We've Got Buns

In an effort to save money and use my bread machine,  I decided to make my own hamburger buns.  I've made them twice now and they are yummy!  I think I could probably make these into hot dog or brat buns too, simply by cutting them in a long oval shape instead of round.  I think I'll be trying that for my husbands upcoming college graduation party.  This recipe was Pepperplate worthy, so it went on my recipe list immediately!

Yummy!

The buns were very easy to make with the help of my bread machine.  I think they'd be just as easy by hand.  I got the recipe, "Homemade Hambuger Buns (Bread Machine)" from Food.com, see the recipe here.  Now, I could just go out and buy a pack of buns for less than a couple dollars...but there's just something wonderful about the smell of fresh bread and on top of that, these taste great!  Try them, you won't be sorry!  If you don't have a bread machine, try this recipe for 40 Minute Hamburger Buns Recipe.  It's from the same author (Marie) as the bread machine version.

A Nice Welcome Home

Check out the wreath I made!  A few weeks ago, versions of this wreath were being created by my Aunts, cousins and Mom.  I finally made my own last weekend. 

Cute, huh?!

The wreath was super easy to make, and not very expensive, at least for me!  The wreath came from my Mom's house, a leftover center piece from my sisters wedding.  The "M" was from our wedding five years ago.  I found the flowers at a thrift store for a buck!  My Mom lent me the yellow spray paint for the "M" and I had some glue sticks and glue gun on hand to stick it all together.  I'm prety sure you could find everything you need for less than $15...you may even have a lot of this stuff in your house already! 

I hope to give my wreath a facelift every season...maybe red, white, and blue flowers for the summer, little pumpkins, and orange and purple flowers in the fall.  Once I had everything I needed, it only took me a few minutes to put it all together.  That's my kind of project! What will you put on your wreath?  I keep thinking of new ideas...I may have to write these down!







Pinned and Peppered...How I Got Hooked

Welcome to Pinned and Peppered!  I'm a wife to Tom, a mother to Hazel and I work full-time.  I'm a busy Mom!  I have found though, that I'm not too busy to try something new.

When I discovered Pinterest, I was hooked within minutes.  I love trying new things, crafting, and just dreaming about what my life and my home could be.  Honestly, I never thought I had time to make things, or cook, or bake.  Pinterest has inspired me to finally DO things!  Pinterest is a place where I can see all sorts of great things in one place.  Also, there are SO many wonderful and helpful websites and blogs, how would I have discovered them without Pinterest?! 

After I discovered Pinterest, my sister told me about Pepperplate.  I love it!  It's a place where you can import recipes from supported sites, or manually entered your own, or others.  One afternoon while my daughter Hazel slept, I entered recipes I had written on paper onto Pepperplate.  Not only did this clean up my recipe book, but it made life a lot easier...instead of searching my cupboards and drawers for a hand written recipe, I can locate them using my laptop, Kindle Fire or smart phone!  You can also make a shopping list and the items are separated by sections (like Produce, Meat, etc) making my shopping trips quicker and easier!  I love it and tell anyone who will listen!

Both of these sites have inspired my Blog.  I have made some things I've found on Pinterest and will be sharing them with you.  If you haven't visited the sites before, try it!  I don't think you'll be disappointed! Check the sites out at  www.pinterest.com and www.pepperplate.com.

My first project was making a drip catcher thingy for my laundry detergent out of a soda bottle.  We had plenty of these in our house!  I used magic marker to draw where I wanted to cut and used heavy duty scissors to cut it out...watch it, that plastic can cut you!  It only took me a few minutes and has saved me from having to constantly clean the top of my washing machine. 

Drip Catcher!

Check out one for sale here.  Easy enough, right!?  And cheaper than the 5.99 price tag!  It has worked really well for my detergent and would work for all kinds of "drippy" situations.  Plus, when it gets nasty and filled with goo, I can pitch it and make another!  Sweet!

What was your first Pinterest project?  Tell me about!