DIY Sugar Wax Hair Remover

"Finally a Working Homemade Hair Removal Solution!" 

This is one of those ideas I debated on blogging about, but after asking fans over on our facebook page if they wanted more "it works but it's...ehhhh" posts, I decided to go ahead and share.

Sugar Wax. A long-time touted hair remover, and something you can easily make in your own kitchen. With a few simple ingredients you can be on your way to being hairless for a fraction of the cost of waxing kits you buy in the store. Right?

It's not that simple. I decided to test this out myself after reading a lot of mixed reviews on it. I found this YouTube video and decided to spend an evening testing it out.

The first batch didn't turn out. Neither did the second. Or the third. I told myself one more try, and then I was going to give up. Well wouldn't you know it, fourth time's a charm I guess, because this time to turned out like the video suggested it would.

So how well does it wax? Not as harshly as the store bought wax I normally use. Which was nice. I tested it out on my eyebrows, upper lip, and arm. It wasn't as easy to control, so my brows didn't turn out as cleanly as I like them, but the upper lip was nice (and it didn't make me break out, which most waxing does when I do my upper lip) I did have to apply and remove it many, many times to get most of the hair, unlike the one time application I do with other waxes. I have dark thick body hair though, so my fair haired followers might not have to apply it as much as I did.

I wrapped the leftovers in plastic wrap, and then went back a bit later to try it again. Unfortunately, it stuck something awful to the bag, and despite briefly microwaving it and trying to warm it with hot water, I could not get it off the plastic wrap. What I did manage to pull had changed in texture and consistency and was pretty much useless.

Personally, I'm sticking to commercial waxes (this is the one I normally use). At the end of the day, this was such a hassle, a mess, and countless hours in frustration that I just can't get into it. Does it work? If you can manage to get it the right consistency, yeah. But is it worth all the hassle? For me, the answer is no.

So has any of our fans tried this before? What were your results like?

Glow Lanterns for Pools with Balloons and Glow Sticks

"Fill a balloon with a glow stick, then inflate! Makes a cool pool lantern!" 

If there is one thing I've learned, it's to be very skeptical of any "glow in the dark" project you find on pinterest. From plant pots to stepping stones, its usually not going to be anything like the image promises.

This is another case of such a project. Fill a balloon with a glowstick, inflate, and have a quick easy beautiful floating lantern, great for late night pool parties and such.

Unfortunately once again that's NOT what this is an image of. Its of an actual product called The Flat Ball Light. At over $200 a pop, that's not quite the easy thrifty item most people are looking for for their home parties.

So what DOES the DIY version look like? Over at the blog Life in the Wylde West, she tested the pin out herself. The results?

Glow Stick Balloons | Life in the Wylde West

Yeah, not impressive. At all. You're better off buying actual LED pool lights (there are cheaper options out there besides the $200 flat lights) but as long as you know what you're getting yourself into, your kids might still get a bit of a kick out the project.

Good Idea Friday - Plywood Floors

We've spent the past year overhauling our attic into a bedroom. Our house, built in 1909, has amazing hardwood floors in most rooms and we were trying to figure out how we could install new flooring--on a budget--that wouldn't clash too terribly with the original flooring. After spending countless searches on pinterest trying to come up with a solution within our budget, I came across this blog post from the infamous Centsational Girl about plywood floors.

Now, I was skeptical. Really skeptical. But after crunching the numbers we realized with $80 worth of plywood, we could install flooring not just in the new bedroom, but also in the hallway leading out to the upstairs landing, So we decided to give it a try. If it didn't work out we weren't out that much money, and hey, nothing a couple area rugs couldn't cover right?

We went about it slightly different that the above post, we had the hardware store cut the wood for us, in the same width as our hardwood floors, and in various lengths. Stores generally charge for this, but for us this was still better than trying to use our extremely old and fairly scary table saw.

First to go down was the sub floor chipboard, screwed to the floor joists, then plastic foam sheeting designed to go under flooring. We laid out the planks, lined them up to our liking, and nailed them down using a brad nailer. Once in position, we used dark caulk to fill in any gaps. This is a great trick, by the way, for hard wood floors; plaster, putty, and glue-sawdust mixture tends to dry and can crack apart and/or pop out over time. Silicone caulk on the other hand, does not. You can find it in various different colors too, so get one that matches the stain you plan to use. (I got the idea from a great friend who also blogs about home remodeling and projects - Us Versus The House) 

After the caulk set we sanded, gently. Plywood is thin sheets of wood glued together, sand too hard or deeply and it gets funky looking, as some colored inner layers will start to show. Just be careful when sanding. We then applied 3 coats of a dark brown stain (Jacobean by Minwax), the same we used on the original floors, and then finished the whole floors with 3 coats of water based polyurethane.

And the final product! 

There's a few things we would have done differently with our flooring though: don't skimp on the wood. We went with a thinner (cheaper) 1/4" plywood, where as the original blog post suggests 1/2", and though it was fine for the room it's in, in a much higher traffic area we would really recommend going with thicker plywood. It LOOKS great, and nearly matches the original wood floors for us, but the sound is off. I know that sounds silly, but it actually sounds more like a laminate flooring instead of actual wood.

All in all I'm extremely pleased with the floors, and for the price (roughly $160 for all the supplies), you really couldn't get a cheaper flooring option than this. This might SOUND like a large undertaking, and something out of the reach of most people, but it really was one of the easiest projects I've done. To summarize, you basically get plywood, cut into planks, lay down subfloor and subfloor sheets, nail planks down. sand, stain, poly. Done. Something like this could easily be done in a week or less (have to let that stain and polyurethane dry!) and is a great floor option for anyone looking for something new on a tight budget. 

Oh, and because I just can't NOT post before and after photos of the attic turned bedroom, here you go if your curious. It was originally lined with wood planks and covered with newspaper from 1918. We KNOW wood plank rooms are en vogue on pinterest, but if you saw the amount of dust and heaven knows what else that fell along with the planks.. you wouldn't want that in your bedroom. Ever.

Before Remodel

After Remodel

Fire Glass - Amazing Flammable Glass to Replace Wood

"Fire glass produces more heat than real wood, and is also environmentally friendly. There is no smoke, it's odorless and doesn't produce ash. You are able to stay toasty warm without cutting down trees and the specially formulated glass crystals give off no toxic deposit.."  

I actually stumbled across this on a buzzfeed article about pinterest (I will just come out and say it, if you want bad pinterest ideas, buzzfeed is a hotbed of them) and knew right away that couldn't be right. I searched pinterest curious to see how often this is actually pinned, and was floored that the above image has been repinned nearly 5,000 times from one pin alone.

A quick Google search later and sure enough, I found the website for Fire Glass. Pulled directly from their FAQs: 

"Fire Glass is tempered glass that is used in fireplaces and fire pits to increase vibrancy, reflection and color. Tempered glass is tumbled and polished to prevent sharp edges and injury. The glass is designed for gas fire pits and gas fireplaces to tolerate high temperatures without melting, burning or discoloring when used as recommended. The glass does NOT create toxic fumes, smoke, ash, or soot... You can use fire glass with both propane and natural gas. "

What does all that mean? It's not a "flammable glass". It's a filler used in gas or propane fireplaces and fire pits; instead of lava rocks or fake wood, you add Fire Glass. The glass itself isn't flammable and won't do anything if you try to set it on fire. It's not a replacement for real wood in a wood burning fire pit. It is quite pretty and I can see the appeal, but unless you have a gas burning pit, it's not going to do anything.

Glow In The Dark Planters

"Buy a flower pot that you really like and use Rustoleum's Glow-in-the-dark paint to paint the pot. During the day, the paint will absorb the sunlight and at night the pots will glow." 

I'm completely convinced  that people who pin and share these things on Facebook have never actually tried glow-in-the-dark paint. The first thing wrong about this image is that well, it's not night. At all. The second is the amazing glow the pots are putting off, enough to even illuminate the grass. Glow-in-the-dark paint won't do that. 

You see these aren't just painted pots, they are LED-lighted pots. I've been trying to track down the direct source of  this image, but haven't been able to. However I have found enough variously similar planters to show you, like these from Konstsmide, a German light manufacture:

And just like in other various "Glow-in-the-Dark" pins, people don't seem to take in account that glow in the dark paint is very green/yellow. In fact there is a great review and write up about two different popular glow-in-the-dark paints at Observation Blog. Here is his 2 examples of the paints, which even with 8 hours of charge were barely glowing, surely nothing strong enough to light up the grass around it. 

So once again, put down the paint, people. Sadly this isn't even near what the original image is. And please let me know if anyone knows the source of the original image! I'd love to email the photographer or landscapers who did this and give due credit. 

Glow Sticks and Nail Polish

"break a glow stick & put in clear polish" 

With Halloween coming up I've been seeing a lot more Glow in the Dark pins then you usually see. However as we learned with our other glow stick pins, not only will this not work, it's probably not the best thing for you. Not only that, glow stick formula typically doesn't glow that long once it's exposed to air. I was going to test this out and see how long it will glow, and if it would even set up properly but alas, I'm out of glow sticks. Even if it did set up right (instead of leaving your nails a big glowing gooby mess, which is what I think would happen) the glow would only last a short time, then you're left with a funky colored bottle of nail polish.

Instead, just buy glow-in-the-dark nail polish. A quick search not only pulls up a lot of different companies and online vendors that sell it, they also use the same exact image as the Pinterest pin! But I'd also like to point out that even with retail glow in the dark nail polish, without a blacklight you will not get the effect depicted here. That's not your standard glow-in-the-dark glow. 

Any fans out there with a spare bottle of nail polish and glow sticks want to test this out for me? I'm honestly really curious if it will even set up and harden right. 

Good Idea Friday - Monistat Cream as Face Primer

Monistat as Primer : My Vanity Basics

I first heard about this many years ago on a bargain forum and couldn't believe when I found the pin it was still a thing. I mean come on - it's an anti-chafing cream for a lady's more, uh private, parts, and people are putting it on their face? Just as skeptical now as I was years ago when I heard about it, I decided to do more research on it.

Lets start by taking a look at the ingredients of Monistat gel vs Smashbox primer (here is where I warn you that when they say Monistat, they are talking about a certain anti-chafing gel, not the yeast infection medication. Please don't just grab any monistat product and start rubbing it on your face.)

Smashbox Ingredients:

Original Photo Finish
Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Trisiloxane, Silica, Dimethicone/ Vinyldimethicone Crosspolymer, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Extract, Propylene Glycol, Water (Aqua, Eau), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Cola Acuminata Seed Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract.

Monistat Chafing Relief Gel Ingredients:

Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica, Tocopheryl Acetate, Trisiloxane

In fact, chances are any face primer you grab will have at least dimethicone in it. The science behind it that basically dimethicone stays on the surface of your skin, helping to minimize the appearance of wrinkles and pores and prevents your foundation or base from rubbing off. I can't say if it's really the best thing to be smearing on your face (most reports say it's pretty harmless, but some say dimethicone adds to your skin drying out and over time can cause more problems, and that its not biodegradable, so there's always the environmental factor of it.) Also most major primers have added moisturizers and SPF added to them to better aid your skin. 

So does it work? Yes, as well as the Smashbox primer does. Pretty much all cosmetic companies today have a facial primer on the market, and as much as they vary, the one thing in the common they all share is dimethicone. It's the price point that wins most people over; an ounce of Smashbox primer can cost over $40, whereas a bottle of Monistat anti-chafing gel? Around $6 a bottle from Amazon. 

Good Idea Friday - Ziploc Bag To Keep Flies Away

"Ziplock bag of water with 5 pennies in it - keeps flies away - AMAZING"

I'll be honest, when a fan sent me this I laughed and thought it had to be one of the most ridiculous pins I've seen in awhile. I mean really? I was skeptical to say the least.

However, a quick search later and I realized I was so very wrong in my original assumption. Not only does it work, it works well. You see the light reflecting off the water and pennies in the bag freaks out the flies eyes, so they can't see well, and will avoid the area. You can read more about it here. Sadly it doesn't seem to work on anything other than flies, so if you think it might work on mosquitoes and other insects best to try other remedies (we offer some suggestions in previous posts, ideas for both mosquitoes and wasps).

And because lets be honest, this is Pinterest we're talking about, if the idea of having baggies swinging from your porch isn't as aesthetically pleasing as you'd like, there are other options: 

You can buy this rather dashing glass one from designer Jose de la O. 

Anti-Fly Sphere : Jose De La O 

Or in true Pinterest fashion you can even DIY one with the ever popular mason jar! Just wire wrap around the neck of the jar, fill with water and a couple pennies and hang by your door.

Cocoa and Lotion Self Tanner

"Homemade tanning lotion: lasts for 3 days.. It fades a little after every shower/bath. What to do:- 1-Get some cocoa powder-2tbsp. 2-any moisturiser you have 3-an empty bottle 4-cotton buds, or anything that can help you apply the cream 5-mix it all together you should end up with a brown mix. Don't worry, it won't be that dark on your skin. Good for super light girls!"

--- Edited Feb 2016 - at the request of the original owner of the image that is shared misleadingly on Pinterest, I have removed the image. She was concerned people would think her blog, or the image, was "false" The original image depicted a set of legs, showing a before and after with the after being noticeably tanner than the first image. It originally was posted on her blog, and was talking about a type of tanning cream she had used, to help accelerate the tan one gets from the natural sun. Somehow it of course found it's way to being shared on Pinterest, with a completely wrong and misleading idea that it was fake tanner, done with the above recipe, which is what this blog post of mine is addressing ---

A fan requested this one, and since it's the hey day of summer I know quite a few of you are probably wondering.. can you give yourself a great real looking tan with products from your kitchen? This is another classic example of a bad pin. Not only does it go with the "take something from your kitchen and smear it on you" idea, but after a quick search that isn't what the image is showing. 

and it's her before and after photos of using a tanning cream. Not a sunless tanning cream, but the kind you put on before you go sunbathing to give yourself a deeper tan. 

But, in the name of science, I decided to go ahead and test this out myself. I learned my lesson after the Brown Sugar Straightener post I did, and took photos to share with you all. I followed the instructions, mixing up some unsweetened cocoa powder and lotion and set to putting it on my legs. 

My legs : Before

The first thing I noticed was that it felt really gross and it was making me think I was smearing chocolate pudding on my leg. I took about a quarter size amount and started working it into my left leg. No amount of rubbing however, was getting it to rub in. So with my other leg I took just a dab, mixed it with some more lotion, and set about trying to rub that in. My right leg looked less dark, but no less streaky and dirty looking. I kept rubbing and rubbing both legs but finally gave up and took a photo. 

My legs : After

At this point I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why I'm laying in my yard with dirty legs taking photos of them, so I headed back inside to shower it off. On the way to the bathroom however my dog took a great interest in my legs, which is also another factor making this a bad idea -- if you have a dog, they might try to lick it off your legs, which is a really bad idea.

And for those wondering: it doesn't stain your skin like the pin suggests. It came right off in the shower with just your basic soap and bath poof. My legs are back to their typical color after just one shower.

So all in all, bad idea. It's not true, it's the old switcharoo -- the image is real, of a woman with a tan from a commercial product, not of chocolate and lotion. I know there are a lot of these ideas on pinterest that use coffee and tea, and I will be testing those out in the following weeks as well, so stay posted! 

Jello Lip Stain

Use Jello as a lipstain! Pour the powder mix into a bowl and moisten a Q-Tip with water. Then, being very careful not to use your fingers since the red stains stay put, dip the Q-Tip into the powder and apply it directly to your lips.

This has to be one of the more stranger pins I've found on pinterest. It's not that it wouldn't work, but it more or less confuses me. The dye in jello is the same used in food coloring. It would probably be easier to carry a small bottle of red food coloring and dab that onto your lips instead of carrying around a packet of powdered jello. If you're looking for a more natural route, you could probably keep a slice of raw red beet in a zip top bag and use that instead. 

So what do you think? Anyone wanting to trade in their favorite lipstick for a packet of jello? 

Glow in the Dark Bubbles

"Cut open glow sticks & pour them into bubble solution. Glow in the dark bubbles. I like the idea for summer nights & camping"

Who hasn't seen this idea going around not just Pinterest but Facebook and the like? Looking at the picture, this looks like this would be true. And it is, sort of. You see, you CAN add glow stick formula to bubbles easy enough. The problem comes in that even though the bottle of bubbles does glow, the bubbles themselves? Not so much. At all really. First off - that photo? It's a photo of "Miracle Bubbles Glow Fusion" bubbles, which you can buy retail, not of someone DIYing glow in the dark bubbles. How do I know this? the bottle shape. Here's the source of the image above (flickr) 

For this post I decided to buy the glow bubbles shown above instead of DIYing it. I really dislike cutting open glowsticks for a couple of reasons; the smell alone that lingers is awful and being not quite summer, I didn't want that smell lingering in my house from bubbles. They come with two packs of activators - I'm not having a lot of luck with finding what is in these pouches, but I'm going to go ahead and assume it's the same, if not similar formula used in glow sticks. We decided to do this on the last day of spring break, as a sort of kiddie rave party for our kids. We waited until dark and turned out all the lights and pulled the drapes closed to make the house as dark as possible for this, then crank up some electronica music and mixed the bubbles with the activators.

no joke, this isn't just a black square.
I promise it's an actual photo.

Over to the left you can see two photos I took of our party. I'm not joking, the first one is really a photo taken without the flash, the second one with a flash on. So the bubbles don't glow when you blow them. I didn't figured they would, due to surface mass and tension and all that, but when they landed and popped? That was a whole different story. I tried to get a good photo of it, as it looked like the most beautiful milky way space image but I wasn't able to quite capture it with my camera. 

See? Bubbles!

 Which brings up another issue with this: I would HIGHLY recommend using this either outdoors, or in a house with hardwood floors. Everything by the end was covered in glowing solution.  Luckily we had the hindsight to roll up the area rug and do this in our entrance room so it wouldn't get on the sofa in the living room, but the kids still needed a good bath when it was done with.

So all in all, as fun as this is, don't expect to have literally glow in the   dark bubbles. It doesn't matter how dark you get the place (as shown in the photo there to the left) these bubbles just aren't going to GLOW like you want them to. It was still fun though, and something we plan to do again maybe this summer - but outdoors this time, as I don't feel like hosing down the kids and mopping floors so late at night. 

Glow In the Dark Walkway

"Line a pathway with rocks painted in glow in the dark paint. During the day they “charge” in the sun and in the evening they reflect the stored light. Rust-Oleum Glow in the Dark Brush-on Paint."

This is another example of a photo on pinterest with an idea that doesn't match up with the image. Those are not patio stones that are painted with glow in the dark paint. I've also seen the same image tagged with Glow Stones - a company that makes glow in the dark rocks. 

But how do I know this? Because that's not what glow in the dark paint would look like, first off. Glow in the dark paint often times comes in colors like yellow, green, or pink, and tend to be that of a neon nature. 

Here is an example of what the glow in the dark paint from Rust-Oleum looks like:

Glow in the dark bat : B-Movie Star

.

That is awfully green and neon compared to the original image. You'd also have to make sure the pavers you are painting aren't treated with waterproofing, and since this paint isn't designed for outside use, you have to realize that with wear and tear and normal weather condition it will peel and chip over time.

So what about the other product this often times get tagged as on Pinterest - Glow Stones? Again, nope. Glow stones look to have the same bright colors as other glow in the dark paints do. Not only that, Glow Stones only come in pebble size rocks - not large flat walkway paver stones. They come in ether a blue or green, not that warm soft yellow that the walk way is glowing in.

So what COULD be the cause behind this great image? Photoshop or good lighting, It's as simple as that. Lets take a look at the image again. If you look at it, you will notice that there is a soft light not only on the walkway  but also reflected back onto the fence door and the vases by the fence. Also notice how the light of the walkway extends OUT from the stones themselves, as if there were simply a light source that was lighting the walk way from above? 

So there you go - this isn't glow in the dark paint or Glow Stones, but just a pretty picture of your average walkway that ether had a perfectly time photo taken or has been altered in photoshop. I've tried to find the source of this image, but haven't been able to track it down. It seems it's just been pasted around the internet being tagged as what to do with glow in the dark paint. 

But that OTHER image making the rounds of pinterest being tagged as glow stones? That is legit. In fact you can even find over at their website. 

Glow Stones Driveway : Glowstones.com

Update 10/2013 - This post has quickly became one of our MOST popular posts, and with out a doubt one of the most debated and talked about posts we've done. Good news - we were able to track down the artist thanks to a fan, and have updated news on this over at Posts Revisited. So we can all put to the rest finally how the image was made. (hint: it's really not glow in the dark paint)

Painted Coffee Beans

"Spray paint coffee beans and use them as vase filler...much cheaper than those marbles!" 

Sadly, that's not what this is a photo of. This is an actual product, but it's not designed as a vase filler. They are called Coffee Joulies, and are designed to maintain the perfect temperature of coffee. I know this because I am a total coffee addict, and have been dying to get a set myself  (but sadly I don't own any yet, so I can't report how well they work). They are made from recycled stainless steel and are, in fact, quite a good size - not tiny like real coffee beans. 

Coffee Joulies

But as the pin suggests: can you spray paint regular coffee beans to get a cool metallic vase filler? Eh, maybe. As I've reported before on our lace light bulb post, metallic spray paint never comes out looking like real metal, so if you're after slick metallic stainless steel looking coffee beans, keep looking. Spray paint won't get you that finish. Another issue that I can imagine coming up is what makes coffee so delightful in the first place: oil. Most whole beans will have a wonderful sheen on them from the oils in the bean, making your paint unwilling to stick well to it. Not to mention that it would be quite hard to get beans--tiny little coffee beans--coated evenly enough that they would look nice. All in all, if what you're going for is something like the original image from pinterest, this is just something I don't see working out as you might want it to.

Yet Another Sharpie Mug

"Gold sharpie marker, bake at 350 for 30 min and let cool in oven"

Oh yes, the infamous sharpie on glassware posts. Anyone who is a long time follower of such blogs like Pinstrosity will know that really, sharpie + glass + baking does NOT equal long lasting dishware. 

That aside, this isn't what this is an image of. At all. These aren't just mugs that have been colored with a sharpie and baked . They're professional made, and sold at Luna Lighting for £22 a pop. 

But you have a lot of boring old white dishes you snagged cheap at the dollar store and you want to make them a bit fancy, so what do you do?

Toss the sharpie and spend a bit more on ceramic markers. They do the job better, as that's what they are designed for. Most craft and hobby stores carry them. They usually run about $6-$15 a piece depending on brand, but you're more likely to have success using them then you would using a sharpie. 

Lace Light Bulbs

"Cover a standard light bulb with a dollies, spray paint with silver paint. Instantly dress up a light bulb!" 

How pretty are these? And with such simple instructions it seems like it would be a fun weekend project that would add instant class to your room. However... it's not true. At least that's not what this is an image of. These are actually lamps designed to look like light bulbs - they are metal, and cut to look like lace. Originally for sale at plumo.com but no longer listed or for sale. 

But CAN you take a light bulb, cover it with lace and spray paint it to get the same effect? Maybe. But you wouldn't want to use silver spray paint, because anyone who has tried to use 'metallic' spray paint can tell you - it never ever turns out looking metallic.

Looking glass on the left, Chrome on the right

Over at April Moffat Design she did a great write up on chrome spray paint vs looking glass spray paint. Price wise there is a big difference - one will cost you around $5 a can, the other one is in a much smaller can and costs over twice that much.  When looking at spray paint I know I'd be tempted to reach for the cheaper one.. but here's why you shouldn't.

Anyone who has played around with the looking glass spray paint knows just how awesome it can be, but also how fickle it is. Spray painting glass is very hard to do, which is why to use the looking glass paint they recommend you paint the INSIDE of the vase or jar. I've tried it myself and found that it rubs off very easily so keep that in mind when using it.

Another problem that could come up is that it is really hard to get lace or dollies to spray paint right. It's not impossible but it can be tricky. More times than not it can come out looked blurred, the lines smudged and the pattern lacking in areas. Taking in account that you are trying to spray paint glass and a very curved surface at that, you stand a good chance of messing this project up.

Another option that would be fun to try is to use a metallic pen designed to write on glass. It probably won't give you that true 'metal' look, but short of real metal its honestly hard to acquire such a look at home, especially on glass.

Muffin Tins Secret Use

"Flip Over a Muffin Tin to Make Delicious Ready-to-Fill Cookie Bowls The dream of enjoying cookies and milk—or cookies and ice cream—at the same time is real, and all you need to do it is cookie dough and a muffin tin. Flip the muffin tin over, form the cookie dough around the cups instead of inside it, and bake the tin upside down." 

I'm sure anyone who spends any time on Pinterest has seen this one. Maybe some of you have been lucky enough to see the failed attempts at this as well. Because it's false. For the most part at least. As much as that  does look at first glance like a muffin tin, it's not. It's designed just to make these cups, as you can see it has a small indent at the rim of each cup, to help support the dough. (It's made by Wilson's if anyone is interested)  But fear not, even though this is a specialty pan it still seems to get mixed reviews, as people complained that the cookie dough still tended to 'run' or melt out of the cup shape molds. You'd need to use a fairly firm cookie recipe, probably one with less butter than normal for this to work right. Other reviewers have suggested everything from making sure the dough is very well chilled to rolling it out between wax paper to help roll out the thicker made dough.

I have a bad habit of setting my oven on fire anytime I mention baking, so this isn't something I'm going to attempt, but has anyone used these pans? Do you think they worked better than a muffin tin or not? I guess if all else fails you could always use this tin right side round to make some very pretty mini flans or jell-o desserts. 

And if anyone is wondering if there is any way to really make them at home - sure there is! Here is a great write up on how to make cookie cups with a muffin tin the right way with a tried and trusted fail proof method - it does take longer time and prep to make them this way, but at least you know the outcome will probably be better then a cookie coated oven to clean. 

Mini Cookie Cups via Sweet-lab.com