Holiday Pinspiration: Christmas In Our Home!

Its been a crafty Christmas around my household! A little project here, a little project there, a glass of cabernet, the Real Housewives on TV and voila....instant decor productivity! 

I have to say I'm quite proud of how it all turned out. This was our first Christmas in our new home and as you can imagine, my mind has been overwhelmed with ideas. Some original and some Pinterest inspired. Instead of doing multiple posts I opted for one MEGA post with oodles of holiday "Pinspiration" just for you. 

Welcome to our little Christmas nook! 

Present Wrapping:

Sometimes you just can't remember it all! This year I forgot to buy tags for our gifts. Luckily, after a little pinning session, I stumbled across this awesome idea. It was super easy and really personalized each gift! 

1. Download an online image of your gift recipient (I got mine from Facebook!)

2. Paste into a Microsoft Word document and size accordingly

3. Print on regular paper

4. Cut and tape to your gift! 

Pin Sister Tip: To take it up a notch, have actual photography prints made! 

We wrapped our gifts with neutral color wrapping paper from Amazon and shiny silver string. The finishing touch was a glittery ornament as a wrapping accent. They came in packages of 12 at Walmart for less than $4 dollars. Pin Sister score!

Holiday Card Display:

I stumbled upon this adorable Christmas card wreath from MarthaStewart.com and fell in love with the idea of creating a display for all of the wonderful cards we receive from family and friends. We re-purposed a framed wire piece, added a few wood clips, sparkly ribbon, glitzy ornaments and voila!

The "Pinspiration":

Our Creation:

"Let It Snow Banner":

Our last little DIY project is this cute and simple "Let It Snow" banner. I wanted a short phrase and who doesn't love snow over the holidays! I whipped out a few crafting skills from my grade school days and followed the simple steps below:

1. Print the individual letters from the phrase of your choice onto card stock (One letter per page!)
2. Trace and cut a triangle shape around each letter
3. Completely cover the black lettering with glue
4. Sprinkle glitter over top the glued letter until it is completely covered
5. Shake off any excess glitter that doesn't stick to the glue
6. Once the glue has completely dried you can hang the letters as you wish! 

 BEST WISHES, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Big News!

Ladies and gentleman, crafty people of the world, the Pin Sisters have some fabulous news to share! We have been presented with a new and exciting adventure. 

The Pin Sisters are being published!

<Commence happy dance now>

Capital Style Magazine, published by the Capital Gazette, has asked us to contribute to their extraordinary publication. In 2013, a handful of our blogging adventures will be brought to life in the world of print.    

We are very excited to share this news with our online readers and look forward to expanding our outreach to local Annapolitans with Capital Style. 

Click here to view the November Issue of Capital Style Magazine.

Decisions, decisions! Selecting a Christmas Eve Cocktail

Every Christmas Eve, my big Italian family gathers at my Uncle's house. We eat...we open presents...we eat...we chat (loudly!)...we eat again...did I mention we eat? Um hello, we are Italian! Mama don't send you home unless you have a full belly!

A few years back, I started a lovely little Christmas Eve tradition. Instead of baring gifts, I personally come baring a delish cocktail that all of the ladies of the household (sorry fellas) get to enjoy while we mix, mingle, and celebrate the holiday jingle. 

I need your help this year! I'm trying to channel my inner Martha Stewart and can't decide what the happy hour special will be. So I figure, why not ask some fellow cocktail lovers. 

HELP ME PICK THE WINNER! But choose wisely. It could end up as a Pin Win or a Pin Bust. No pressure!

*Leave a comment below (by Dec. 20th) listing the cocktail you'd like to see this Pin Sister serve up! 

 

DIY Natural Makeup Brush Cleaner

Oh hey fellow makeup lovers! I don't know about you but when I say "Hello winter!" I also say "Goodbye tan!". Which means my makeup brushes are working overtime and certainly look the part. 

I consider myself a thrifty gal. The thought of spending $20++ on a quality brush cleaner gives me the heebie geebies. I mean, wouldn't you rather spend that money on a fab new lipstick (that you probably don't need...wink wink!) instead of boring old brush cleaner?! 

Nonetheless, cleaning brushes is essential to great makeup and a fresh face. So I hit the pin galleries in search of a DIY brush cleaner and voila! I found this lovely how-to. 

I felt a little like a mad scientist with the mixin' and the measurements but it was super quick, super easy and in the long run I get to save a few pennies. A Pin Win from this sister!

The Ingredients:
TWO parts baby shampoo
ONE part olive oil

Pin Sister Tip: We used a shot glass as our "measuring cup" which resulted in way more cleaner than we needed. Oopsies! A little bit goes a long way...lesson learned. We recommend using tablespoon measurements and simply sticking to the two parts baby shampoo, one part olive oil rule. You can easily mix more (or less) depending on the number of brushes you want to freshen up.

Step One:
Mix the baby shampoo and olive oil with a bit of water on a plate or in a small glass.

Step Two:
Dip your brush in the mixture so the bristles are completely covered in cleaner.

Step Three:
Swish the dipped brush in the palm of your hand to work up a nice lather.

Step Four:
Rinse the lathered brush under warm water to remove the cleaner and dirt residue. Goodbye dirt, oil and bacteria!

Step Five:
Air dry with bristles pointing down, NOT up!

The Results:

So fresh n' so clean clean!

After seeing just how well this recipe worked, I ended up cleaning a few more of my brushes with the extra mixture leftover. Now, I have brushes that look and feel as good as new! Woop woop!

Pineology: Click here for this pin's origin.

The "Realtor's Trick": Vanilla Extract Warmed in a Coffee Mug

"House smelling weird? Put two caps full of pure vanilla extract in a coffee cup then place it in the oven at 300 degrees for one hour. Within twenty minutes the whole house smells like heaven. It's actually a common realtor trick."

I don't know about you but when I read this my immediate thought was "AWESOME!!". No longer will I have to spend oodles on expensive candles, air fresheners, and plug-ins. A simple two cap-fulls, a little oven action and voila my house smells like Martha Stewart stopped by with a fresh baked pie. 

Being the good little student I once was, I followed directions and my experience went a lil' something like this...

Side Note: I used four cap-fulls of vanilla extract instead of the recommended two. Two cap-fulls barely covered the bottom of the mug so my thought was a little more can't hurt. 

The outcome...a dud! <Insert sad face here>. Twenty minutes in, I smelled nothing, nada, zilch unless I stuck my nose right up to the oven. Thirty minutes in, a VERY faint smell, and burnt vanilla extract on the bottom of my cute mug. 

Have you tried this nifty idea? Did you have a better experience? Any tips on how to improve? Help a sister out!

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

While most eagerly await Thanksgiving Day, my tum longs for its predecessor...POLLARD POTLUCK (Oh haayyy Erin & Rai!). This Thanksgiving Eve tradition was started by a few friends who simply like to eat...like a lot...no seriously...A LOT! As in forget the skinny jeans, grab the Tums, and throw on an extra stretchy pair of sweats. Every couple brings a delish dish of their choosing to share. There is absolutely no method to the menu madness.

This year's menu: Brown Sugared Smokies, Crockpot Full O'Meatballs, Homemade Peppermint Schnapps, Deviled Eggs, Corn & Basil Cakes, Scalloped Potatoes with Ham, Eggplant Parmesan, Mini Kiss Pies, Mom's Famous Salad, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Tortellini Salad, Three Bean Salad, Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potatoes, Sushi, Seven Layer Dip, Popeye's Chicken, Zucchini Pizza Bites, Parmesan Crusted Carrots, "Dangerous Alcohol Concoction", Gimel's Special Chicken, "Turkey Something", and last but not least...PUMPKIN FLUFF DIP!

This recipe is pure fall perfection and so ridiculously easy to prepare. Right up my chef-wannabe alley! Definitely a Pin Win! from this Pin Sister. 

The Ingredients: 
Original recipe makes 4 cups
1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

The Directions:  
(5 minutes!)
In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.


Pin Sister Tips:

• Add (1) teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and/or (1) tablespoon of Butterscotch Schnapps for a little kick!
• Serve dip with ginger snaps, sliced apples, and cinnamon graham crackers. I chose to serve with the graham crackers and apple slices drizzled with melted butterscotch (Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the apple slices all gussied up!). 
• Serve in a small hollowed pumpkin or festive bowl
• Leftovers? Put the dip between two graham crackers and place in the freezer...pumpkin ice cream sandwich!

Pineology: Click HERE for this pin's origin. 

Hello!

We are two sisters who love all the beautiful, creative and inspiring things we find on the web. We both needed a bit of a push to stop "window shopping" and actually bring to life these great finds! The yummy recipes, the crafty DIY projects, the to-die-for outfits, the bookworm suggestions, the gardening how-tos, the travel inspiration, the hair dos...THE WORKS! So here you have it, our own little blog dialoging our adventures. Some things we may fancy (Pin WINS!). Others we may not (Pin BUSTS!). We'll weed through the ones that may need a lil' oomph to be worth your while and we'll provide a few tips to help you make the most out of each venture.

 Until our next post!