The Pintester Movement - Sea Glass

I am so excited to be a part of Sonja Foust's Pintester Movement!  Her blog is hilarious and makes me feel a lot better about all of my craft/cooking fails.  It always feels better knowing that you are not alone in something.  She has also been such an inspiration to me.  She bravely takes on Pinterest pins, knowing that failure may be the final result, but pushes on anyways.  I would never try as many things that I have found on the internet if it wasn't for her.

To celebrate this moment, I decide to finally do the first craft of this blog!  In true Pintester fashion, I decided to go with something that I have been wanting to do, but the outcome seemed bleak.  I went with turning regular glass into something that looks like sea glass.

The original source for the pin is a photo album with no instructions; only a before and after photo.  There were instructions on the pin itself, but that is like trying to receive instructions through a round of telephone (I used to LOVE that game in elementary school).

According to the pin, you just take plain glass, mix food coloring and Elmer's glue, and paint it on.  There were no specifications on what type of Elmer's glue, so I went with "Elmer's Glue All" (only because the container of cheaper school glue was so old it broke apart in my hands) and there were also no specifications for what type of food coloring to use.  Liquid seemed like it would mix better, so I went with liquid.  

Then, naturally, I couldn't find my liquid food coloring.  I KNOW I have some somewhere, after all I bake a lot.  I ended up giving up the hunt though and running out to the store to buy more.  Earlier in the week I had bought some cheap candle holders.  I was planning on using one I already had, but I didn't want to end up all moody if I ruined it.

As for the proportion of glue to food dye, I just glooped some glue onto a paper plate and mixed drops of food dye until it looked green enough.

I had some difficulty painting the first one.  I was using my super cheap dollar store brushes, because there was no way I was going to use one of my good (or even decent) ones with glue.  However, because the glue was so thick and sticky (giggity), bristles kept on pulling out of the brush and I would have to pull it off of the candle stick and quickly touch up that spot.  There were visible brush strokes, and I did not have high hopes for this project.  Here is the freshly painted product.

I trekked on with the other two pieces, since it felt like a waste to give up and throw out a mound of dyed glue.

After they dried, I was actually quite impressed with the result.  For not having any real instructions they still looked okayish and vintage.  

There were some problems, like drips from putting the glue on a little too thick...

And bubbles from using a cheap brush while trying to work fast.

However, all the brush strokes faded away.  Overall, I call this a win.  I can't display it on my kitchen table where people can inspect it, like I originally planned, but I can put it at a slight distance and it will still look nice.  They will probably end up on the top of a book shelf or up on the catwalk.

Pintrest and Movie Night Finale - Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

It has been a little while, but I assure you I am still alive and somewhat healthy.  Before I get to the finale of my pintrest and movie night, I have some exciting news; later today I will be participating in the Pintester Movement with my first craft on this blog!  I also have a new recipe waiting to be posted and a Star Trek craft that I pulled off while entirely inebriated.  More crafts are going to be coming, my friend from the Pintrest night is going to have a craft night with me too!

Time to get back on topic.  Our final treat of the night was Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate, to keep off the chills from scary ghost movies of course.  Truthfully, I have always had a weak spot for pumpkin, it is my favorite flavor in the world.

The recipe for this one was pretty simple and didn't require much time.  We just heated milk, pumpkin, and spices in a saucepan until it simmered and then melted in some chocolate.  See?  Super simple stuff, just like train etiquette.

 When it was finished my friend even had awesome clear mugs to show it off in!  

It definitely makes for a much better picture than my clear batman mugs would have.

We actually added more white chocolate than the recipe called for, because four ounces didn't seem like enough.  We pretty much added double.  It still didn't seem sweet enough for me.  Everyone else enjoyed it, and it had a good pumpkin flavor.  I think a little whipped cream on top would have made these much better.  I think I will try it again next fall with the whipped cream and some almond milk.

Here is the recipe, if you would like to try it out for yourself.

Ingredients:

3 cups whole milk

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 ounces white chocolate chips (this is the amount we put in)

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Heat all the ingredients, except the chocolate, in a medium sized sauce pan until it start to simmer, mixing occasionally so the milk doesn't scald on the bottom.

2. Remove from heat and add the chocolate

3. Stir until mixture is smooth and all the chocolate has melted

4. Pour into mugs and enjoy!