Pinterest - Because we don't talk enough about it.

     Pinterest has a way of making me feel like Wonder Mom and completely inadequate in the space of a few short minutes. I have found amazing places to visit, food to eat, cakes to make, clothes, costumes, decorations, DIY anything. I have had great success with some, which I will share in a minute, and huge failures with others...see craftfail.com (none of those are mine, but similar results. Oy!).  My favorite has been what to do with leftover bottles. I have a few. We have wine bottles in the windows that cast beautiful colors when the sun shines through. We store things in others. They come in all kinds of beautiful shapes, sizes, and colors filled with yummy liquids. Until Pinterest, though, I didn't know what to do with these beauties:

     They have a cool shape and I hate to throw them away. Disclaimer: I do not have a drinking problem, but I do have a junior in college, a junior in high school, and a 3 year old. An occasional beverage is required. So, I found a nifty craft on Pinterest and turned it into this:

Directions were short and simple: take off label, spray paint bottle bronze, paint on prefered outer color, sand raised surfaces. Even I could do that!!!

     These are future dust collectors for people I love. I will be making and sending them out to everyone I know that drinks Crown. (I can mass produce like that!!)  Mostly, I'm thrilled to have found something to do with them. They were supposed to be Christmas presents, but I didn't get them done in time. Oh, did I mention I'm a procrastinator.  I would post other successes but quite frankly, it was all about the bottles.

Long story short...Pinterest is my friend, except when it isn't. I keep trying, though. Drink, anyone? Julie

TMI Brentise Style? What does that even mean?

     Don't panic, I won't be posting anything too inappropriate just maybe things that you would otherwise keep to yourselves. Why? Because I'm pretty sure someone else has done the same thing and it's more common than you think.

     So, I'm a mom. I'm not Martha Stewart. I'm probably more like you than any other mom out there, we just aren't well represented. Maybe there is a fear that we are not good enough because we don't grow everything we eat, make everything we use and wear, or live on less than $2/day. Let's face it, we fake it til we make it with parenting. Take all the tips you can, discard what doesn't work in your family, use what does.

     The point is, I'm really doing the best I can with the resources I have, be that financial, spiritual, or just how much sanity I have left in the moment. I have awesome parent moments that are cancelled out by the less than awesome moments. My kids have a roof over their head, food in their bellies, and lots of love in their lives.

     I'm starting this so I can see how we progress through time and maybe remember stories along the way that would otherwise be forgotten. A virtual scrapbook, because I can't seem to get my act together to make a real one. Pictures that have never left my phone might actually be put to good use. My kids are bound to be mortified, I wouldn't be doing my job otherwise, but you may be as well. So begins the journey...

Julie