Capital Style Magazine: DIY Terrarium

In case you missed it, we Pin Sisters shared a fun DIY project in the March issue of Capital Style Magazine! Terrariums are all the rage right now. A great way to bring a little bit of mother nature to your indoor space. To view the lovely layout and magazine article, click here. Otherwise, read below and enjoy! Let us know how your terrarium turns out should you take on this little project.

And YES! That's another MISA ME Photography image on the cover from yours truly! Wahoo!

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A trendy tabletop garden that requires minimal care! Sounds like a dream for those of us who may not have been blessed with a "green thumb" but appreciate the beauty and peace greenery can bring to your home. The proper term for this little slice of mother nature indoors is commonly referred to as a terrarium -- A mini indoor garden contained in a glass vessel. 

There is a ton of DIY terrarium inspiration online! Each with a variety of succulents, cacti, moss and/or ferns. However, don't go mixing and matching these little guys together just yet! These terrarium-friendly plants have their individual preferences when if comes to their environment and care.

We turned to the experts for great maintenance tips to make sure our terrarium receives the low-maintenance TLC it deserves! The information below came from a great resource, terrariavt.com.

Tips for a succulent and cacti terrarium:

•  Succulents and cacti live in arid environments and need little water to thrive. Spraying with a light mist every week will suffice. 
• Succulents and cacti like plenty of light! They will do well placed near a window that gets indirect light for majority of the day. Too much direct sunlight will cause the terrarium to get very warm and potentially harm the plants.
• It is advised to remove fallen leaves from the terrarium. This will prevent rotting.

Tips for a moss and fern terrarium:

•  Moss and ferns thrive on moisture! Spritzing water with a sprayer two or three times a week will suffice. Don't allow them to dry out!
• Moss and ferns like shaded and humid environments so keep away from direct sunlight.
• Air is also important! So if you've chosen a closed glass container, remove the lid periodically for a few hours.

So, how do you make a terrarium of your own? It couldn't be any more simple!

Here are the supplies we used:  

•  open glass container (a closed container can be used for a moss/fern terrarium)
•  river rock or similar material
•  activated charcoal
• cactus soil or potting soil
• variety of succulents, cacti, moss and/or ferns
• any desired terrarium decor

 Here are the steps we followed to create our own little indoor garden:

1. Choose an open or closed glass container depending on the terrarium you'd like to create
2. Cover the bottom with about a layer of pebbles or river rocks to create a false drainage system for the plant roots
3. Add a thin layer of activated charcoal. This is necessary if you have chosen a closed glass container! This charcoal will filter the air and keep it fresh.
4. Add a layer of cactus soil or potting soil, depending on if you choose to use cacti paired with succulents or ferns paired with moss.
5. Place your plants in the terrarium.

 Pin Sister Tips: 

• Moss or ground cover, found at your local gardening store, can be used to enhance the look of your terrarium! 
• If you've found the perfect glass vessel but it has a few areas where water or materials can seep through, simply purchase a silicon sealer from a local hardware store and seal any problem areas. 
  
  

 
  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

It's 9:34 PM. You're in the middle of the latest episode of Revenge when boom. It hits. That middle-of-the-night-dear-Lord-give-me-something-sweet craving.

There are little to no sweets to be found in our household. Not because Seamus and I don't love sweets. But because we do love them. So much that I'm sure if we had our fill of calorie filled goodies on a daily basis, we would both have bellies that would give Santa Claus a run for his money. To kick those late night cravings, we do however keep a box of Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cups in the freezer. Pop two or three in your mouth and the craving is kept at bay. This satisfies me plenty, however for the growing boy of the household, not so much. This brings me to this week's Pin Win.

Cake in a mug. I repeat. Cake. In. A. Mug.

After searching the web for something quick, delicious, and easy to make, I came across this deliciously delectable recipe for a Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake. This guilty pleasure is brought to you by Yammie's Noshery.

First, assemble your ingredients.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Next, melt the butter and mix with peanut butter. Stir it up!

Then, in your mug mix together the vanilla, egg, and sugar until well combined. Pour the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Mix. Then add to your mug. You'll end up with a nice, dark mix like this:

Remember the buttery, nuttery mix you melted and stirred up before? Add that to your batter mix and stir well. 

Drooling yet? Because I was. Now, the recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I bumped it up a knotch and added in those yummy mini peanut butter cups I told you about earlier.

Now you can take this delicious mixture and pop it in the microwave. The recipe suggested 1 - 2 minutes (depending on your microwave) so I went for 1:30 to be on the safe side. This turned out to be just right for me!

It doesn't look like much, but believe me...this dark, delicious dessert was scrumptious!

The recipe went on to create a peanut butter mousse for a topping. Even though I was ready to dive into my chocolate mug cake, I figured what could make it better than more peanut butter. I decided to give it a shot! Enter mousse ingredients.

1 tablespoon softened cream cheese
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons whipped cream or cool whip
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Mix together cream cheese, peanut butter and vanilla. Fold in your whipped cream. Sift in the powdered sugar and fold that in as well. Try not to over stir.

Now, I have to be honest, my mixture didn't look anything like the picture. It didn't seem as smooth. So I gave it a taste and added a little more whipped cream, but it didn't seem to do the trick. However, I died and went to heaven when I tasted it, so I said enough. I'm ready to indulge.

So I grabbed a glass of milk and dug in. Ladies and gents, this truly hits the spot for a sweet late night treat. It's easy, quick and the ingredients are simple. I had nearly each ingredient in my house already, which made Seamus even happier when I could whip this recipe up in a jiffy!

Pin Win for sure! Enjoy late night snackers.

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.

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.