Pin It And Do It - The Holiday Edition Part 2

As I race to reach the Christmas finish line, I'm grabbing a few of my pins to help me finish big. We're using three pins to inspire gifts. I'm not going to put pictures here just yet since the gifts are for family who may (or may not!) be reading this but I'll share the inspirations.

There will be six fleece blankets under the tree this year, one of each of our great-nieces and nephews. Ranging in age from one to almost twelve, it's generally impossible to find one gift that works for all six kids but this one is perfect. For our Philadelphia Eagles loving nephew, it's a green and white football design; our two soccer loving nieces are getting matching blankets as are our two little boys. For our four-year-old who really believes she's a mama, there will be a pretty blanket for her with a matching one for her dolly. Loving the new way to tie the blankets!

This little framed piece of burlap inspired me to do something for my sister that I've been trying to figure out how to do for years. It's a piece that she'll be able to hang in her kitchen that will remind her of our grandmother. I'm liking the idea so much I'm thinking I'll make one for myself as well. I hope she likes it!

We happen to have burlap on hand because Miss H is, perhaps, and even more avid Pinterest junkie than I am and she needed some for projects she wants to do. As you know, she just graduated high school, but she already has big boards for her wedding and for my grandchildren (oh, how I love that idea!).

This pin has already inspired wall hangings in both Miss H's and my niece's rooms so we have a lot of practice with it. It was time to use it for gifts. Miss H used it for a gift for a friend that was really wonderful - she used maps as the background because her friend loves maps; then she covered the entire canvas in words that would have meaning for her friend and painted it purple. She was so excited with it as it turned out exactly as she imagined it. She and I are working on a second one for a gift that has special meaning for both Miss H and me.

Have you tried any gifts from pins? If so, how are they turning out for you? We like to think we're crafty but the truth is that we're probably more brave than crafty!

It wouldn't be a Pin It and Do It challenge if I weren't at least looking for food inspiration on Pinterest. Yesterday, since my refrigerator was largely empty anyway, it was time to clean it out (we were without power for ten hours and I had moved quite a lot of refrigerated items into coolers and put them out in the garage. We had a half dozen hard rolls, a few slices of homemade white bread, and a half a baguette of Italian bread that needed to be used and a warm bread pudding sounded like just the way to use them up. A Salted Caramel Bread Pudding was my inspiration (I wasn't using the croissants it called for) then I added some raspberries. It. Was. Delicious! Especially on a day that was cold and snowy. We'll definitely be saving this recipe.