0 Can Tab Bracelet

Craft! Yay!!! Okay, so for this you will want to ask some friends and family to collect can tabs for you, especially if you're me and don't really drink a lot of things that come in cans, my sodas generally come from fast food places these days, that or bottles, I like bottles better. When you ask for can tabs you may want to specify where you want them to come from or your pile may look like this:

Yes, to settle your curiosity those are in fact Budweiser can tabs. Which I'm okay with because I like the diversity of the color. Also, if you know anyone who is big into energy drinks you can get some diversity that way. I'm going to take a moment right now to apologize for the incredibly ugly blanket. 

You'll need string of some kind, a sharp object and of course your can tabs

Start running the string through the can tabs, I made them so that there were no exposed 'sharp' sides. 

Can you see the tiny arrows in the picture? The color is off, I'm sorry. 

I used 22 can tabs for my bracelet, 11 red and 11 silver.

Carefully secure it if you can

Tie the ends of the string together

Oh but what about the ends?

This is where the sharp object comes in. Try to cut the ends close to the knot but be careful. 

Yay! feel free to model it. I'm also going to add that it is reversible which I thought was neat. I kind of broke the string like... within an hour of deciding I was proud of myself so heads up, you may want to use fishing line or jewelery stuff from the craft store or something.. this just happens to be what I had on hand(lol). 

Enjoy! =]

0 Chocolate Chip Cookies =]

These are classic. Timeless. I honestly don't think anyone doesn't like these, everyone should know how to make them. I'm not saying everyone does, just that they should, so heres how. I used a basic recipe, I don't feel the need to cite it, here is what they look like finished (as if you didn't know)

Yes they kind of melted into each other but thats okay. Here is what is in them:

I used mini chips because thats what I had in the cabinet at the time I think they're better suited in this case. 

Also, I didn't have two sticks of butter on hand so I threw in a scoop of butter from the tub, yes I have all forms of butter in my house.. I like it okay. Seriously though, be sure to soften your sticks before using them, they mix up a lot easier.

Add 3/4 C sugar

Then add 3/4 C brown sugar

Some vanilla, sorry I don't ever measure this part but you don't need much, a teaspoon or so should do

Get it good and mixed

Add an egg and beat in

Then add another egg and beat it in as well

You should have a sloppy mess

Add 2 1/4 C flour and some baking soda, again I didn't really measure but somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon should be fine

Around now it will start tasting good =]

Throw in 2 C mini chocolate chips, regular size will also work, I didn't actually measure I just dumped in most of the bag, I ate a couple handfuls of chips while I was previously mixing...

I usually mix these in with a spoon, but I also usually use bigger chips, since these are smaller I just used a low setting on the mixer

I like to use aluminum foil on my cookie sheets mostly because that way I don't have to wash them when I'm done I can just wipe them down and put them away. 

Spacing is the most important factor here, if they're too close they run together if they're too far you have to run too many batches.. I ended up with three sheets 

They bake at 375F for 10min

Watch for crumb seekers

These are a little less than done, I left the others in for 11min or so and they were a little more cooked without being crunchy, you just have to watch them

No Hank, no crumbs for you

This is to be sacrificed to the kitchen gods

The crowd has begun to gather

mmmmm!!!

These are great =]

Heres the bottoms of the less done ones (yes with photo editing). I took a bunch of these to school to get rid of them, not that they wouldn't get eaten at home, they would, and probably all at once, which is why they had to go. 

Happy Baking! 

Enjoy! =]

2 Hershey FPE 2011 =]

This is not about baking. This is about my life outside the kitchen *gasp!* yes, I have a life outside the kitchen. I did make cupcakes for this trip, but I did not photograph the process because I did not intend to blog them. The fact that it was also 1:30am may possibly be a contributing factor. Saturday 5/14/2011 we left for Hershey, PA for the Empire Future Pro Expo. It was an incredible weekend though somewhat exhausting. I have to say it's starting to wear on me now that I'm home and pinned down on the bed by my lead weight little dog. For event pictures see my Facebook album. If for some reason that link is a dud be it security or otherwise please let me know and I'll resolve the issue as soon as possible. When we first got there we were immediately given a Hershey bar. Yes free! But thats only the beginning of the freebie parade that was this past weekend. Lets just start here:

This box has a selection of Wella color in various blonde shades as well as developer and a bunch of other stuff. FREE

This is a box of "trial size" Nioxin products that are actually about the size of my face wash bottle. FREE

This box has Sebastian (full size) shampoo and conditioner as well as a shine spray and t-shirt. FREE

Full size big sexy spray and play, quite possibly the best most amazing hairspray ever (opinion). FREE

Hank was un-enthused. 

ISO full size curl styling product. FREE

Sample of Goldwell warm red shampoo

Sample of Goldwell warm blonde shampoo

Clic comb. FREE

Clic apron (sorry the mirror is really dirty.. that or its the camera lens) FREE

Samples of Goldwell's rich repair, color care and volume shampoo/conditioner

Samples of Sebastian shampoo/conditioner

Then we got to the hotel. A quick phone call to the front desk courtesy of Candice(for more on Candice >CLICK<):

produced not only a bunch of extra pillows and more towels than we could ever need but also these:

Toiletries courtesy of Hershey Lodge (not sure you can read them but they're cocoa flavored.. er scented)

The following morning we found ourselves wandering the trade show floor. It's like a career/business fair on steroids.. because literally every booth applies to you, and you're not just there for the free pens..

which there was clearly not a shortage of. 

The sexy hair booth was giving away not only powder play but also

Root pump, which is quite possibly my favorite and most used styling product when I'm behind the chair. Oh wait.. 

Yes. This amazing mirrored star key chain also came from the lovely people at sexy hair. 

The people at sport clips had these out on their table, I thought they were pens.. they are in fact lint rollers. Yes lint rollers. 

Master clips was passing out goody bags containing my absolute favorite type of clips

as well as hand mirrors. 

The folks at smart style were providing combs and nail files

Empire was also passing out nail files, and they had chapstick.

The people at the Holiday hair booth had complete manicure sets to give out

Matrix was supplying de-angling combs

The lovely people at American Make-up had excellent chapstick

There were of course more shampoo/conditioner samples scattered throughout the expo.

But I did actually pay for a few things while I was there

I got an eyeshadow brush for $4

An aluminum spray bottle for $3.50

A set of shears and razor complete with case, and another picture for good measure

The shears were free with the Dream Shears membership which was $30 and the razor was an extra $15. I also paid 50c each for the rubber finger sqooshies in the shears, the razor came with one. 

Oh, do those sound like amazing deals, Hank? I thought so too =]

Great, amazing weekend, wonderful classes excellent deals and new friends. I may blog the actual experience some other time but it is currently past my bedtime. 

=]