Knife Charm (101/365)

I've really been having fun making these little charms.  Brother has been too and it's been really fun spending time with him.  Who says charms are only for phones?  :)  I think this burger one is the best so far!  :D

100th Post! (100/365)

Well... 100th post in the 2012/2013 365 series.  :)  It's been pretty cool and I've learned how to keep track of everything better now.  I really like using the "Schedule" option that Blogger offers.  I wonder if Wordpress and the others do that as well.  If not, they really should.

I think I missed about 3 posts back when I had to go on hiatus when school started.  Other than that, I've been good about this project.  I'm sure my focus has changed a lot since I originally decided doing the 365.  Even so, it has really helped me to have at least one post each day.  Before, I'd be lucky if I had one post each month!  All in all, I'm happy with how things have gone so far.  I still do love keeping a journal around, but for those random blurbs and small ideas I feel like sharing to nobody in particular, nothing beats this blog.  :P

Cheers!

Wally World Holiday Finds: Part 2 (099/365)

Stopped by Wally World a few days ago and found these knives on display for the holidays:

SOG Magnadot (or something like that) with firestarter/sharpener combo.  $20.00

Buck Bantam 285, orange.  $20.00

Buck Bantam 285, brown.  $20.00

Don't forget to check out Wally World Holiday Finds: Part 1.

Buddy Burner Find (098/365)

I found some holiday candles at Michaels today.  They're $1.00 and the tins measure roughly 3 inches across and 1.5 inches tall (with the lid; the candles themselves are probably only 1" high).  They smell really great and I think they come in 4 scents.  I only got 3 of the scents because I'm not too fond of the pine one.  :)

I think these would make for great buddy burner containers when I'm done with them since they come with nice lids.  :D  The sizes are just about perfect too.  :)  Joy!

I think I'll stock up on these when the season's over, as they should be considerably marked down, and the deal made even sweeter with a "20% off entire purchase, including sale items" coupon.  :)  Or better yet... perhaps it'll be stuffed into those $2.00 grab bags!  I'll definitely be on the lookout a few days after Christmas.

Polymer Charms (097/365)

Most recently, I've gotten into making things out of polymer clay.  This is my setup.  :)

 One of my first completed charms.  :)  It's a little Totoro!  Except that I'd forgotten his mouth before baking...  Ah well.  He's still cute.  I love the little leaf.  :D

NINJA!  :)

Who says charms are only for phones?  :)  I ended up snapping off the flowy things from the ninja's head since they were so fragile.  But he resides on Blurple.  Next to Ninja is a Hello Kitty-esque cupcake charm I made for Brother.  :D  I think that's my best creation yet.

TOYS! (096/365)

I got new toys..... :)

Lock, Shock, and Barrel.  :)

Jack and Zero.

Major of Halloween Town and Sally.

Oogie's run off with my SRM710!

Southwest Airlines (095/365)

My sincerest thanks goes out to Southwest Airlines.  Their donation to the GI Joe Search and Rescue team - The Joe Le Foundation will allow them to continue their mission of helping others.  These tickets will enable the team to go forth and bring much needed aid to those who have been hit by Superstorm Sandy.

Best wishes to the Joes on their mission.  Please visit www.gij411.org for more information about the Joes and locate the "donate" button to help them out.

Zippo Hand Warmer (094/365)

I received this Zippo brand hand warmer a few days ago.  This will be part of my EDC for the season.  The package came with the warmer unit + catalyst piece, a warming pouch, and the filler cup.  :)  As I'd mentioned in the Charcoal Hand Warmer post, I'm putting the charcoal one on hold for "emergency" use and using the Zippo on a more regular basis.

So far, the Zippo has worked well for the few days that I've owned it.  It's extremely easy to use, though I do need to get newer lighter fluid.  My lighter fluid was so old that it had degraded a little and wasn't very flammable.  The hand warmer gets nice and toasty (though so far, not as toasty as my charcoal one) and there is no scent that I can detect.  I hope that the "lack" of warmth was due to the old lighter fluid.  :(

The other day, I went all around town looking for lighter fluid, but to no avail.  I was only able to find butane canisters around.  :(  What's going on?

The first time I'd tried to fill it using the little filler, I didn't press the tip into the cotton and I'd made a mess.  I learned that I needed to kind of "tap" the tip of the filler into the cotton, allowing the fluid to wick into the cotton and into the filling chamber.  :)

Would I recommend it?  Most definitely.

Cheers!

Troublemaker Gift Giving (093/365)

Yesterday, one of my EDCF siblings received an awesome gift.  The Troublemakers and Evil Persons of EDCF collaborated and got him an engraved Swiss Bianco Alox Farmer and a copper Alox Cadet.  It's been a month in the works, but I can finally tell the world.  :D  What a way to celebrate Thanksgiving!  :D

It was fun putting the package together because it was disguised within another [expected] package.  :)

Cheers!  :D  I can't wait for future Troublemaker/Evil Persons collaborative schemings.

EDC Microscope (092/365)

I got this neat little microscope in the mail today.  I was getting gifts via Amazon for a little holiday get together and needed a few small things to get to my $25.00 mark for FSS (unfortunately, my Amazon Student account expired).

It's really inexpensive at less than $3.xx with FSS or less than $2.xx shipped if you're willing to wait for shipping from HK.  I believe you can find it under SE 45x microcope.

As you can see from the shot above, it's extremely tiny and definitely EDCable.  I ditched the little case and just tossed it into my pocket.  I didn't have a quarter to show the sizing at the time, so there it is in comparison to Blurple, who has a 2.91" blade.

Taking it a step further, you can get some pretty nice pictures with your camera phone as seen below (all photos below were taken with the camera of the Motorola Atrix 4G, first generation):

Microsoft sticker @ full digital zoom

Blade etching on Blurple @ full digital zoom

Blade etching on Blurple, no zoom (different position than the picture above)

So yeah.  I think this little thing is great fun!  :)  You can take it a step further and attach it to your [spare] phone case as Crabfu does in the following video:

I wanted to glue just the ocular piece onto my own case and screw on the microscope when I wanted to use it, but the Atrix has sort of a curved back which made it hard to do.  It's a little bit of a hassle, but a steady hand will do the trick.  The other thing about the Atrix is that it hasn't got a "tap to focus" type deal going on.  So you just have to take a bunch of pictures since it focuses only when you hit the shutter button.

Cheers!  :)  If you've got a few dollars to splurge, this is a fun little toy to have.  :D  One downside is that it runs off of 3 LR927 batteries (the little button cell types).  But I suppose that at the price, I could just buy another microscope.

Cross Beverly + Thank You (091/365)

Tonight I got a surprise gift from the Joes as a thank you for all that I have done.  :)  It's a Cross Beverly fountain pen in PURPLE!  :D  I'm super excited for it and I've heard great things about it on FPN.  Thank you!

I also got a cute t-shirt but I didn't take a picture of it yet.  :P

Thank you, Joes!  I genuinely appreciate the gift.  I wish everyone the best and I will continue to do my best to see that this organization succeeds in "Helping You Find Yours."

Please don't forget to visit www.gij411.org to learn more about the Joes and see what they are up to and look for the "Donate" button to help them continue their mission of helping families of missing loved ones.

Thunderbird Insert (090/365)

Found this in my mail today.  :)  I love it!  I opened it up as soon as I got it and stuck it into my Doraemon lighter (old picture below):

It works wonderful.  The only thing that scares me a little is that as soon as you open the lid of the lighter, the butane starts up and so that means I can't fidget with the lighter as I normally would.  It would waste the butane otherwise.  :( 

That's the only downside I see though - loss of having a fidget item in my hands.  I'm extremely happy with it overall though.  It fits my real Zippos as well as my "Zippos."  Now that I don't have to worry about the lighter fluid evaporating in between uses ('cause it's butane and all), that means that I can gut the rest of my lighters and use the cases as outfits for my Thunderbird according to what I'm wearing.  :P  Yes.  The girl side of me is definitely showing.  :P

White Chocolate "Candy Corn" M&Ms (089/365)

I went out to do some shopping for my buddy Fab.  He likes M&Ms and so I went on a hunt for those coconut ones.  Why is it always when you're looking for something, it's never there?  They used to be everywhere and now I can't find them.  :(

Anyhow, it's after Halloween already, but I found these White Chocolate "Candy Corn" ones for him.  :)  I didn't even know they had these.  :D

So Fab, if you're reading this (I'm sure you'll see this shortly), these are for you!  :D  I hope you like white chocolate.  :)

Care Package #2 (088/365)

I got another care package from my EDCF buddy.  :)  It's so freaken awesome!  :D

I got a bunch of kinder candies (a couple Surprises, Schoko-Bons, and a pair of Happy Hippos), a little Voodoo doll keychain, a handful of Sherbet Fountains (yum!) and something that wasn't labeled.

Thanks, Fab!  :D  Cheers to you.  :)

Minimal Carry (087/365)

It's been a while since I had put out an EDC update.  This is my latest carry for the season.  It's my week off from school and so I'm only carrying the absolute minimum plus a few comfort items.

Here we've got:

1. Zippo lighter (can't see it in the pic)
2. charcoal hand warmer
3. mini Vaseline
4. keys w/ the usual
5. wallet (Maxpedition Micro) w/ the usual
6. mini composition notebook
1. half of it is used as an agenda (3 months)
2. second half is for daily notes, to-do lists, shopping lists...
7. Zebra F-301
8. Motorola Atrix
9. Blurple

:)  Yep.  Lately I've been carrying around a small purse to keep everything in.  It's enough trouble trying to get all this to keep comfortably in girl pockets let alone with all my cold season accessories.

Charcoal Hand Warmer (086/365)

It's that time of year again!  :)  The cold season is finally upon us and it's time to pull out the hand warmers.

I've had my share of different types of hand warmers over the years - disposable, reusable sodium acetate ones, homemade ones (that you microwave), and these charcoal ones.  These charcoal ones are pretty bomb.  They get nice and toasty and for the amount of heat you get from it, is relatively inexpensive ($0.25 = 6 hours of "intense" heat).  I think people have problems lighting it because they don't let it smolder long enough before closing the case.

I've had this charcoal one (seen above) since the 8th grade (I'm now a senior in college).  It has served me well over the years.  But I think I will save it for the future as a backup.  Why?  Zippo's finally made their platinum catalyst type ones more readily available and much more affordable than back when I was in the 8th grade.

In 8th grade, if I wanted a catalyst type hand warmer, it would have cost me upwards of $40.00 + the cost of fuel (whereas the charcoal ones were $5.00 + fuel cost).  I couldn't afford that and were extremely hard to come by.  Back then, it was even hard to come by the disposables and I think the sodium acetate ones were only found in chemistry labs.  The Jon-E and peacock brand catalyst ones were hard to find as well.

Fast forward to the present, the Zippos can be easily had for $12.00 shipped and it runs off of lighter fluid.  I'll keep the charcoal one in safe keeping for those days when lighter fluid is scarce around the house.  And if camping, I'll bring it as a backup, especially if I don't want to waste precious lighter fluid.  :D  The charcoal one will still have its place, but I want to keep it around for backup reasons.

I had thought about using up all of the charcoal fuel sticks before using the Zippo, but I think it has its place as a backup warmer.  :)

Michaels Grab Bag (085/365)

I got my very first ever $2.00 Grab Bag from Michaels today.  I was going to get the one filled with Halloween goodies, but I went with this one 'cause my mom likes to put flowers together for the holidays.

For $2.00 and tax, I got a total of 27 different bouquets as you see in the photo above.  The retail price on these would have equaled $110.00 (those little ones in the bottom right corner were marked $3.00 a piece, and I got 20 of those).

Kinda fun.  :)  I may pick up one of those Halloween ones so that I can play with the activities or keep 'em 'round 'til next year for the trick or treaters.  For $2.00, you really can't go wrong.  I've seen some pretty good hauls on YouTube.  My local Michaels doesn't have these often, so it was kinda fun to grab one today.  :D

"Instant" Potato Soup (084/365)

I found these packets of "instant," single serving soups at Walmart the other day.  They were $1.00 each and came in a few flavors.  I also got the chicken noodle soup one.  I just thought they were interesting and might be well worth it to keep a few around the house or to take camping with me and cook it up with the Jetboil.

I followed the directions as said on the backside of the package:

1. In a large soup bowl, whisk contents of this packet with 1 cup of cold water, stir well.
2. Microwave uncovered on high for 3 minutes.
3. Stir then cook for an additional 3 minutes.
4. Let stand 1 minute, garnish if desired with bacon bits, chives, and cheddar cheese... ENJOY! 

This is what it looked like before mircrowaving.

The final product after all the microwaving and stirring.  I actually took it out of the microwave a little bit early because it started to pop.  Served in my Jack Skellington mug and all is good.  :)  I've never had potato soup in the past, so I have nothing to compare it to.  It tastes kind of like chicken broth... but thicker... and a little on the bland side (just a tad).  In an emergency, yeah, I'd be happy with this.  I'll pass on this for camping trips, though.  Compared to the other instant soups I've had though, it's still a little better.  I guess it's one of those instances where if I had it lying around, I wouldn't mind eating it, but I wouldn't go out looking for it.

Cheers!  :)

Trader Sam's (083/365)

P, J, and I went out for drinks at Trader Sam's yesterday night.  I got the Hippopota-mai-tai, P got a Shrunken Zombie Head, and J got the ... I've forgotten the name.  The drinks were delicious and the atmosphere was really fun.  Whenever somebody got the Krakatoa, the volcanoes erupted.  :)  Each time somebody got the Shipwreck drink, the ship in the bottle up behind the bar crashes.

We're going to head back there again in December for mine and R's birthdays.  We are DEFINITELY going to be getting the Uh Oa.  :P  haha With the Uh Oa, they bring out a large drink thing that's aflame.  Then everybody chants, "Uh oa, uh oa, uh oa oa oa!" while throwing magic "dust" (I think it's cinnamon) into the fire to make it sparkle.  Awesome, huh?!

The drinks were well priced.  The drink above was mine and was $8.59 or so and $13.00-some in the souvenir cup.  :)  Of course I had to get the souvenir cup to commemorate my first visit there.  :P

I can't wait for December!  :)

It was a really great night an we all definitely got a lot closer to one another.  :)  Great times were had and greater times will come in the future.  :D  I love my friends.

Wally World Holiday Finds: Part 1 (082/365)

I found a few fairly nice things at Walmart today.  They were from the holiday section...  This is the first installment and I'll add more as I find the deals.  :)

Kershaw Tactical Pack ($20.00).  It comes with a tactical pen, a 9-led flashlight, and a Kershaw Brawler.  I posted this up on EDCF, but nobody's seen this yet.  I did a little Googling and the only other post about this comes from the boys over at BF.  They say that the 9-led flashlight is a cheapie one you'd get for about $2.00 elsewhere, the tactical pen is a rebranded one from Smith and Wesson (or something similar), and the Kershaw Brawler is worth giving away for gifting purposes.  :)

Buck canoe and toothpick ($20.00).  I really like the toothpick - I may pick one up if there are still any after the holiday sales.  I'd still much rather get that Purple Passion one that I've been eyeing since January 2012, though that one is like $50.00.  *shrug*  We'll see.  :)

There were a lot of Gerber items but I didn't bother looking at those.  I'll take more pictures on my next trip there.  Until then, it's back to studies and essay writing!

Gen KBBQ (081/365)

Whoo!  Happy birthday, J!  :)  As always, I had a great time tonight with my buddies.  Tonight we headed out to Gen KBBQ in HB.  We had gone to the one in Tustin or whatever back when J graduated and decided to try this one out since it had just opened.  They had a few more items on their menu and the food was just as good as the other place.

Luckily for us, with only a group of 3 this night, we were seated in about 5 minutes - it would normally be a 2 hour wait otherwise.  I didn't like the seating arrangements for the smaller groups since you are elbow-to-elbow with the next group.  :(

But ah well.  KBBQ deliciousness is worth it!  We were sad that they had no alcohol though - they didn't have their licensing in order yet or something.  I'm surprised that they didn't work all that out prior to their grand opening.

I look forward to the next outing here, though!  :)

Middlesex Care Package (080/365)

I got a care package from Middlesex a few days ago.  :)  There was a nice hand written letter (yay!) and a few couple of things from my buddy Fabregas.  There were some pretty neat things in there - lanyard, moo card, bart pin, wooly hat, and a mini fishing kit (I think it's inside an SD card case?).  I really love the wooly hat.  :D  Check out what that's all about here:  http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit.

I've been Googlied!  :)  Gotta love wiggle eyes.  :P

Pinterest Addiction (079/365)

Holy cow.  Pinterest.  It's crazy how one idea leads to the next.  I wish I didn't have studies and other things to worry about and just spend time on here to find projects to do.  The funny thing is that I would probably spend so much time looking up projects than actually doing the projects!  :P

Ah well.  Perhaps I'll have time to do some of these projects come winter intersession.  There are definitely an infinite amount of recipes that I'd like to make during the holidays.  It's a great resource for homemade gifts as well.  :D

I loved browsing Instructables in the past, but I feel that Pinterest expands the horizons in terms of finding projects to do.

Care Bags: Part 1 (078/365)

So this has been a project that I've wanted to work on for a while now, but didn't have the funds to put it together.  Well, one kind gentleman loved the idea so much that I had received some start up money to do so.  The project?  Care bags!  :)

Also known as "Blessing Bags," these are usually gallon sized zip lock baggies filled with every day necessities (toiletries, snacks, water, etc.) that are given out to those who need it.  More often than not, these are made and given out by individuals as well as [youth] groups and families during the holidays to bring some extra joy to the homeless and such.

My original plan was to make a few bags to keep in my car trunk and hand them out when I come across someone who may need it.  In the past, because I do not carry cash on me, I've resorted to purchasing meals for them at local restaurants.  I then started to pull items from my own emergency packs that I keep in the car.  Eventually it got too hard to keep track of what items I needed to replace for my own use.

So why not make them their own bags?  :)  In the next few posts, I'll write up and take photographs of how this project evolves over time.  My best friend and I will be perusing the aisles of the local stores to find the best deal on the necessary items to put these together.

With the startup money for this project, I'll be able to not only go on with my original plan of keeping a few of these bags in the car, but also go ahead and hand these out "to the masses" come the holiday season.

What's the next project after this?  23 Random Acts of Kindness for my 23rd birthday.  :D  Keep posted!  :)

Best Study Tactic EVER! (077/365)

This has GOT to be the absolute best way to study.  :)  Read a few paragraphs, reward with a gummy bear.  :D  Notice that I don't like orange or yellow ones.  :P  I AM that picky.

haha!  Happy studies, y'all.

Cheap Eats: Chili Cheese Noodles (076/365)

[no pictures]

It's November.  Which means that it's time to swap out all of my emergency foods out of the car and into daily rotation in the home.  :)

There were some combinations of foods that I've never thought about trying together.  This time around, it was Chili Cheese Noodles.

Ingredients:

• ramen noodle pack
• can of chili
• a few cheese slices (not that I'd have these in an emergency situation, but if it was just a power outage at home, yeah, I'd have it)
• sriracha
• kethup packets

Ditching the flavor packet, I boiled up the noodles and when cooked, drained them.  I used about 1/4 - 1/3 of the can of chili (I got Hormel's no bean one), heated it up, and tossed it in with the noodles.  On top of that went the cheese slices (Kraft melts the best).  Then I squeezed in 2 packets of ketchup (I like my chili like that) and then a good serving of sriracha chili.

Mix it all together... you've got a pretty hearty meal.  If I were stuck out in my car or during a power outage at home, this would be pretty delicious and filling.  There was enough chili for 4 good servings.

The total cost:

• cheese slices:  $0.10 x 2 = $0.20
• ramen noodles:  $0.12 x 1 = $0.12
• chili: $2.00 / 4 servings = $0.50
• sriracha:  negligible
• ketchup packets:  free
• TOTAL:  $0.82 per serving.

Fun stuff.  :)  The noodles are pretty awesome as a base.  I've tossed sardines in there, tuna, vienna sausages... it all works fine.  :P