Pinterest Resolutions June-September

I am still goal setting with my Pinterest Resolutions- taking ideas from each of my Pinterest boards and actually doing them! Every three months I choose ten pins to focus on, which I then delete when I have accomplished. This saves me fro having too many pins and it is less overwhelming.

First up for this round are these Layered Jello Cups by Yummy Healthy Easy for a Dr Seuss themed party I am having in July. I have done layered Christmas jelly before so I am familiar with this technique, but I think it will look adorable with the whipped cream on top as part of the birthday celebrations.

Next up is a Fall Family Fun Night, inspired by these ideas at Not Consumed. I love that these ideas use things such as leaves that i will already have on hand, and it not Halloween themed as our Autumn is not in October.

My sister is due to have her baby in a couple of weeks, so I am definitely making these Freezer Meals for her!

I am making progress in the bathroom, but these Organisation Ideas will be perfect for under the vanity cupboards as that area is still currently very messy. I love the idea of having my hairdryer on the inside of the cabinet. 

My kids need guidance on their screen time, and this idea for Technology Tickets is a perfect way to help them feel in control of their screen time, while I can still be the one ultimately having the final say.

My boys love doing arts and crafts and other activities based on what they are reading, and my soon to be four year old will have a lot of fun with these extension activities as well as reading these books over and over again, especially at bedtime.

As well as reading, my four year old needs other times of quiet and so these Quiet Time Bins are something I have been meaning to create for a while.



I need to get better at doing my hair, and this hairstyle looks easy enough for a hairpin-challenged person such as myself. Braids, middle parts and big buns are all out of my comfort zone but this Half Up Bun looks cute and easily achievable.



This is my new favourite pineapple! Such a quick and easy tutorial, this will be created for a few birthdays I know are coming up.



Lastly, I really want to create this key holder as I am constantly asking my husband where my keys are!

Come back at the end of September, when I will be sharing how I accomplished all of these ideas!

January-April Pinterest Resolutions

Yesterday I shared an update with you for my Pinterest Resolutions.

What are Pinterest Resolutions? Every 4 months, I choose ten pins from my various boards that I actually want to do, and once I have created them I can delete them from my boards. This helps keep my Pinterest boards focused, and also gets me motivated to create all of the cool things I save.

First up for this quarter, I want to complete my family's command centre. I always have piles of paperwork and clutter sitting on my bench, and I need to get it organised and tidy as I am constantly losing things.

Image via Hi Sugarplum!

I know my boys will have heaps of fun making their own Jellyfish in a Bottle!

Image via Bhoomplay

It is Summer here currently, and so I want to check off everything on this last with my boys. Click here to download your own full resolution copy.

Image via Lara Coffee

Since it is summer holidays here, we also plan to do a road trip and this food pack idea will work well with my six year old, who likes to play games and eat on car journeys. 

Image via Design Mom

Valentines Day is coming up soon, and I would love to play some fun family games- the Heart Basketball especially sounds like something my boys would really enjoy! Nothing like a bit of healthy family competition.

Image via The Frugal Girls

Another holiday coming up is St Patrick's Day, and I can't wait to make these cute cupcakes with my son's class as part of their Discovery sessions.

Image via Play Party Pin

There is also Easter, and isn't this Easter Bunny garland adorable?

Image via Clean and Scentsible

I am going back to a previous resolution that didn't happen as I still want to document our family's story, and this checklist is definitely the way to go!

Image via Not In Jersey

My sister is having her baby shower in April, and she loves this adorable fox cake, so I plan to make this for her along with a Woodland theme.

Image via Wilton

Lastly, I love this idea for nail polish storage and plan to make my own version of a holder like it.

Image via Hailey's Helpful Hints

There you have it, my ten Pinterest Resolutions for the first four months of the year! I am confident that I can get these done by working with holidays and events that are in my calendar.

Pinterest Resolutions May-August 2015 Update

I am a little late (OK a lot late!) in updating these resolutions, but life does get in the way of my best intentions sometimes!

I did get around to most of these resolutions, and feel like the ones I didn't achieve are ones that may have been too ambitious when I was dealing with health problems.

The original post can be found here if you would like to see which projects I chose to complete fro my Pinterest boards.

I created a chocolate guitar with the help of my Cricut for my husband's birthday. Whilst not as grand as the one I pinned, it still worked out well and my husband really liked it.



I also made some fun personalised shirts for my nephews for Christmas (more on this later!)



My boys love the Chicken Freezer meals but weren't fussed on the fruit jellies.

I am still working on garage storage- my husband has built some shelves over the holidays and so the next step is to create the storage containers.



Come back tomorrow when I will share my Pinterest Resolutions for January-April 2016.

WCW Pinterest Recipes July

Time for another round of up of recipes I tried this month from Pinterest! This month I focused on freezer and make ahead mixes, as well as lunchbox ideas.

Up for review this month I have:
Homemade Fruit Snacks
Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
Teriyaki Chicken
French Chicken
DIY Pancake Mix

I am always looking for ideas for school lunches, so I made the Fruit Snacks with blueberries. Unfortunately, the boys did not like them and even I found them overly tart.
Verdict: Delete.

My next try at creating a lunchbox item was a lot more successful. I made a batch of these Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies and they were amazing!
Hands down these were the best cookies I have ever made, and the coconut flavour was a great contrast to the chocolate. These did not last long in my house and I will be making them again and again.
Verdict: Keep.

I have had a busy schedule this month, and so I was looking for some freezer meals that my husband or I could put in the slow cooker and forget about until dinner time. I made the Teriyaki Chicken and the French Chicken from the same blog post of six easy Crockpot Chicken Freezer meals, and my family ate chicken without a fuss!
If you have read my previous posts, my eldest son can be very fussy with chicken, but he loved the French Chicken and we enjoyed the Teriyaki Chicken over rice and wrapped in rice paper rolls.
Verdict: Keep both!

Finally,we have a family tradition of pancakes on Sunday mornings, but I felt like I should be making my own pancake mix as it seems so easy and that way I am not having to buy the bottle mixes. This DIY Pancake Mix was a lot more simple than I expected, as usually when I make pancakes from scratch I use a fancy recipe, but this one was quick and easy to mix together.

We served our pancakes topped with fruit and maple syrup.
Verdict: Keep.

A successful month for July, and now I am looking forward to testing some Paleo and Whole 30 type meals for August!

As always, these recipes have only been tested and reviewed with the personal preferences of my family members, and so I have provided links to all of the recipes for you to try them yourself.

WCW Pinterest Recipes June

Time for an overview this week of some of my Pinterest recipe pins that I got around to trying this month. In order to keep my pins under control, I choose five recipes every month to try, and if they aren't winners then I delete therm from my board. If my family gives the dish a thumbs up, it will get moved to my Plan To Eat account for future reference. This has helped me keep my pins manageable and also let me find some new family favourites!

The recipes we cooked are:

French Toast Blueberry Casserole
Salmon and Rice Loaf
Oriental Express Chicken
Crockpot Garlic Alfredo Chicken
Taco Pasta

First up is the French Toast Blueberry Casserole. I got up an hour earlier than everyone else to have a delicious breakfast ready on a Saturday morning. My boys love blueberries, but this casserole fell flat. I think they didn't like the texture of the cooked bread, so my husband and I had a lot of leftovers!
VERDICT: Delete.

The Salmon and Rice Loaf was also a dish with plenty of leftovers- although this was alright to eat, it wasn't "wow" enough for us.
VERDICT:Delete.

Onto the Oriental Express Chicken. I have tried a few recipes from this website and have never been disappointed. I made this dinner thinking that it would get a thumbs down from my 5 year old who doesn't like chicken, but he ate the chicken straight away and asked me to make this more often! My husband agreed with the 5 year old, and I had clean plates all around.
VERDICT: Keep.

Since I had a busy weekend of crafting, I was looking forward to the Crockpot Garlic Alfredo Chicken. However, this was another dish that fell flat for us, possibly due to the fact that the sauce was average. Since this recipe relies on the sauce to carry the dish, I will be trying this with a different jarred sauce.
VERDICT: Keep with modifications.

Lastly, we tried Taco Pasta. As a family of Mexican food afficionados, we were looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. In my opinion, the cream cheese makes this dish special and it was so easy to cook.I snuck in some vegetables by adding corn and topped this with salsa before serving.
VERDICT: Keep.

Please note that these are only based on my personal preferences and the verdicts of my slightly picky children, so you may want to try these recipes out if anything takes your fancy!

WCW Pinterest Recipes May

Time for this month's recap of recipes I have made that were pinned on my boards to try.

First up was Easy 5 Ingredient Coconut Curry Cod. With the title longer than the list of ingredients, I thought I was on to a winner. I really enjoyed it, as did my husband, but my boys found the flavours too strong even though they will usually eat curries and fish. I will try this one again, toning down the spices a little. Verdict: Keep with modification.

A little lunchbox fun for my 5 year old was the PB Cracker Sandwiches Lunch. This was a great alternative to the usual sandwich, and my son came home with an empty lunchbox and has requested this again, so the verdict is KEEP!

For the baking, I tried the Chocolate Raspberry Crumb Bars that I was drooling over.

Mine are definitely not as pretty as the original pin, but still quite yummy and sticky. Verdict: KEEP.

Getting back to basics, I cooked this recipe for Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken for a quick weeknight meal.


Served with a pumpkin risotto, this was enjoyed by everyone and my 2 year old even had seconds and thirds! Verdict: KEEP.

We also tried out the One Pot Chicken Alfredo as an easy meal before a busy evening. Unfortunately it was quite watery and lacking in flavour. I tried adding more cream and cheese, but although the texture was good the final dish lacked something. Verdict: DELETE.

Next month I am hoping to try some yummy breakfast recipes, as well as some Mexican inspired tastes. Have you come across any recipes on Pinterest that you want to try? I would love to see them!

Pinterest Resolutions May-August 2015

Yesterday I shared with you some more of my Pinterest pins that I had tried these last three months, Now it is time to set some new goals and re-assess some of the pins I will need to complete in the upcoming months.

My husband's birthday is a few months away, but I want to get him something amazing. This chocolate guitar would be perfect as he enjoys playing music and is partial to chocolate bars!

photo via EdibleCrafts

My son's birthday is also nearly here, and his mind changes everyday as to what cake he wants so I have not been able to marrow down a specific themed pin to do. However, I am going to use this technique on a cake as it will likely be a Minion, Peppa Pig or Paw Patrol themed birthday.

photo via Bird on a Cake

I really miss creating things other than papercrafts, and I need to get back into simple DIY ideas that still please my crafty side. I can't wait to make these t-shirts- I am thinking I may have to make them digger and tractor tees though.

image via Vixen Made

Toys are out of control in my garage, and so this idea to organise and label all of the outdoor toys is simple, yet it will make a huge difference in how tidy my garage can be.

image via Domestic Charm

I have been doing a little too much online shopping recently thanks to bronchitis and horrendous weather, and I really need to get on top of my finances. This seems like a practical way to take control of where my money is going, and I like that each segment is broken down into smaller tasks.

Image via A Bowl Full of Lemons

With the cooler weather upon us, I am really looking forward to my slow cooker meals. I want to prepare these in advance and so I can dump and dine each Thursday with minimal effort on my part!

image via Over The Big Moon

This blog inspiration is such a wonderful idea- but I would like to take it one step further and actually create a scrapbook album using these prompts. I love watching my boys flick through photos and my scrapbook albums, and telling the story of our family is something I cherish.

image via Not In Jersey

Lastly, I have a lot of gelatin left over from my Christmas jelly desserts, and so I want to try these homemade gummy snacks out on the boys and see if they work.

image via Thank Your Body

I look forward to sharing how I got on with these ideas at the end of August!

Pinterest Resolutions Update IV

It is hard to believe I have finished up some more of my Pinterest Resolutions- this year seems to be flying by!

Here is the full blog post in case you missed it- I vowed to decrease my number of pins and actually try some of the things I pinned.

First off, I planned a year of blog posts- some weeks are bigger than others but it is great having a list so that I know what to work on!

I also planned a capsule wardrobe for my summer holiday, which ended up being a lot of fun and super easy to do.



I made a Valentines Day coupon book for my boys, with the pizza night and Date with Daddy being used almost immediately! The 10 minutes of extra cuddles at bedtime was actually a nice reminder for me, to know that my boys enjoy just spending time with me and an extra few minutes of cuddles at night can calm us all down.



My plan to do a 12 card workshop went exactly as planned, and I also used up some of my paper scraps as well as some papers that I wasn't too keen on for my scrapbook layouts.



Our version of peanut butter and banana frozen yoghurt was enjoyed as a family fun night dessert, and they boys enjoyed helping to make it. It was very tasty and I now plan to experiment with other flavours.

Lastly, we did a fun active Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning, with the boys working for their chocolate! It prompted some giggles and even I had to join in too, but it was a different way to start the morning and the boys didn't mind jumping around and encouraging each other.



Come back tomorrow when I will be sharing my next list of Pinterest Resolutions! I also posted yesterday about some Pinterest recipes I have tried lately in case you need some meal inspiration.

WCW Pinterest Week April

Recently I decided to try some of the delicious recipes I had pinned on Pinterest, as there is no point in me pinning them if I don't make them! I did manage to photograph some of them, but with the light fading by 5pm every night thanks to Autumn, it was a bit tricky to get a dinnertime photo.

My menu plan for Pinterest Week was as follows:

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
Easy Baked Fish
Chicken Tortilla Bake
Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
Spicy Sausage Pasta
Cordon Bleu Lasagne
One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
Lemon White Chocolate Blondies

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
The soup was delicious- the boys really like tomato soup and their "pasta parcels" so this was a quick and easy dish to make when I was feeling less than inspired. Verdict: KEEP!

Easy Baked Fish
This was pretty good, but didn't crisp up as much as I would have liked, I think next time I make this I will use more breadcrumbs and less mayonnaise. Verdict: KEEP!

Chicken Tortilla Bake
This was such an easy casserole to put together, and the boys especially enjoyed it. This was a great warming meal for all of us, and the husband was happy to have leftovers for the next couple of days! Verdict: KEEP!

Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
After three wonderful meals, this one didn't quite hit the mark. The meat was still quite chewy, and the boys only ate the pepperoni, cheese and bread. Verdict: DELETE.

Spicy Sausage Pasta
Now this meal was popular! The boys inhaled it, and the leftovers the next day were even better. Verdict: KEEP!

Cordon Bleu Lasagne

I wanted to like this, I really did. My husband enjoyed it, but I just found the seasonings and mixes of cheese weird. The boys weren't big fans either- they picked the chicken out but didn't eat the pasta. Verdict: DELETE.

One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
As we sat down to eat this, my 5 year old looked at me, looked at his food and said "you are the best mum ever!" This dish is worth keeping just because of that reaction! The dumplings were so amazingly light and fluffy, and the dinner table was silent as we all were too busy eating this delicious meal. Verdict: KEEP!

Lemon White Chocolate Blondies
I had some guests over for a few coffee groups this week, and these blondies received high praise from some of the ladies who had never head of a blondie before. Next time I might tone down the icing- which was my fault as I deviated from the recipe, but as written this blondie is delicious!
Verdict: KEEP!

I have decided to make this a monthly series, with the last Wednesday of each month dedicated to seven recipes plus a dessert or baking dish I have tried from Pinterest each month. If you have any suggestions of recipes I can try, or if you would like me to try out one of your recipes, please let me know as I am always on the lookout for yummy things!