This Post Was Supposed to be Tuesday Thursday - Christmas Stocking

This was one of the most frustrating pins to date, guys. Of course, this post would come after a Throwback Thursday that I posted to prove to you that yes, I do mess-up sometimes. Here's the thing though - this one was pure user-error. Nothing with the pin was wrong - instructions were great, easy to understand and legitimately was as easy as the lady said it was going to be.

This is how you know it is frustrating: I have a whole 3 pictures. A before... and two afters. Are you excited yet?

Fantastic choice in colors, Colette. Incredibly photo-friendly... #photofail

So no, the snowflake stocking is not mine. What is mine is the blue velvet underneath it. Now, as one big chunk of fabric it wasn't very stretchy. However, when you pin that stupid stocking to the stupid velvet fabric and stupidly cut it out - it turns into water. You heard me. Water. This stuff suddenly was super stretchy, fell apart when you cut it, and left behind all sorts of velvet fluff. It was quite ridiculous.

So I followed the directions to the T and ended up sewing the toe completely off. Yup - I essentially had a sack. I truly did think about stopping there and just saying it was a Santa Sack (see what I did there?) but I couldn't. I planned on making a stocking, a stocking I will make. Eventually.

After I ripped out the seam of that one (ultimately creating a ton more velvet fluff all over my machine - awesome) I sewed it all back up and managed to get it in a stocking/sock-like fashion.

I also made the hang thing about a foot longer than necessary, but a little bit of snipping with scissors and a whole lot of "I don't freaking care anymore" fixed that situation reallll quick.

In the end, I had a stocking that wasn't so bad. I was almost proud of myself.

Until I hung it up.

And it immediately returned to looking like a misshapen sack. I should have stopped while I was ahead on that one, I suppose.

Until next time... get hungry, because I'm pretty sure my next few posts are going to be surrounding myself with Christmas-cookie Pinterest things.

Throwback Thursday Thrifty Sew (see what I did there?)

Well hey there friends :) If you weren't aware before, I used to have a blog that focused on (mostly) refashioning using my limited sewing skills. So far on this blog (cross your fingers here) I haven't had any major fails. So before I have you guys thinking I'm actually good at this crafting stuff, let me throw a little Christmas Throwback Thursday out there of a major fail that happened right before Christmas. When my blog was still new. And skills still mediocre.

To switch it up a bit... my comments to my own writing are in bold.

I'll warn you now - this is not pretty, and I'm not happy about it. I'm sure I'll re-visit this project at some point, (Note to self: stop lying to yourself and actually revisit it) but here's where it was left. This one was inspired by Pinterest, the site I'm extremely obsessed with and totally okay with that fact; (see? this blog idea was essentially born in 2012) it gives me a lot of good ideas. Recently, I had pinned an outfit that I liked and it had a boatneck sweater that was gorgeous. So when I saw this sweater, much like the one that I pinned, I had to snatch it up for $3.99. (Note to self: start shopping at Salvation Army again.)

Voila! It wasn't perfection yet, but I swore I could get it there. (Spoiler: I was wrong. Very, very wrong.) And yes, I realized that I did the "hand on the hip" thing again that I swore I wouldn't do. So... here you go.

This angle is worse. Thank God I went back to "hand on hip" pose immediately. So yes - no hand on hip happens, it's just not my favorite way to "pose". The plan: a) cut off turtleneck in boatneck-esque fashion (for those keeping tabs, this is literally where I went wrong on this one.) b) sew up the hem c) be done for the next 4 days of Christmas vacation and wear my sweet new comfy sweater for the drive between the parents houses.

So task A commenced:

Done. So far so good.  (This is a lie. As I've learned since, you don't cut the neck THAT much on a stretchy sweater.) So then I pinned it all around and sewed the seam to complete task B. This is where things got shady.(Too late, Colette. Too late) First of all, the sweater was puffy and didn't want to fit under the footer very well, so I may or may not have (read as: definitely did) freestyled a lot over the manufacturer's seams where it certainly wouldn't go under the footer when it was down. One would think this was the issue but alas, it was not (although it could have been. Who knows - I'm new at this.) So I finished the hem and put the sweater back on. And it rolled like no tomorrow, making a HUGE gap in between the sweater and my skin. (Gee - could this be because you cut off a shit ton of sweater at the top?) So I decided to do a second hem to make it a bit more stable. It didn't help.

When I walked out like this, my husbands first reaction was "it doesn't look bad. What's wrong with it?" (So supportively wrong.) And then I put my arms down and the whole thing fell down to my elbows. Problem found. So, I turned the whole thing inside out and pinched the top seams together. Knowing that this certainly would have been too thick for my sewing machine to handle, I hand sewed the seams together so it wasn't falling off my shoulder. To my absolute horror, this is what I saw when I put it right side out and put it on:

It looks like a shoulder pad in there, (or an arm boob. Is arm boob a thing? It is. It's pictured above.) but it most certainly is not. That is the result of my hand sewing at 11pm. I don't even know how this happened. The worst part wasn't even this nub(my husband called it a shoulder nipple) (SEE?) - it was the fact that I tried to cut off the excess fabric creating the nub, and ended up with a huge hole in the shoulder. This is where I threw in the towel for the night and decided that I would attempt to fix it after the holidays. For now - no cute and comfy travel sweater.

So there it is - Throwback Thursday completed.

And yes, this was a sweater that I planned on traveling in. In a car. With only my husband. 

The idea of this boatneck sweater still attracts me, thought, so I will revisit this idea at some point to see if my smart ass comments hold any water either. Plan to see this in the next few months.

Sewing Sunday - Oh Christmas Tree!

This one is technically a YouTube video, but it was on Pinterest. Social media at its finest hour, really.

As you know, I am into the Christmas spirit. So far, I have all of my decorations out (except for a Christmas tree) and as I looked around, I knew that I needed more. To Pinterest I went! I found tons of stuff that I can't wait to try, but this one really stood out to me (mainly because I cleaned my craft room and needed to find stuff to do with the crap I didn't want to part with.)

After 3-4 more hours of Pinteresting (as you do), I got my items together and hunkered down for an hour project. Silly me - I should have known better.

This fabric was one that I bought from 3 huge bins full of fabric on Craigslist for $20. That was about 3 years ago, and the bins still sit in my craft room today pretty much untouched. When I cleaned today, I went through and found lots of flannel and plaid fabric - my favorite! When I completed kicking myself in the butt for not finding these jewels 3 years ago, I used the chalk roller to draw out a triangle - I did mine about 10" on each side.

Since I needed these to match up pretty well, I cut two at a time and pinned the centers so they didn't shift when I cut them. Then, I used them as a pattern for the next two and so on. All together, you need six triangles, paired up for three triangles, a la below.

You'll notice the two pins at the bottom of each triangle. I put these here so I remembered to leave a hole at the bottom instead of getting sew-happy all around.

Here's what you should do that I didn't: sew them with right sides together. Luckily, even though my tree is completely inside out, it doesn't look so bad because my fabric looked pretty much the same between back and front. I can't promise you'll be that lucky (although kudos, if you are.) Also, make sure to backstitch so you don't rip everything out when you turn your triangle inside out. (Did you hear that? That was experience, folks.

Once all sewn up, trim the two side seam allowances and trim the corners so they turn inside out flat, then turn your triangles inside out and push out all the corners with a pencil. Or a pen - I'm not picky. Once you have them all inside out, lay them on top of each other and sew a straight line from the bottom (cutting your hole into two holes) all the way to the top of the tree.

Here's the part that I thought would take 10 minutes, tops. This thought is a lie.

Stuff that tree for the next hour. You're welcome.

When stuffing, I started by stuffing the top point of all six triangles, and then filled the rest one at a time. Make sure you really stuff the fill into the tip. I'd say use your pen(cil) for this as well, but it turns out that there is a magical pusher inside the bag. Mind = blown. (Proof that I have not used this stuff near as much as one would expect when one owns 4 bags of Poly-fill) #poorchoices

Once all stuffed up, sew up the holes by hand and voila! You have yourself a tree. The lady in the video puts hers in a tiny terra cotta pot. Although this doesn't look near as cool, I see the appeal to put it into something because it's not what people call "sturdy" or "straight" on its own. But hey, when do you ever get a Christmas tree perfectly straight? We've all had the "it's leaning to the left! Now its leaning to the right! Just leave it alone - it's good enough!" conversation.

All in all, it's a cozy-looking, homemade Christmas tree that livens up a space in my house that didn't have nearly as much Christmas decor as I wanted. It's a pin win, I'd say.

Here's the breakdown (keep in mind, I didn't actually have to buy anything, but I'm going with the assumption that you don't have anything)

Flannel fabric: $7.64/yard at Joann Fabrics (on sale now)

General purpose thread: $2.79

Needles: $3.50

Poly Fill: $3.99

Total: $17.92

Let's be honest though, if you are a crafter and looking at sewing projects, chances are you will have scrap fabric, needles and a sewing machine that makes this one anywhere from free to a couple bucks for the fill.

Until next time!

Wino Wednesday - Easiest One Yet

Ever have one of those nights when you are sipping some wine and just want a super quick, simple craft to complete? No? Just me?

Well. Tonight was one of those nights for me. And I had the perfect pin! There's something about the pure simplicity of the second picture on the website that really tugged at my crafting heart strings. Plus, the tree looks difficult.

First, I got my supplies.

Not shown is the obligatory glass of wine full of... you know... wine. Get you some!

Next - I just went at it with the pen. It's truly that simple. Also, the pens I got worked so well! They dried fast, but were pretty precise and ran smooth over the glass. The trick to them is that how you use them and on what is completely trial and error. The single pens don't have any instructions on it except for how to get the paint flowing, so I just kind of guessed at it, as per usual. I did cheat a little - the store had a pack of 8 that had a few more words of instruction ("Great on glass!") so I went for it.

A couple five minutes later, I had my cute little glasses

Obviously, they are probably hand-wash only with a no-scrub rule, but I do see these being rather festive for Christmas.

You heard me - Christmas. It's almost close enough to being acceptable to bring out my crazy.

Seriously though - just picture it: a hand painted wine glass with some fancy chocolates in it wrapped in cellophane with a bright bow? It's almost like I'm writing your to do list for hostess gifts for you!

Here's the breakdown for this super simple one:
- 2 Painters pens (one gold, one silver) - $1.29 each at Walmart. Really, any paint pen would work.
- Wine Glass - $.96 at Walmart. *Side note: all of the glasses were this same price, so pint glasses, stemmed glasses, etc. will all be the same price. Get crazy and shit*
Total: $3.54 per glass (assuming you use only two colors)

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Enjoy your friends and family (and get some crazy deals on shopping, if that's your thing.)

Test It Out Tuesday - Home Decor (Clearly Not Christmas)

So here's the deal up front - I didn't want to do this pin. (And if we're being technical, I'm not really doing this pin.)

Here's the deal: I was trolling the black hole known as Pinterest this weekend and somehow wandered into the realm of Christmas crafts. You read that right - Christmas. I am totally into Christmas decorating this year and couldn't help myself but to just. keep. clicking.  I'm not sure what it is but I'm really trying to reign in my crazy until (at least) after Thanksgiving. I saw a pin during my trolling that seemed super simple: a Christmas cut out, a small stretched canvas and some paint. Immediately, I ignored the pin and refused to let my crazy out yet. I don't even have the original pin to link to - that's how hard I refused.

So... this isn't that pin.

This is "practice" for that pin.

I went to Walmart and picked up the following:

See? Nothing Christmas. It's just practice home decor. We're talkin' 'bout practice! (shout out to whoever recognizes that reference) Don't mind that red paint there.

First thing I did was paint all three canvasses in black, using the same brushes I bought for my horrible leaf bowl disaster.

Next, I painted the wood cut-outs. Walmart didn't have a great selection, and I quickly realized that I should have gotten birds that faced different directions (so they could look at each other all romantic-like), but I didn't care that much. I probably could have taken off the wing and put it on the back side to "flip" it myself but... ain't nobody got time for that. I did, however, put three coats of paint on these things, so apparently somebody got time for that.

Next, I had to get the two stuck together in some way, shape or form. After a mad-dash through my art supplies, I quickly realized I didn't own any glue. What was a girl to do?! I turned to the rest of my disaster of a leaf bowl project.

Well look-y there! It says "glue"! Good thing I had purchased an unnecessarily large size of Mod Podge. Before I could change my mind and make my way back to Walmart for some legitimate, primary-purpose glue, I slathered the backs of the wood cut-outs and stuck them to my painted canvas.

After about a half hour, I was surprised to find that not only did the Mod Podge work as a glue for wood-to-canvas gluing, but it also dried clear on all the areas that I just didn't care enough to wipe away the excess. (Quiet your "how lazy is this girl?" thinking - with haste is how I do my best work!)

In the end, I think this came out really well. I do love the look, and with how simple and cheap they are...

You guessed it! As soon as I find me some Christmas cut-outs, there's going to be LOTS more. After Thanksgiving, of course. (Side note: Where are all my emoji's when you need one?)

Here's the breakdown (everything purchased at Walmart):
3-pack Canvas: $2.77
Owl Cut-Out: $0.77
Bird Cut-Out: $0.77 x2
Paint: $0.87 x3
Mod Podge: I already owned this, but I found a small 1oz bottle at Target Dollar spot, and it's really all you need for this, so I'm calling this as $1.00
Grand Total: $8.69 for three canvas decorations

Not too shabby for practice, heh?

Apply Pie a la Sunday

Hey Friends! So a few weeks ago, Mike and I went apple picking as we do each fall (it is New York, you know). Every time, in result, we have an entire peck of apples that we stare at until they go bad and then we toss them out. This fall, I said "no more!" I was determined to eat and use every last apple. Apple picking is not just an experience, ya know - except it is.

My idea? Apple pie. A traditional autumnal go-to. After a bit of Pinteresting (i.e. I typed in "dutch apple pie" and chose the first pin that lead to a recipe) I found this pin.

But first, I had to start drinking. Why? I've never made a pie and the idea of a pie crust from scratch terrified me. Plus - I just do things better while drinking. Exhibit A:

 Not bad, but not awesome. Done while drinking just a little.

My favorite. Done by drinking just a lot.

Exhibit B: it was a Saturday. Case closed.

So first things first. Get all the ingredients together. And there were a lot of ingredients. Nothing should need this many things.

So I got everything together and threw it in bowls and bags and everything else it called for.

Except... the dough was horrible and smelled ridiculous. It didn't roll out, and was just thoroughly disgusting. I thought an entire dough out of shortening was weird, but I was going to roll with it. I had a picture of it, but apparently lost it. But, I did find another pin that said it was "perfect"... how could that be bad? Find it here.

Second go wasn't so bad - less smelly and more dough-like.

So far, looking like a legitimate pie. Not so scary at all, really.

And then I baked it.

Looking less legitimate.

But once cut up and sliced like a pie, it moved slowly but surely back into the legitimate category.

Turns out - this tastes quite good. When you add an ungodly amount of ice cream on top.

According to my husband... because I kind of don't like apple pie. Chuck that up to another pointless pin for me, but useful for my husband.

And if you thought this pin was written weirdly, differently or with a weird tone... it's because I'm trying not to wake the cat. #crazycatperson

Fall Fest Pin Win - Lighted Pumpkin

Hot off of my fail from last weekend...

Not one to give up, I went on to my second trick for the Fall theme I didn't realize I was doing - The Pumpkin Luminary

Have you ever wanted to give in to the Christmas decorations in October but don't want to be called out for being "that person"? This is the pin for you (and me, clearly.)

I mean - you know a pin is going to be awesome when it comes from This Old House. Just the thought of it makes me nostalgic for Sunday morning TV with my dad.

So, right on the heels of my fail (linked above in the very first sentence - can't believe you missed it!), I started over with a pumpkin project. I got everything together:

Turns out, the entire pumpkin punching kit was not needed. The "punches" were grouped together not only in the package, but also as a whole. So I couldn't punch just one whole - I had to punch BOTH holes. Stupid. The scooper though - that's where it is at! Definitely get yourself a scooper.

So I got started by carving my pumpkin the old-fashioned way: cut off the top and get your hands in there for a while until you're grossed out at the amount of pumpkin under your nails. Then you use the amazing scooper (or a spoon, let's get real) to scoop the rest of the guts out and make it nice.

My handy tip at this point would be to get the walls on the thinner side if it is a thick-walled pumpkin (as was mine). 

Remember to keep the seeds if you are Betty Homemaker and would like an easy, seasonal treat. I, on the other hand, threw it all out in my frustration at my last fail. So there's that.

I didn't get pictures of the next steps because it was just plain messy and I like my camera clean and working. Basically, you get out the power drill and put a drill bit on it that is just about the circumference of a mini-lightbulb. Then - go to town!

The pin has a nice little design that I'm sure you can draft up with markers, pens (or hell, crayons) and then drill holes in the pattern. I decided to go with the "balls to the wall" approach and go wild with the drill. I didn't measure, plan nor try to get them equi-distant apart - none of that fancy "I know what I'm doing" stuff. One tip that my husband gave me (other than "don't break my shit") was to not only drill the hole, but also go in and out of it a couple times to make it real clean.

Unlike your mind on that last sentence.

Once you have all your holes, make one big hole at the bottom side. The pin has the woman making it literally in the bottom of the pumpkin, but I can't wrap my head around how she would set it down and have it sit straight. This hole has to be about as big as the plug.

Then, you feed the lights through and push them through the holes from the inside of the pumpkin out. I started at the top of the pumpkin and worked my way around the circle until I got to the bottom. Depending on how your holes are spaced, you'll certainly miss a few lights here and there. It'll also get super jumbled in there, so my suggestion is to keep a hand on the light that JUST went into the pumpkin at all times, and keep moving backwards as you push the lights through the holes.

When in doubt, jam all the lights in the pumpkin and push lights through whatever hole they are closest to. You do you.

In the end, you have a rather cool looking pumpkin:

And when it's done? In all honesty, it looks super weird when it's not lit up and it's just chillin' on the table.

But when it's lit?

It's pretty damn awesome.

Alright - time for the breakdown:
- Pumpkin - $3.00 (bought it at Walmart and the price is still $3 when I went today)
- Lights - $2.49 - I also bought this at Walmart in their Christmas section. I bought the 150 mini-lights and that was plenty. You could almost go with 100 if you find them, but I wouldn't go with 50.
Total Cost: $5.50

Yes, yes, you could get yourself a carving kit for $2-$3... but just use a spoon. And yes, I (and This Old House) say to use a drill, but if you don't have a drill....

... Christmas is coming - just wait until next year. *wink*

Enjoy your weekend all :)

Fall Festival Failure - Leaf Bowl

It's been a week! One filled with lots of early mornings, late nights and a stupid cold that I can't seem to shake. Luckily, I had a relaxing weekend in front of me with Pinterest at my fingertips.

I tried for TWO this weekend. Both ended in the statement "F' you, Pinterest!". So... that's how that went.

The first I tried was this pin - The Leaf Bowl

I was super excited about this. Doesn't this look so great? And it could totally be out as general fall decor - that's a full 2-3 months before the dreaded snow hits. I went out and immediately got my supplies.

As for leaves... I had a few to choose from.

To answer your question: No. I don't rake that anymore. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I grabbed about 30 leaves that were super pretty, brought them in the house and took off the stems. I blew up my balloon, covered it with mod podge, stuck my leaves on and covered it again in mod podge. You should definitely be reading that last sentence with the full momentum I felt while doing it.

Now that you've built up that momentum - lets kill it, much like mine was. It didn't work! I don't have pictures of this because my hands were covered with mod podge, but trust me - it was so bad. These things would not lie down for the life of them. After more than one or two creative swear words, I decided that I wouldn't give up. I was going to try again.

I thought, maybe the leaves are too dead? I did choose them from the ground. I went outside and grabbed some live leaves directly from the trees.

This worked a little bit better... but they still would't stick completely. I'd get one on there, glue it down, and then it would start drying and peel up.  Not only did the live ones not stick but since they were alive they were still waxy, so they were moving around all over this balloon. I gave up after applying about 5 leaves.

More swearing ensued - including "F you Pinterest". (Edited for appropriateness)

Full Breakdown:

Balloons: $2.49 for the bag (20 balloons)

Mod Podge: $10.99 for 16oz (this can certainly be cheaper - my JoAnn's was out of the smaller sizes)

Foam Brushes: $5.99 for 20 (why do I have to buy everything in bulk?!)

Leaves: Free.

Loss of Ego: Priceless.

Total: Who cares. This shit doesn't work.

On the bright side, when I was done I had the very relaxing task of peeling off the dried glue from my hands 3rd-grade style. Let me tell you - Mod Podge is way more satisfying than Elmer's glue.

Enjoy your weekends, friends. And don't waste your time on this. Unless you do and it works. In that case - teach me, o' wise one.

Simply Saturday - "What Do You Wanna Do" Jar

Simply Saturday is a good day for those "half-asses" like me who really want to do something crafty, but don't really want to spend hours on it.

And that's where this pin comes in. Now, keep in mind I didn't quite follow the pin as much as used it for inspiration. The lady that created the pin was way more invested in this than I was.

Let me introduce you to my weekly Saturday conversation:
My Husband: what do you want to do today?
Me: Not sure - what do you want to do?
My Husband: I don't know.
*5 minutes later*
My Husband: so... what do you want to do today?
... it gets maddening.

So when I saw this pin I thought (to myself, because my husband would hate the idea): "hey! Let's take this whole decision thing out of our hands!"

So off I went and found my supplies. (Yes, yes, the lighting sucks in this picture. Walk away, trolls, I'm no professional.)

I also did not want to get all fancy with labels, wood glue, etc. like the pin did, so I came up with a pretty lazy awesome alternative: good ol' Sharpie. Now, small tidbit of information about me: I have an extensive amount of Sharpies. I'd say I'm not proud, but I'm not one to lie to you guys.

Except, apparently it's nothing to brag about because APPARENTLY I don't own one single Sharpie that normal people would write with. You know, like black. Dark purple was my best bet and my tool of choice for this pin.

I started out by sorting out my sticks by color. Buying multiple colors in one pack was complete happenstance - I thought it would look prettier in the jar - but it started to work out as I wrapped my mind more and more around how I was to do this.

I started categories. That's right - I'm getting organized with this shit.

For red: I decided that would be all the super expensive, once every few years type of "what to do". You know, for those days when my husband asks "What do you want to do today" and I feel like the answer "spend thousands of dollars" would be well-received. Things I included here were cruises, all-inclusives, week-long vacations, etc. And yes, I put in 2 of the same - there are two cruises to Alaska (something my husband has always wanted to do) and two all-inclusives (something I've always wanted to do). Red = stop and think.

For yellow: This is one step back from blowing our savings account to pieces. When we feel like doing something that is still big and a good experience, but can't afford a whole week to dedicate to splurging. Things I included here are weekends away (driving distances) that include hotels, last minute deals listed on AAA (which are usually cheaper) and Groupon Getaways. Yellow = slow your roll, think about it, proceed with caution.

For blue: These are activities that aren't blowing the bank by any means, but they aren't regularly considered cheap or free. I included things here like redecorating/painting a room (we have a lot of projects at the house), going out to a super fancy dinner or going a drive away (45 minutes or so) and hitting up the plethora of wineries and breweries available. I have no other reasoning for this being blue other than it was the 4th color included in my package...

For green: these are the cheap to free things. This will probably be the ones grabbed for on a weekly basis (if I can convince my husband that it is a good idea... ha!) These are the things that we can truly do spontaneously and they don't take much commitment (Netflix day) or much money (try a new local restaurant) to do. Green = go, go, go you crazy kids. Participate with abandon!

All in all, this was simple, fun to create, and not expensive to throw together at all. Here's the breakdown:
Glass Jar - $3 (Target dollar spot)
Craft Sticks - $5 (or so - Walmart)
Sharpie - $8 (for an 8-pack that will hopefully include black, Walmart)
Grand Total to Complete: $16.00

See? Not too shabby at all. You could probably purchase some ribbon, string, burlap or tape to fancy up this jar a bit but - let's be honest - a pretty jar isn't gonna make the ideas inside it any cooler (or less cool, depending on how glass-half-full you are).

I suppose I won't know if this pin really "works' until we have a "what do you wanna do" Saturday but, when we do, I'll be sure to post the pictures of the result.

Fat Kid Friday - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

(Unlike every other post I've ever written, this is early. Let's call it "in preparation for" Fat Kid Friday)

I promise this isn't a cooking blog, guys. I just REALLY like food. Like... really.

And what I REALLY like on a Fat Kid Friday is chocolate. And peanut butter. And this pin puts them together in the most gorgeous of ways. I mean - how can you not pin something that looks like this:

Heck. Yes.

I didn't plan on doing another baking/cooking post, but I already had most of the supplies and a mad hinkering for cookies. Thus, the post was born.

I got started right away and gathered all the crap I needed. And it was kind of a lot of crap.

I got the dry ingredients all together a la this:

And I may not have definitely was not a clean cook. I'm kind of a mess. Mind you, I only had to take a cup and a half of flour out of the bag, but a good 3 cups ultimately came out, most of which landed on my counter, floor, stove, pants, etc.

This is a very small amount of the flour bomb that went off in my kitchen. I continued on, though, determined that I was making these cookies. And cleaning later.

The wet ingredients were quite possibly the best looking mixture I've ever done. It was so fluffy! Don't ask me if that's how it's supposed to be though. I have no clue.

So once everything was thrown together in the bowl, they had to chill. The author of the pin recommended at least 1 hour. I went 4 because I'm and over-achiever (and also forgetful). Once they chilled they were much less sticky, so it's definitely worth it to chill the mixture. Move quick though - these little bastards get sticky super quick.

So after baking, they looked crazy delicious! (P.S. This is not a dinner plate. It just looks that way. They aren't that huge.)

And yes, I couldn't let the pin show me up, so I got fancy with it.

Touche, pinterest, touche. I owned you today! These were super, super delicious and not near as sweet as they appear to be at first glance. The best part? I have never in my life made a cookie that stayed super soft for days; but THESE - these stayed soft all. week. long. In all honesty, I'm a bit more surprised that they lasted all week to know that fact.

Okay - let's assume you owned none of this. How much will this pin cost you? Let me break it down for you:

1. Flour - $1.99
2. Cocoa Powder - $3.29
3. Baking Soda - $0.89
4. Salt - $0.59
5. Butter - $2.99
6. Light Brown Sugar - $1.59
7. Granulated Sugar - $2.19
8. Peanut Butter - $1.99
9. Egg - $3.29
10. Vanilla Extract - $2.29
11. Milk - $1.79
12. Reese's miniatures - $3.69

Grand total: $26.58. Prices are from Wegmans, and yes, I chose generic where I could. Yes, twenty six bucks is super expensive. However, chances are you're going to have at least one or two of these items (egg? peanut butter? C'mon, you know you own it.) Also - it's cookies. Chalk it up to amazingness and fork it out.

Results? Heck yes - this pin is one to keep for the long haul. Delicious.