Peanut Butter Delight

Never leave the oven or stove unattended. That said, I have not done this, but that doesn't stop the smoke alarm from sounding off once in awhile. Particularly at 11PM, as it did today.

I've been sick for the last week and a half and have finally begun to recover. Along with that, of course, comes a huge craving for everything I was missing out on! Especially sweets, chocolates, and food my mother cooks. I stumbled across this recipe for peanut butter cookies from The Perfect Pair, who said she got the recipe from Martha Stewart. This is the first time I have every made peanut butter cookies (though I have eaten some my neighbor made - they were delicious!) and am excited to try them!

These are definitely a new favorite, and I recommend you try them out! Don't let the smoke alarm scare you away from baking - these cookies are surely worth it. (And I didn't burn them either; a little crumb fell to the bottom of the oven and caused the smoke detector to sense a burn.)

<3 Mandy

Interactive Coral Garden

My art teacher at school asked me to submit a piece to the local Rotary Show, but I did not have any new drawings or paintings I felt would be good to send in. So I decided to make something new! After about a week of having no inspiration, I figured making a 3D piece would be fun, interesting, and something I had not really done before. Though sculptures were not allowed, I made this piece on a canvas frame so it would be accepted. It is very different from anything I suspect anyone else submitted, and I am excited to hang it up in my room when it is returned to me!

Using four colors (corally orange, light pink, sky blue, lavendery purple) of yarn that complement each other, I crocheted little coral and anenome and random sea things in various sizes and color combinations for this piece.

 Originally, I thought of putting it on this large canvas because my art teacher said it had to be framed. I painted the frame white.

However, since it took about 30 minutes to crochet each piece and I had a lot of homework and other things to do (she only told me about the show on Monday, March 26 and had to submit all pieces by Friday, March 30), I decided to go on a hunt for a smaller frame.

I also came up with the idea to make it an interactive piece, attaching either magnets or velcro to the back of each piece so that people could move them around in any arrangement. (Also, when I get it back and hang it up in my room, I can move the pieces around so I am never bored with it!)

Since I was stuck on the idea that my piece had to be framed, I had some trouble finding a board that was magnetic yet large enough to fit all of the individual pieces, with enough extra space to be able to move them around. I preferred to find a magnetic board because I was afraid velcro would not be strong enough to hold the pieces securely, and was a little paranoid they would fall off during the show after people played with them and that some pieces would go missing. So I went to the store and bought a bunch of little round magnets so I could glue or sew one magnet to the back of each piece and perhaps have magnets glued or sewn on to the back of a sheet of fabric that could be framed. I also found the lid of a round metal container but thought it might look tacky, and I also did not have a round frame for it. In the end, I found that using self-adhesive velcro stuck to the back of my pieces really well, as well as to the square canvas frame I decided to mount the pieces on. Phew! Finally a solution to my problem, though in all the time it took to figure out how to mount the pieces I probably could have made enough new pieces to fill up most of the original canvas board I had!

Here are some details of the coral pieces:

And once again, here is the "finished" product (or at least finished in the sense that this is how I submitted it)!

At the bottom, I cut a little curvy shape out of paper to make a sign (also with velcro on the back of it) reading: "Please feel free to rearrange us with the velcro attached" so people would know that they could interact with my piece!

I am in the mood to make lots more craft projects. Hope you like this piece!

<3 Mandy

Recycled Jewelry DIY

Toothbrush Bracelet

I saw one of my friends wearing a toothbrush bracelet a couple of years ago and recently looked up instructions online for how to make them. In the meantime, I collected about twenty toothbrushes in various colors. I have found that clear plastic toothbrushes with as little rubber on them as possible work best.

Here are some instructions on how to make your very own!

• Wash brush
• Optional step: Try to pull out as many bristles as possible with pliers

• Boil for about 5 minutes or until your brush is bendable

• Remove excess bristles (they should fall out easily because the boiling water should have loosened up the holes holding the bristles)
• Note: I was surprised to have found that there are little metal plates inside the toothbrush! I guess it doesn't really matter whether you pull these out, but I got shocked a little bit when pulling out the bristles, so I just got rid of them to prevent any other accidents.
• Quickly bend toothbrush with tea towel into desired shape

• A good way to make sure your bracelet fits around your wrist is to bend the brush around your wrist (obviously). However, if you find that the brush is too hot against your sensitive skin, find a jar that is approximately the same diameter as your wrist, and wrap the toothbrush around that jar. You could also freehand it, but I recommend wrapping the brush around something first to get the hang of it. After a few times of doing this, I could just freehand it pretty easily.
•  If your toothbrush does not bend very easily or is not in your desired shape, drop the brush back into the boiling water and try again.

• Drop toothbrush in pool of cold water.
• Let cool and dry on a towel
• Wear!

Sometimes the toothbrush won't bend properly. If this happens, it might mean the plastic is not the right type for this bracelet. In case this is not the case, you can just put the toothbrush back into the boiling water and try again.

some of the toothbrush bracelets I made

wearing toothbrush bracelets with friendship bracelets

This project only takes about 10-15 minutes to do, and you can make many bracelets at once. It is a great way to recycle and make beautiful bangles! I have gotten many compliments on mine. Since I made some in pretty much every color, I usually match them to my outfits and wear a couple at a time.

 ♥♥♥

Soda Tab Bracelet

Once again, I saw one of my friends wearing this bracelet and looked up instructions on how to make it.

You can use different types of tabs (such as red bull for little bull design, monster for different colors, some sodas have a square-ish shape, etc.). This is the site I used for instructions.

I love how flexible they are, how you can turn them inside out, and how there are many shapes and colors of tabs to use! To connect the tabs, I recommend using elastic cord (in 1 or 2 colors) if you want your bracelet to stretch. Here are some photos of bracelets I have made.

my first bracelet, attached with purple lanyard

a bracelet for a friend, using red bull soda tabs and orange elastic.

 (I only used 1 cord because 2 would be too thick to go through the holes)

you can flatten your bracelets for convenient storage

I hope you like these bracelets and enjoy making your own!
<3 Mandy