Howto: Easiest Pie Ever

So the kitchen pretty much got taken over by my mom today, but I still wanted to make some sort of dessert for tomorrow. I decided to make a reeses pie from this no bake junk food deliciousness that I love. It literally takes 10 minutes, so if you're interested in making something for tomorrow but don't want to deal with it, here's a simple recipe.

You need:

• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 premade oreo crust
• 2 reeses no-bake boxes (they're in the baking isle at walmart)

1. Unwrap the crust and follow the directions on the back of the Reeses box on how to make the FILLING. It's 1/4 cup melted butter, peanut butter filling, and powder filling. Now pour that gunk into the crust.

2. Follow the directions for the crust on the Reeses box, but double the butter. This will make it 4 tablespoons. You need to do this so it will spread better across the top without sinking into the peanut butter as much. It will look like this:

3. Now make the peanut butter filling from the second box. Follow the same directions as mentions in step 1. Now pour it on top of pie.

4. To get the chocolate topping a little bit melted you can throw it in a bowl of hot water or just hold it over the faucet for a few seconds. After it feels a little softer squeeze it onto the top of everything. Do this with the packets from both boxes.

5. Swirl the chocolate around with a butter knife so you can see swirls of chocolate and peanut butter.

And your finished product:

Throw it in the fridge for a few hours (or in my case, overnight) and take it out about half an hour before you're going to serve it. yum!

Howto: Poor Man's Color Flash

So there's this really neat looking ringflash that those crazy lomography people make. It takes pretty colored pictures and makes it convenient. On the other hand, this flash only works on lomo cameras and is 60 dollars. So I introduce to you: the poor man's color flash.

I love lomography, but that stuff can get expensive! So here is the cheapest way to have color flashes. Cheaper than gel filters, fancy ringflashes... anything. All you need is a few empty slide holders, cellophane, tape, and scissors.

Open up the slide holders. If they had negatives in them, put them somewhere they won't get scratched.

Cut three squares of cellophane that are a little bigger than the slide opening. Tape them together (it doesn't have to be fancy).

Tape those three pieces into the slide. Tape each side so it doesn't move around (but again, doesn't have to be fancy).

Tape it shut. You're done. Was that not the easiest howto ever?

Hold the slides up to your flash (and make sure the flash is on of course) to get a nice little burst of colored light on your pictures. The very first picture up there has a green slide over the flash. The one right here has yellow. The one right below has pink.

This picture shows a green slide, no slide, and a red slide, over my onestep polaroid.


If you don't have cellophane, you might think about just buying them from my etsy store. It would be cheaper than buying the cellophane.


Now wasn't that easy?

Howto: Weekend Packing

So I went on a trip to San Antonio this weekend (about a six hour drive). We went down to the river walk which was really just a bunch of restaurants, but it had a very nice feel to it. After a day there we went up to the biggest outlets in Texas in San Marcos and did a bit of shopping. I'll post pictures of my shopping loot later this week, but I have a plethora of exams so it might not be until Friday. Anyways, I decided it might be a fun idea to put my guide on packing up here.

1. Clothing:

• Always roll clothing tightly if you don't want it to wrinkle as badly
• Pack day dresses (and tights, if it's chilly) instead of pants and tops. They take up a lot less room (and look better, of course). They're also more versatile if plans change.
  
• Pack at least one more pair of undies than days you are staying. That's probably the worst thing you could run out of. If you plan on swimming, pack at least three more pairs than days you are staying.
• For pajamas, pack for different temperatures. I always pack a pair of shorts, a tank top, a pair of pants, and a long sleeved tee. You don't want to be too hot or too cold, the people you're staying with might keep their house/hotel at a funny temperature.
• Pack a dirty clothes bag to throw all of your used garments in.
  

2. Toiletries:

• Remember to bring a hair straightener if you use one regularly. You can usually find a blow dryer that works, but straighteners are harder to come by.
• Shampoo, razor, face cleanser, all that jazz. That's pretty obvious.
• Pack a headband or clip to pull your hair back at night when it's time to wash your face.
• Tampons! I don't care if you're two weeks away from starting your period, pack them. If nothing else, your friend might need one.
• Makeup. Again, obvious.

3. Purse Stuff:

• I know that little oil absorbing strips are pretty much the same as toilet paper, but I swear by them. If you're going to be out all day they make you feel a lot cleaner after you use them.
• Bring a book that can keep you occupied when you have some downtime.
• An mp3 player is an essential when driving a long way. I brought my 30g ipod and it definitely did the trick.
• When traveling, people tend to get headaches a lot due to stress, different climates, and lack of water (so drink a lot!). Bring some pain medication so you can zap that headache before it ruins your day.

That's all I've got. Anyone have a packing suggestion?

Howto: Bow Headband

For this project all you're going to need is ribbon (one about two inches thick and one less than half an inch thick), a glue gun, and heavy duty craft glue. I grabbed some ribbon at hobby lobby that I fell in love with and it was only $1.50 (half off sale!) for the roll, so this is also a very inexpensive project :). Just make sure the you pick out ribbons that don't have a wire edge and you're good to go.

Cut a piece of the thick ribbon 6 to 10 inches long, depending on how big you want your bow to be. Fold the ribbon into thirds, lengthwise, then fold one end to the halfway mark and glue it down. I tacked mine with a pin in this picture so you could see it a bit better. Now glue the other end to the halfway mark.

After both ends are secured to the middle, cut a strand of your thin ribbon, about two inches or however much it takes to wrap around the middle. Glue that guy into place with hot glue. When you flip it over you should have a very nice bow.

Play around until the bow is pulled how you like it, then cut a strand at least 3 feet long of your thin ribbon. About a foot in, glue your bow down with a heavy duty craft glue (I use E6000 that you can get at any craft stores).

Let your new headband dry overnight and wear it with pride the next day.