strawberries to the cream mixture, move to another bowl (chill in the fridge if you want until you are ready to use)

- Dice up the angel food cake or rip as you go....

- Place a layer of angel food cake pieces in the bottom of your trifle bowl.  Ring the bowl with slice strawberries, insides facing out.  Place filling inside until strawberries on sides are covered.  Repeat until you fill your container.

- Garnish with strawberries.



Variations
-Use sugar substitute along with a sugar-free angel food cake for a sugar-free version
-Use other berries in the filling, blueberries, raspberries, ,blackberries

my version of that pumpkin moss wreath...

I found this original pin while browsing "everything", if you are a regular everything browser I am sure you have seen it.  I think I tracked the original version to etsy, if you know the true origin let me know!   

I decided to dust of my long forgotten craftiness and make my own.  Off to the craft store I went (without a coupon!) to get my supplies.  Overall it turned out to be an easy, satisfying project that actually looked like I thought it would.

Craft store supplies:

16-inch wreath, I went with straw because it was cheap

Spanish moss - two bags

Green pins - two 50-count packages (I used about 1 and a quarter)

Burlap (ended up ditching this)

Wood picks (ended up ditching these too) 

I picked up the mini pumpkins at the local pumpkin stand.

I unwrapped my straw wreath and then proceeded to pin down moss.  If I made another one I would either not take the plastic off (straw pieces everywhere) or I would use a foam frame.  

 


Keep going until you cover the entire wreath frame. When I was done I sprayed it with hair spray, the theory being that this would help hold everything together more.  I would not hold this theory up to scientific scrutiny.

I used three pumpkins, I might cut it back to two.  I first tried attaching the pumpkins using the wood picks I bought at the craft store but they were not quite long enough.  After a day of opening and shutting the front door and three pumpkins on the front porch, I replace the picks with wooden skewers we used for grilling kabobs.  

The finished project ended up looking like this -

I played around with making a burlap hanging ribbon (without a bow to be more modern looking) but I ditched it.  I liked the cleaner look without it.  

I like that I can keep the basic wreath from year to year and change out with fresh decorations.  Next year I might use gourds or white pumpkins.   

Now that I look at the photo, I need to go back and pin down some stray moss.  Overall I am super pleased with my attempt at being crafty!!

Pinitiation

I am pin-obsessed, admittedly I don't pin constantly, but it does give me focus. I need focus, life moves too rapidly.  Days, months, years pass way too quickly.  My pins help me to visualize my goals.
I am pin-motivated.  It makes me want to follow through and do/make/see things. 
This is the story behind my pins and beyond my pins - my pinterpretation.