Pinterest projects to express and impress 

Unbelievably, it’s almost Thanksgiving – seriously, where did this year go?

It’s that time of year when we all start getting excited about yummy turkey dinners that force us to change into yoga pants after the meal. Wait – maybe that’s just me – the girlie equivalent of your grandpa unbuttoning his pants at the table.

It’s also a good time for reflection of the things you are most thankful for in your life, if you’re into that kind of thing, which I am.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. It’s been a year of change and excitement in the Byrd household for sure. I’m coming up on a year that I’ve been writing this column (Again, where did the time go?), and I thought I would take the opportunity to give thanks for some things – Pinterest and otherwise.

Thank you to everyone who sent emails asking for the Pumpkin Pie Cupcake recipe from last month’s column. I’m still getting requests, and people are letting me know how they turned out after making them. What fun it was to know someone besides my mother-in-law and my husband’s coworker Willie actually read my column.

Thanks for the kind words. I’m thankful for the support.

I’m thankful for Pinterest. It has given me a column, a better skill set in the kitchen and actually helped inspire me to formulate a plan for a small business my friend Ashley and I are opening as you read this. And a big thank you goes to my editor, Lydia, for giving me a chance.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I have a handsome husband, Eric, and a 2-year-old daughter named Gracie. I am most thankful for the fact that I get to share every single day with them. What a gift!

Gracie is in a mother’s day out program, which is for parents who aren’t ready or have the need for full-blown daycare. It’s two days a week and only for four hours, but Gracie has started coming home with artwork each time I pick her up. My Pinterest project for the month is a display for all the art she is bringing home because who knows she could be the next Mary Cassat or Marc Chagall. Right now, her stuff is a little more like a toddler Picasso.

I found a great way to display children’s projects on Pinterest, and again, it’s super easy. I went to a local store and bought a backless picture frame. I recommend getting a relatively large one, back in the framing department of the store – not the cute frame section with fake family pictures. Find one that fits your space the best. I got kind of a crazy, gold ornate one because I thought the contrast between finger-painted pictures and gleaming scrollwork would be kind of fun. I also purchased some wire - the same kind you would use to hang a picture. I got home and drilled four screws into the back of the frame; one toward the top and the other about 3/4 of the way to the bottom. I then got my wire and measured out enough to make a line from one screw to the other, lengthwise across the frame. I clipped it, then wrapped it around the two screws closest to the top, then repeated for the bottom two screws. Use a pair of needle-nose pliers (if you have them handy) to really tighten the wire around the screws.

I then hung it on the wall, took some old clothes pins and used them to hang Gracie’s pictures on the wires – just like you were hanging clothes on a clothes line. That’s it. Super easy!

The great thing about this is that you can switch out the art as you wish. When Gracie gets a little older, I will probably move the frame to a lower spot on the wall so she can hang her work herself. Right now, she can’t be trusted. She’s 2. Everything is something to break or tear or throw. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who has this problem.)

It will give her the opportunity to take some pride in work she has completed, and Eric and I a chance to smile at her scribbles.

I will mention that Pinterest has tons of recipes, crafts for children, home decor ideas and memes about being thankful, but for me, there’s not much more in the world I could ask for than my family, and for that, I am eternally thankful.