365 Days of Pinterest Day 20 - Shimmer Flower Vase

Well I took a detour from my 365 Days of Pinterest "Testing one Pin a Day for a Year" and Ill tell you why.  Pinterest inspired me to buy a home ... not just any home .. A 200 year old Heritage Home!  I saw in this home so much potential, so much DIY!  I cant wait to move in in June and blog all the wild and crazy adventures.  I also sold my town house.   It sold in less then 24 hours with 4 bids and ended at $18,000 more then the asking price.  We spent one month completely renovating and staging on a shoestring budget.  I used so many tips and tricks from Pinterest for renovating, organizing beautifying and staging!  I will be sharing them soon.

SO NOWWWW without further ado back to some fun DIY's!  YAY!!

I found this pin when looking for a gift to give my real estate agent and mortgage brokers.  All extremely wonderful and inspirational women.

Sparkle Vase!!! oo la la .. nothing like sparkle ..

What you will need:

~ A cute vase (I bought my mini mason jar style vases from the dollar store .. so cute)

~ Flowers (I choose the ever delicate and gorgeous hydrangeas for my adult gifts and fun colorful Gerbera's I gave to my daughter and her friends for their high school talent show)

~ GLITTER!!!  Of course I used Martha Stewarts Hexagon Glitter from Michaels purchased with my 40% off coupon as the glitter is almost $30.00 for a 12 pack. worth it

~ ribbon. I used pretty shimmer ribbon for the Gerberas and rustic woven burlap ribbons for the shabby chic Hydrangeas

The rest is pretty self explanitory .. 

ribbon on vase

glitter in vase

water in vase

flower in vase.

I filled the vases half way and gifted them in a tiny brown bag .. very cute.

Wa laaa ... glitter and fresh flowers .. such a pretty happy gift.. and when you want a little extra magic you swirl the water in the vase around .. instant glitter globe effect!  makes me smile!

  find of the week .. pretty vintage butterfly serving dish from a thrift shop :)

365 Days of Pinterest Day 5 ~ Easy Crock Pot Orange Ginger Chicken

365 Days of Pinterest Day 5

~

Easy Crock Pot Orange Ginger Chicken

Day 5 of my 365 days of Pinterest I choose this Crockpot Orange Chicken pin .. I have to admit ... I have NEVER used my crockpot or any crockpot for that matter .. so I put away my Wok and gave it a go. 

Original Pin;

'12 Fall Crockpot Reciped'

http://pinterest.com/pin/267119821620424505/

I am a vegetarian ..  my hubby is not so he was the taster today .. 

This is the photo on the recipe web site.. a little deceiving I must say ...  The end result looks nothing like this ..

on with it ....

(Original) Ingredients: 

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced about 1/2-inch thick

2 large red or green bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds)

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 cans Mandarin orange segments, undrained

2 green onions, chopped (whites and greens)

2 cups hot cooked rice

**These are my 'tweaks"

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds) - CHANGE - 2 boneless chicken breasts.  I diced the chicken in 1" cubes.

8 ounces orange juice concentrate  - CHANGE - 5 oz orange juice concentrate

2 cans Mandarin orange segments, undrained - CHANGE - 1 small can Mandarin orange segments

ADD 3 ounces chicken broth concentrate - add 1 tsp chicken broth to 3 ounces water.

ADD 1 tbs Corn Starch to thicken

Directions:

Put carrots, bell peppers, garlic, then the chicken, ginger, salt, pepper and frozen orange juice in crock pot. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours. 

** my tweaks.  

add broth.  

at end stir in 1 tbs corn starch ..let sit 5 min to thicken.

Serve chicken on hot cooked rice on platter. Top with orange segments and green onions. 

Yield: approximately 4 servings

Critique:  I found the recipe to be very quick and easy and that I loved.  According to my hubby the chicken was super tender.  Everything was extra tasty since it had all absorbed the flavor from the slow cooker.  Better then if it were made in a Wok.

Downside .. way too orangey!!  The revised recipe included 5 oz concentrated OJ instead of 8 ... I added 3 oz of concentrated chicken broth (1 tsp chicken broth powder to 3 oz water) ... I also changed the 2 cans of Mandarin oranges to 1.  

another note ... my garlic turned green!!!  hmmmmm??? not sure about that one .. 

Overall .. great pin .. the recipe needed some fixing but now its yum and easy!