One will often here cliches that “Life is all about chances.” Or, you only miss the opportunities that you do not take. There are cliches about exercise, my personal favorite (insert sarcasm)”No pain, no gain.” But my all time favorite cliche that is now part of everyday vocabulary is the “Pinterest Fail.” I absolutely love Pinterest. I love that I can lose myself in the imaginary world of perfect house, perfect garden, perfect meal, perfect desserts, perfect entertaining, perfect lesson plans, and perfect time management so that I can perfectly relax. By now I am sure my readers can see a theme. Those Pinterest artists, and yes, in my mind they are artists, are extremely gifted. I salivate at that antique dresser so loving restored and repurposed that now it is the center attraction in one’s entryway knowing that were I able to even find an antique dresser, I probably would not even know where to begin. Actually, I take that back. I would know where to begin just like I did many, many years ago with an old book case that my mom had sitting in her basement. I bought all the necessary materials to strip the paint, took it out to the driveway, and began stripping away. Hours later I was still stripping and my teenage mind was becoming frustrated that the project was taking so long. My mom came out to help and if I remember correctly, took over the project after I abandoned it. I guess one could call that my first “Pinterest Fail.” Now to be fair, I have had some Pinterest Successes but they relate to creating anchor charts for the classroom. If one can write, one can create an anchor chart. (For the non educator, an anchor chart is large lined paper with a subject strategy written in marker and or a graphic that is posted in the classroom.) Other minor Pinterest Success have related to the small flower garden in my backyard, With the help of my husband, yes I did say “help,” I am able to keep the garden alive. Although there is one very strange flower beginning to bloom in a container that I haven’t a clue as to what it could possible become. I do remember planting some bulbs I found in the garage that I had bought a year or more ago and said to the bulbs as I placed them, “Surprise me.” Apparently that flower in the container is taking my statement literally. It will be fun to see what finally materializes. Other Pinterest attempts have been in the kitchen. And to my credit, baking is probably more of a strength. Enter the cake pop decorating. I was hosting a baby shower for my girlfriend’s daughter and had it stuck in my mind that I was going to create baby rattle cake pops. Sounds simple, right? Think again. First I scoured Pinterest for the cutest pop rattles I could find. The recipe and baking of the pops were not an issue ,however , the decorating was quite another story. The icing wouldn’t nicely surround the pops with the proper consistency so that the blue piping and white dots would stick. The pops wouldn’t stand up in their holders to dry so that I could tie the bows on the sticks. With the guests arriving shortly, I was in a panic. Thank goodness for my friend, Kim . She was in charge of decorating and took over setting up the food for the shower as I battled the pops in the kitchen. Finally, exasperated, I dipped the pops in the icing, and gave them a spin in some melted chocolate. Because after all, it is my firm belief that next to coffee, chocolate can fix just about anything. I am calling this one a moderate Pinterest Success.
coffeemugsandchocolatecake 