Pinterest Archives - Roubinek Reality

Happy Memorial Day!

May 28, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 8 Comments

I hope you are getting to enjoy this beautiful {well, in DFW it’s beautiful} weekend with your friends and families!! We sure are!!

I finished a project this weekend I’ve been thinking about doing for a YEAR! Right about when I started getting interested in Pinterest, I think this project was one of the first things I pinned.

I just LOVED this wreath when I saw it and knew it was something I could do.

Although I did it a little differently from The Scrap Shoppe’s tutorial, it was fairly easy to do.

Was it a quick project? No. I had to break it up over several nap times/bed times, but it could be because of the way I had to do it.

Cheap? You bet! Probably one of the reasons why I like looking at it so much! Something so cute was actually REALLY inexpensive and I got all of my supplies at Hobby Lobby!

Did I make it through the craft without a mark? No. My glue gun and I did not get along so well, so I have a few burn marks. Not fun. But, to have this result, it was worth it.

Want to make your own? You can do so EASILY!

To add a few notes to her tutorial:

Cut your strips at 2 1/4 inches wide. I bet it would look cute with even wider strips, too!
As mentioned in the tutorial, you really don’t need the ribbon to wrap the wreath before you start applying your strips.
I used a hot glue instead of the adhesive used in the tutorial.
I didn’t have crochet thread like she mentioned, so I tried to use my sewing machine to sew a gathering stitch in my burlap strips. They just started unraveling, so I scratched that idea.
I ended up creating my own ruffles by making little folds in the top of the burlap strips as I went around gluing.
I was able to use my sewing machine with a thicker thread to create a gathering stitch in the denim. That made things SOOOO much faster!!
You can get red burlap at Hobby Lobby. No need to spray paint, unless you just want to.
Working with burlap is MESSY, so be prepared!

Here are a couple of my other recent Pinterest projects if you just want some other ideas:

Porch Welcome Sign

$5 Full Length Mirror Project

Burlap Wreath

I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day and I’m so thankful for those who have fought or are fighting for our freedom. We are so blessed to live in this country, the home of the free and the brave!

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Filed Under: House, Pinterest, Projects

The Last Thing I…

May 24, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 7 Comments

Linking up with Jenna again from The Life of the Wife for:

The last thing I thanked my mom for:

This awesome little piece of equipment is on it’s way to me {thanks again, Mom} and I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. to play with it! I’ve been needing a new lens and this was a great deal we couldn’t pass up. This is the 60 mm f/2.8 Macro. I’m hoping to be able to take better pictures of the kids and post better pictures on this here blog of mine. My mom and I trade lenses all of the time, so it’s not TOOOOOTALLY for me.

Source: usa.canon.com via Jamie on Pinterest

The last thing I got out of the mailbox:

Klout sent me several free samples of this new yumminess to try out and give away to my friends.

Y’all, this stuff is goooood. Of course, I’m a true southern girl in the fact that I LOVE sweet tea! I’ve never really been a fan of flavored tea, but I LOVE this stuff! And, I love how easy it is to throw in to a water bottle. Each pack even came with a coupon. I love a good coupon!

If you live near me and want to try it out, let me know. I have several packets.

{Disclosure: I was given a free sample because I’m a Klout influencer. I am under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about this product or company.}

The last new beauty product I tried:

When I went in to Ulta yesterday to get gift cards for Langston’s teachers, I saw a small sample size of this Befefit mascara.

Source: sephora.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I’ve been wanting to try it out since it’s apparently “all the rage” right now, but I didn’t want to pay full price.

I LOVE IT! I’m always looking for mascara that does more thickening. This is good stuff.

The last thing I thanked my dad for:

My dad comes over about once or twice a month now just to bring me his coupon circulars. We used to meet for lunch but then I had more than one baby and it just wasn’t a whole lot of fun anymore. Meeting at my house or his is muuuuch better. As he was leaving, he happened to see the little eyesore that has been on our roof for the past couple of months. The big kids were trying to get a ball out of the tree and threw a piece of plastic from one of the boys’ toys at it. The ball came down but the plastic thing stayed on the roof. Lovely.

So, it’s been our white trash addition to the roof. I’m happy to say that yesterday, thanks to my avid golfer dad and his golf ball retriever, we are no longer the white trash neighbors.

Langston loved seeing Papa John with his super cool golf tool! Thanks Dad!

Last but not least……

The last thing I said, “Yes. This. Absolutely!” to:

This quote.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jamie on Pinterest

It really needs no explanation, but it’s definitely what I want for my life.

Happy Thursday!! We are so close to a three day weekend! Woohoo!

I’m hoping to work on our flower beds and pots, which I’m sure you noticed in the above pictures look so sad.

What are your Memorial Day plans???

Filed Under: Family, Food, House, Parents, Pinterest, Reviews

Pinterest Completions

May 23, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 7 Comments

Lately, I have had my sights set on yummy Pinterest recipes, and mainly sweets. I didn’t used to be much of a food pinner, but once I got ~~pregnant~~ out of the 1st trimester, everything changed! I’ve been trying to eat a lot of fruit because my body thinks it needs something sweet EVERY. DAY! I’m blaming it on the pregnancy. And, I’m blaming my indulgence on the pregnancy, too!

Today, I made sure to get some fruit in for my sweet fix, but I definitely added a little something extra that would push it waaaay out of the category of “healthy snack.”

I’ve been wanting to try this idea for a while because I thought it looked so cute!! It’s the perfect time for strawberries!

Source: thesweetslife.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Does this not just look delish!?!? I needed it, had all of the ingredients, so I whipped it up!

This was probably the hardest part, but even that was pretty easy, if you’re careful.

I love recipes that have very few ingredients!

So easy!

Having a baby spoon sure did help when it came to stuffing the strawberries. {Thanks boys!}

Just look at this! It’s tastes even better than it looks!

Aside from the one my dad got to try when he stopped by to visit us this afternoon, the rest are saved for Mollie’s Thirty-One and Scentsy party tonight. Can’t wait for everyone to try them!! It would be dangerous if they stayed in my house.

If you want to make them yourself, you can find the recipe here.

Or, you could follow me on Pinterest and then repin it from my “tummy yummy” board. Either one works for me!

This was definitely a successful Pinterest recipe, unlike this one!

Right after I finished those up, Riverson and I ran out of the door to pick Langston up from his very last day of Mother’s Day Out, for this year.

I’m sad it’s over, but I was excited to do this pin!

Source: asprinkleofthis.blogspot.com via Jamie on Pinterest

The idea is to have every teacher he has throughout his childhood sign it and give it to him as a gift for high school graduation. Maybe he won’t care about that when he’s 18, but I can’t help but think he will appreciate remembering ALL of his teachers.

I bought the book yesterday, at Wal-Mart. {It was on sale!}

Miss Lauren was his first teacher and she’s the first to sign the book. He loves her! You can’t tell by the picture, but he talks about her all during the week and smiles whenever her name is brought up.

He’s going through a stage of not really wanting his picture taken, so he rarely smiles for me, now. Not only that, but he had JUST woken up from his nap. I’ll take whatever I can get.

It makes me excited for next year’s teacher to sign it. Well, not really. What am I thinking? That would mean he’s a year older. Not ready for that, so I’ll just admire Miss Lauren’s signature for now.

Thanks, Pinterest, for two awesome ideas!
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Linking up here:

Filed Under: Food, Langston, Pinterest, Projects

Never Thought I’d Be a Vlogger

May 4, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 30 Comments

Since not everyone who reads this is a blogger, you’re probably wondering what in the world is a vlogger?

A vlog is a video blog and that makes a vlogger a video blogger. While I’m definitely not an official vlogger, I am today because I have my first vlog to share with you!

Yep, I’m trying to be brave and try something I’ve never tried before.

I’m linking up with 5ohwifey and The Life of the Wife to tell you about a couple of my favorite beauty products.

I’m hoping to get some great ideas from other girls who are linking up and I know you can, too!

So go check it out!

Filed Under: Blogging, Pinterest, Pregnancy

I Just Can’t Get Enough

April 27, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 3 Comments

…….of my life with these baby boys!

This face makes my heart skip a beat.

He loves to make us laugh!

Saturday, we had a fun fun day!! We started out the morning at our neighborhood Spring Fling. Riverson had his very first experience jumping in a bounce house and he loved it! Here he is jumping with our friend Knox.

I love that Knox is in our pictures on this post today because today is his birthday!! He’s TWO!! We can’t wait to celebrate with him tomorrow at his party!

After the Spring Fling, we sent Riverson to Meemaw’s house for the afternoon. He would not have done well at the LSU crawfish boil our whole family has been so excited to attend!

Jeff and I loaded the big kids and Langston up to head to our favorite yearly crawfish boil. Y’all this isn’t your average crawfish boil. This is serious business!!

These guys leave Baton Rouge, Louisiana early in the morning, loaded down with crawfish. They drive to Dallas, spend a few hours cooking it up on this awesome trailer, and then head back to BR.

It really is so neat to watch!

And yes, it was DELICIOUS!!!

There were a lot of activities for the kids, and Langston was on his best behavior. The paddle boats had just closed before we could get him down there, but he didn’t mind taking a look at the fish in the water, instead!

I couldn’t resist taking this sweet picture. This little boy LOVES his daddy.

On Monday, I got excited to get a Pinterest project done and I had two handsome helpers escort me to Home Depot for our wood supplies!

They were happy campers in there. It’s it every boy/man’s haven???

That wood under the cart turned in to this! If you missed the post on that project, you can find it here. It was so easy and I LOVE looking at it when I come home!

As much as I love this time with my boys……

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t so so very excited to bring a baby girl home this summer to be part of our family!

Just look at her very first bed!

Jeff’s mom surprised us with it and I. LOVE. IT!!

Right now, it’s sitting by our front door because I love admiring it during the day.

I’m on the hunt for some pretty things to complete this bed.

If you have any ideas, I’d LOVE to hear them! All of this baby girl stuff is so new to me.

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Filed Under: Baby, Boys, DFW, Family, Food, Instagram, Jeff, Langston, Pinterest, Projects, Riverson

Valentine Ideas

February 11, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 4 Comments

With Valentine’s Day coming up next week, I’ve been searching Pinterest for some great ideas for the boys. Where else do we get ideas these days?? We have two Valentine’s get togethers with our baby friends and we have to be prepared.

I’ve found so many cute ideas and wanted to share some of my favorites with you. Maybe these ideas will help you if you are working on them this weekend, like we are. If you want to find the instructions, you can go to the link under the picture.

{Beware, most of these ideas are for boys because that’s usually the way my brain thinks these days.}

I love how unique this one is.

Source: make-it-do.com via Jamie on Pinterest

This one is so cute and they have the printable ready for you to print! LOVE finding those projects. Easy peasy!

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Jamie on Pinterest

This one makes me laugh! So cute!

Source: zakkalife.blogspot.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I never get tired of the mustache, especially for kids. Ha!

Source: jaihartjustlovelydesigns.blogspot.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Love all of these cute candy sayings! Great for boys OR girls!

Source: lilluna.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Great idea for melting your own crayons. I love all of the ideas that come from howdoesshe.com!

Source: howdoesshe.com via Jamie on Pinterest

ADORABLE for boys!!!

Source: thirtyhandmadedays.com via Jamie on Pinterest

The boys and I will be working on these two this weekend for our friends!

For the girls:

Source: bhg.com via Jamie on Pinterest

For the boys:

Source: thirtyhandmadedays.com via Jamie on Pinterest

{p.s. the cars for this one can be found at the Dollar Store 3/$1. Yes, perfect!!}

Filed Under: Boys, Pinterest, Projects

My Baking Lesson

January 30, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 5 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out in one of my favorite places — Pinterest. I came across this pin of some awesome cookies! I don’t bake very often, but every now and then I get the itch to make something sweet. Yesterday was the day! I mean, just look at the picture. Doesn’t it just make you want to devour them? And, I LOVE anything red velvet!!

{Picture from here.}

While Jeff and I were out getting a part we needed to fix our dishwasher, we made a quick stop at the grocery store to get a couple of ingredients I needed for the recipe.

Of course, when I got home, I realized I didn’t have enough butter. Obviously that wasn’t one of the ingredients we picked up at the store, but I wish it had been.

I did a google search for butter substitutes and I ended up having one of the results. I had some Crisco Baking Sticks which are just vegetable shortening.

The picture on the box said 1 cup of butter can be made with one cup of this vegetable shortening and 2 tablespoons of water. Perfect!!

The recipe was really easy and fun to make. I thought it was neat looking when I added the food coloring, so you get a picture.

The cookies turned out really cute and I love looking at them.

Really, they are so pretty.

But, they will probably just be sitting there until I put them in the trash.

They DO. NOT. taste. good, at all.

It was a major let down when I put that first bite in my mouth. Of course, Langston has had two cookies, but he’s not picky in the least when it comes to sweets.

So there’s my baking fail and I have realized the importance of REAL butter. I won’t be making that mistake again.

I think I’ll try making them again when I get a new tub of butter. I’ll let you know how they turn out. Apparently these cookies have been pretty popular on Pinterest. I wonder if anyone else has made them?

Have you had a bad experience when you made substitutions in baking or cooking? I’d love to hear about it.

Filed Under: Food, Pinterest

Valentine’s Day T-Shirt

January 24, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 4 Comments

My mom has decided to move on to bigger and better things. She has her eye on the new Silhouette Cameo. That means I get her hand-me-down. I get the Silhouette SD! I almost never refuse a hand-me-down!

After doing some perusing of the internet, I started stumbling upon some really neat projects using the Silhouette to make clothes even better!

I tried my hand at making a t-shirt for my boys for Valentine’s Day. It was so easy and so fun! I might be addicted to the “Poor Man’s Screen Printing.”

I started out with this shirt. I found it at Wal-Mart for about $3.00.

The other materials I used were:

Reynold’s Freezer Paper (found at the grocery store)
Tulip fabric paint in black
Iron
Foam brush to apply fabric paint
Stitch Witchery to apply applique to shirt
Fabric for applique

I started out in my Silhouette Studio program to create the words I wanted. I was able to pick the size and font of my choice. {Love that!} Here is a screen shot of the program just before I cut the words out.

My awesome Silhouette cut out the words on my freezer paper and I used the stencil for my shirt. {Tip: Make sure you keep the inside of the circles in the letters, like a’s, e’s, o’s, etc.}

Position your words where you would like them to go and then iron them down. The freezer paper will stick to the shirt after using the iron. This is where you want to make sure you have kept up with those insides of the letters. See the two e’s in “Valentine” up there? You want to make sure you keep those little inside pieces and then make sure you iron them down, individually, as well.

Get some fabric paint on your brush and go to town! You will more than likely need to apply more than one coat, and maybe even more than two. I was able to get the job done in two coats with this project, but you want to make sure you let it dry for 30 minutes between coats.

Once your final coat is done, you can peel off the freezer paper, SLOWLY. Now, stand back and be super impressed with yourself!!

I had to put something cute in that big empty space and it had to relate to Valentine’s Day. But, remember, I have boys, so this shirt couldn’t be girly. So, how about a heart design (the one I used is called “2 Hearts Welded”) using baseball fabric? Yes, I think so.

I cut out my design on card stock and then traced it on to the back of my fabric. I also traced it on to the Stitch Witchery and cut them both out. Using the Stitch Witchery between the baseball fabric and t-shirt, I could iron my design on and it stuck. I sewed a small stitch around the edges of the hearts using my sewing machine and I was all done!

I know not everyone has a Silhouette machine. This tutorial is great for doing the same thing without a cutting machine.

I can’t wait to see my little ones in their new shirts for Valentine’s Day!

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Check out the other DIY Projects I have, too!

Filed Under: Boys, Pinterest, Projects

We May Be Friends After All

January 18, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 8 Comments

I’ve been feeling kind of empowered since yesterday afternoon.

There’s been a bully in my house for the past three years and yesterday, I OWNED it!

Meet the bully.

See, I’ve always wanted to sew and admired my friends who could create the cute little clothes or projects with their sewing machine. Well, I’ve always had this guy standing in my way. I couldn’t figure him out and every time, after about an hour of frustration, he usually found his way back in his home where he has stayed for the past three years. Literally y’all, I had to watch a You Tube video just to thread the dang thing. Every. Time.

My mom is also a great seamstress and when I was a baby, she would sew all of my clothes. I also remember when I was in high school, she created new bedding, valances, and table covers for me with her sewing machine. She bought me the sewing machine in hopes that I would follow in her footsteps.

I’m not yet, but I took a huge baby step yesterday.

I found this pin on pinterest that led me to all kinds of sewing projects for the home.

There were a LOT to pick from but I saw something I might be able to accomplish and it would actually fill a need in our home.

We needed a grocery bag holder and I thought her idea was just too cute. So, I decided to tackle her tutorial and it was great!

I realized that those straight stitches are pretty easy and it didn’t take me too long to put my 9 strips of fabric together.

I only had one pretty big mistake. I sewed one piece of fabric on backwards. Oops! Good thing I had this guy handy. He was pretty much my best friend yesterday.

Yes, that’s a seam ripper and a few months ago, I couldn’t have even told you what that was. Now, we’re buds.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time getting the elastic in like it should be, I finally had a finished product and man was I proud.

Now, I can get rid of the worthless plastic bag holder that was supposed to stick to the wall but never actually did. It’s definitely been replaced!

I was so impressed with how easy her tutorial was to follow, even for someone who’s never really sewn before. I will say that as an added tip, it’s good to put a safety pin on the end of the elastic as you thread it through. Then sew one end on before you pull the safety pin out of the other end. I had to do this over several times. Not fun!

If I was to do it again, I might take out two pieces of fabric to make it a little shorter. We don’t normally have that many bags in our house at one time.

I’m on the hunt for my next project. Now that my sewing machine and I are friends, I see some fun creations in our future!

Do you know of a great sewing website I should know about? I’d love to hear about it/them!

Linking up with The Mommy Club at Milk & Cuddles.

Filed Under: House, Pinterest, Projects

$5 Full Length Mirror Project

January 5, 2012 By Jamie Roubinek 14 Comments

Before Christmas, I was piddling around on Pinterest and came across this pin.

Photo from Shanty-2-Chic.com

Shanty-2-Chic is one of my all time favorite craft blogs and they are always doing projects that are 1) right at my skill level and 2) my same style for my home. My mom and I actually both read their blog and talk about the projects we want to do. We’re groupies.

Since we all know every girl needs a full length mirror, I knew this would be a great gift for our big girl who was soon to be a teenager, at the time. The tutorial the Shanty girls gave on their site seemed really easy and I knew I could get it knocked out quickly.

I loaded up my little people and we were off to Lowe’s. This was the highlight of the boys’ trip (and mine too).

Did you know that Lowe’s will cut your wood for you, FOR FREE???? Home Depot will too! What a time saver! The boys were super impressed.

Once I got my materials all laid out, it was go time.

I used wood glue to secure my 1 x 2s and then drilled 5 pilot holes in to each of the fence posts.

One of the things I’ve learned since I started doing a few wood projects is how important it is to drill pilot holes. It helps you to not have to worry about splitting the wood and makes it easier for the screw to go in. Knowing that little tip was a big game changer for my projects.

Once I got all of the screws in, my 7 pieces became one piece and I was ready for the dry brushing. I used a similar color that the Shanty girls used but when it came to painting the mirror and wood scroll, I used a color that matches Hallie’s bedroom wall color.

I taped off the mirror and had to give the mirror a good 2-3 coats with the FolkArt acrylic paint. Fortunately, it dries really fast.

Yes, I’m painting the mirror on my kitchen table. Gotta do what you gotta do when you have to be inside with the babies and want to keep your project away from grubby hands.

After finishing all of my painting, it was time to put it all to gether. The Shanty girls said they were able to hang the mirror on the wood with just their glue gun, but when I tried that, the mirror started to pull off the next day. I decided to go ahead and give it a little more security with wood glue and it’s really stuck on there, now!