Pin it Do it: Something yummy!

I am back with another Pin it Do it Challenge! (sorry for all those who came by for the last two weeks looking for the challenge.. we were on vacation!)

The pin I used this week was from my recipe board which I originally found here. It was a recipe for Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf. Remember,  I have a love of Italian food so this one sounded right up my alley! And it was. I followed the directions exactly and if I made it again there is nothing I would change. It was the right blend of seasoning, a great texture and SOOOO easy to make! You can even make it ahead, freeze it and then bake it when you need it. It got 5 out of 6 thumbs up from the family so that means it makes it into our regular rotation.

from "What's Cooking Chicago"

We'll I have to go... I'm in the midst of changing over wardrobes for all four kids... ugh!

Link up below and show us all the great ways you brought Pinterest into real life this week! Happy Pinning!

Pin it Do it Challenge Week 3

 Welcome to week 3 of the Pin it Do it Challenge!

While I was planning Eden's All About Me week for our introduction to preschool, I found 2 ideas that I knew I had to recreate.

First, I love sensory tubs... I love putting them together, and the kids really enjoy playing, discovering and learning with them.  The Totally Tots website has a "What's in the Tub" feature where they put together sensory tubs each month around a specific theme.  It is a great resource and it is where I found this sensory tub:

Totally Tots- What's in the Tub

 Here is my version.  I had fun putting this one together.

• The filler is abc pasta (first week of school, letter review) lentils (for some colour) popcorn seeds and wagon wheel pasta (that's what else I had in the cupboard!)
• Next I took a picture of each person in the family.. even Marcus cooperated! After removing the background with Photoshop, I cut them out and laminated the pictures.  They stood up nicely in the filler.
• I added name cards so Eden could match the name with the person. (name recognition)
• Foam and wooden letters which spelled out her first and last name (she fished these out with a spoon to practice spelling her name)
• magnetic numbers- the numbers in our phone number to practice.
• magnets from our Melissa and Doug calendar (My Birthday, Ballet & Gymnastics- Eden's activities)
• plastic star shape (star was our shape of the week)
• wooden flower and leaf beads (to add some more colour and texture).

I like how it came together and Eden enjoyed playing with the tub (even Eli asked to have a turn a few times).  Eden's favourite part was the cutouts of the family.  One day she spent almost an hour playing with them! 


The next project I pinned  was from my dear friend Mari-Ann's website Counting Coconuts where I always find some great ideas (she is amazing!)

This "Me on the Map" book is a circle shaped book.  Each circle of the book from smallest to biggest represents our home,  neighbourhood, parish (city), island (country), continent, and planet.  The circles are decorated with pictures and held together with a brad.  Eden enjoyed putting each piece together.. we did it over 2 days and the highlight for her was sticking a little star on each page approximately where she would be.  It is a great visual for how we fit in the world.

Here is our version which didn't stray too far from the original (Hey, why recreate the wheel!)

Well, that's how I brought Pinterest into real life this week!  What about you?  Link up below, I'd love to see your great projects and  ideas!

Pin it Do it: Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the Pin it Do it challenge. It has been quite a week around here with the first week of school. It feels good to have some routine back. I managed to fit in a couple of easy Pinterest inspired ideas.

My favourite was this clever idea to use a magazine type holder to hold kitchen items.  I have been frustrated with the loose boxes of ziploc bags that get tossed around the cupboard.  I can never find the size bag that I need when I need it.  I didn't have any magazine holders laying around and a trip to town with 4 kids to look for one was not and option but I did have a perfect size cereal box that I managed to recycle in to the perfect solution!  My plastic storage bags are now neat and tidy and in one place!  Here's my cereal box version:

The original was pinned  from Chica and Jo who have lots of great ideas.


OK, your turn....Come on, link up!
Read here to see how this challenge came about and the posting rules and then feel free to link up using the linky below. You will have until Friday evening to link up. I can't wait to see how everyone is bringing Pinterest into real life!!

Pin it!

In a previous post I mentioned that  I use Pinterest to keep track of recipes I want to try. Some of you may have been wondering what I was talking about. I thought I would share with you what, in my opinion, is one of the best sites to hit the internet!!

First this post should come with a warning:

Beware!! Pinterest, while a useful tool has been known to take 5 minutes of your time and turn it into 30 minutes without you knowing. Proceed with caution! I will not be held responsible if all of the extra minutes of your day are wasted spent on Pinterest!

In all seriousness, like anything else on the internet, Pinterest does have the potential to be come a procrastination tool. I though have found its benefits towards making me more organized do outweigh this potential for me... If you do join I would encourage you to set limits for yourself if wasting time on the internet is an issue for you.

So with all that out of the way just what is Pinterest?

Just think of it as a virtual bulletin board.  As you find useful tips, ideas, beautiful pictures, wish list items, books to read (the list is endless) on the internet you can "rip them out" and "pin them up" on your bulletin board.

You can have several boards... here is a snap shot of some of mine:

This makes it easy to keep track of the ideas you find in a logical way. It is essentially creating a visual bookmark as clicking on the picture takes you back to the website it came from. I like it more than using bookmarks as I am a visual person.  I would bookmark things and then never go back to them or remember what the bookmark was for.
 
You can follow other users boards. The application can search your mail, facebook and twitter contacts to see who is already on Pinterest making it simple to find boards to follow. You can repin someone else's pin.   There is even an application for iTouch, iPhone and iPad.   I am loving Pinterest... when I need an activity for the kids or a new meal idea I can quickly go and find something that I have pinned.  So what are you waiting for?? Go join  and have fun pinning!!