I'm back with a new post and a new pinsuit.

I rarely go to the mall but when I do, there are two things I always have trouble resisting-- pretzels and sugary roasted almonds.

 I was completely excited to see a recipe on pinterest for Cinnamon Vanilla Almonds via Cookin' Cowgirl's Wesbite.

This pin was completely easy to recreate.
As per Cookin' Cowgirl:

Ingredients:
3 C raw almonds
1 large egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar

"Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. In a medium bowl, beat the egg white and vanilla together; add the almonds to coat. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, sugar and salt; combine with almonds and stir. Pour mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Enjoy!!" 

I made this pin at my friend's place, so I was limited to his cooking supplies. I substituted a baking sheet and parchment paper for the guy friendly pizza pan and tin foil I found at his apartment.

My almonds before they were baked. 

My almonds after they were baked. I forget to take into account that his oven cooks at a faster rate than the oven I regularly use. 

A close up of the almonds. The almonds originally were a little too dry, so I added some more sugar and baked a few extra minutes. 

I saved my nuts in one of the leftover nut containers, I was not able to find raw almonds at the grocery store.

So, how did it turn out? The almonds had a little more of an eggy taste than those sold in the stands at the mall, however, they were shockingly similar to the desired taste and addictive. I brought the leftovers to my family and even the picky eaters enjoyed them.  

I would definitely make these again, especially in an oven I am use to using. In the future I plan to experiment with different seasonings; perhaps adding honey. I'm also excited to try the crock pot version for when I am entertaining a larger crowd. 

 For those interested, the almonds tasted fresh for about three days.  

Stay tuned for my follow up post on crockpot potato soup. Anything else you want to see before you try? Feel free to leave a pin suggestion in the comments.

Happy pinning!

Danielle


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Pin 1: Tinfoil = Curly Hair?

I have to be honest here. I have naturally thick, wavy, long, naturally a little curly, dark, hair. One morning my old roommate jokingly told me she hated me because I woke up looking like my un-brushed, straight out of bed, hair was ready for the fashion runway.  I attempted this pin because I wanted to have my hair be more curly and have a more professional look.

The Original Pin

My pinsuit:

Okay, so this is my normal hair.  As you can tell, normally wavy and a little curly at the ends.Step one: 

Cut tinfoil into squares. These are the sizes I used. Some users say they used 5 inch by 5 inch, some say 3 inch by 5 inch.  As you can tell, not all of my squares were the same size. In retrospect, I wish I would have made the tinfoil squares much larger. My hair is thick, and some of the foil did not want to stay (as you will soon see). 
Step two: 

Use product in your hair. Some pinners suggested hairspray, others suggested gel. I used this.Step three:   

Two finger curl method. This method was described as creating bigger, beachy, waves. 

Step four:

The first foil.  

I also tried the one finger method, which supposedly would produce tighter curls.

My hair turned out to be a little too thick for my tinfoil squares, I attempted a twisting the hair method. It held the foil much better, however, the parts I twisted ended up having a dreadlock feel. At this point I also decided to start pressing the curls right after I foiled them. It helped keep the foil in.

Here is how my curls looked in the foil. I added extra foil pieces to parts falling out. In the original pin you wrap it around the curl and then fold it up. I forgot this step and folded it without wrapping it around the hair. I think had I wrapped it around the end of the hair it would have stayed better.


Step Five:

 I was a little bored of the foil pressing part. Also, the foil gets very hot.
Step six:  

 

After letting the foil cool, take it  out with your head down and add more hairspray. 

The final result.

I pulled apart some of the curls, the ones that felt a little like dreadlocks and ended up with this style for today.  Here is how my hair looks about an hour later, while I am currently typing this. I think my hair vaguely looks like like Russell Brand's hair, so there's that. 
Success or failure? I haven't decided yet. Pros: The pin definitely did what it said it would. It definitely looks way better than my attempt at using curlers (My bangs always shoot out like a lopsided unicorn horn), and I now have a use for my hair straightener. (My hair looks ABSOLUTELY dreadful straightened.) Cons: This took me almost two hours, my curling iron takes me about 15 - 30 minutes. The tin toil burned the side of my face--no mark or anything just painful. We will see how long the curls last but I will be using this pin again in the future. I'd be interested to try this on my sister or a friend with very straight hair. Perhaps that will be a future post. 
Until my next pinsuit,Danielle
 

Introduction

I've been on Pinterest for just about a year now. I first discovered the site while I was living abroad on the Galapagos Islands and working on my thesis for my Master's degree. While I wasn't researching, writing, interviewing, or experiencing life on the islands, I was pinning.

I, like most people, have come across hundreds of pins. When I find a pin-of-interest, I think of how awesome it will look on my plate, in my home, or on my personage. There are some pins I flat out know would look absolutely terrible if I attempted them -- Weaved Sweater Girl anyone? I mean Hello, no way. Yet, there are others I hold dearly, with hope and insanity, that they will turn out fabulously--those usually involve a crockpot.

I've been attempting pins for awhile now and I always wonder how my pin trials will turn out. I lack a few things most pins have. I am not a professional photographer, I do not have unlimited craft resources, and try as I might, I was not raised to be femininely creative. Thus, some of my pins turn out to be hot messes from the start, others are decent. Success or absolutely failure, from hence forth, I will demonstrate my pursuits, my pinsuits, here.

If there are any pins you would like to see recreated, please feel free to suggest one in the comments.

I hope you enjoy laughing at my failures as much as I do and are impressed by my successes as much as I am.

Danielle