Monday morning rolled around, everyone was feeling so much better I was ready to tackle the world….or at least some projects that have been waiting in the wings. Also, Bon Bon’s laptop is having issues and won’t connect to the internet at all, and it’s finals week so she has been using my laptop which could account for all the extra time I seem to have to actually accomplish things. ☺

File these under pinterest pins I really did!

1. I created a home management binder following some of the links in this Ultimate Guide post and the calendar and worksheet pages I pinned before finding that one. I didn’t even have to spend any money to buy supplies!

I took an unused binder and created tabbed pages from thick scrapbook paper I had on hand. I took an old Women from the Bible calendar I had saved with pictures from Al Young Studios’ Women of the Bible series and cut out the pictures to add to my tabbed pages. Easy and pretty! Now to just get in the habit of using it. 🙂

2.For Christmas Truffle made a Matching Peg Doll game inspired by this pin for Hershey.

It turned out super cute and Hershey loves it!

I have made several more sets to use with the Nursery kids at church and it inspired another sorting set that will be featured in a post on Monday. It is this other sorting game that has kept me occupied this week. I’ve found it can be very relaxing to sand and paint wood.

3.You’ll notice our paint isn’t as bright as those in the original pin. We decided to use AP certified non-toxic watercolor paint which gives a more natural muted look. I really wanted to use milk paint but it is so expensive! To protect the paint job I went on a hunt to find out about non-toxic wood finishes.

I found a tutorial for making your own Beeswax and Olive Oil finish and pinned it for later use. This stuff was so easy to make and works really well. It gives a nice sheen to the wood and can be used on wooden bowls and spoons too. It even softens hands!

4. All of my girls have long hair, except for when they’ve donated to Locks of Love. Pinterest has been a great place to store all those hairstyle ideas we come across. Some of my favorites to wear lately….

The sock bun, three braided buns, a simple pull back, and side knots {which are particularly great on Hershey’s hair}.

5. And finally, you didn’t think I’d post about pinterest without posting something with food, particularly chocolate did you? Last week I had to endure the three hour glucose test. The results – I have a very mild form of gestational diabetes. I only need to test my blood sugar twice a day and certainly be careful with the carbs {sugars} but not as much as I had to when I was pregnant with Ganache. I realized looking at what I normally eat that the highest source for added sugar is the hot cocoa I drink every day. After trying several different homemade sugar-free hot cocoa mixes {blech!} I opted instead to make my favorite hot cocoa mix recipe, Alton Brown’s Hot Cocoa Mix, substituting granulated Splenda for the sugar. Ahhhh….much better! I’ve also found that just stirring in one tablespoon of cocoa and a couple of drops of liquid stevia to a cup of hot milk works really good too. I’m not a big fan of Splenda or other artificial sweeteners but since this is the only thing I eat that uses it I can survive for 9 1/2 more weeks until the baby is born.