Marshmallow and Fudge Stripe Cookie Pilgrim Hats

Here's a quick and easy Thanksgiving dessert you can make with the kids!

Supplies:
24 Regular sized marshmallows
1 box of 24 fudge striped cookies (or any cookie that is chocolate coated on one side)
1 cup of chocolate for melting (chips or chunks work well)
1 skewer or chopstick per person
yellow icing (I found Wilton's icing writer at Michael's for about $3)
butter knife (optional)
waxed paper, parchment paper, or some other smooth surface

Directions:
First, melt the chocolate in a small dish.  This is probably the trickiest step- take your time and use low heat.  I did it by boiling some water in a small saucepan on the stove, then setting the dish in hot water.  You cannot apply heat from the stove or microwave oven directly to chocolate or it will burn.  If you set a smaller dish in hot water, do not let water get into the melted chocolate, or it will turn rock hard.  Stir occasionally.  When ready, the consistency will be similar to chocolate pudding or Nutella.

Use one of the sticks to dip the marshmallows in the chocolate.  I used a butter knife to smooth the chocolate at the bottom and around the sides of the marshmallow.  Be sure to get at least a tiny bit of chocolate on the top... we're going to flip these over in the next step and that little bit of chocolate will act as the glue.

Once the marshmallow is covered, flip it over.  Thread the stick through the hole in the middle of the cookie.  Pull the stick out and set the hats aside on the waxed paper to dry/cool.

Once the chocolate is hard, use the yellow icing to draw the buckle onto the hats, and voila!

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The Bahrain Tour... MWR version

Most of my friends already know this, but I spent 10 months deployed to Bahrain this year.  It was a lot of hard work, but I won't bore you with that part.  Unlike being on a ship (as with my previous deployments), I got to go on liberty every night.  Granted, sometimes I was at work until 10pm at night (or later), and who really wants to ride their bicycle home through a not very nice part of town at that hour, but I digress.  Anyway, upon arrival, I had to go through two separate indoctrination processes- one for the base and one for the command... this was a bit annoying as I'd already spent months doing paperwork, completing online training sessions, and listening to death by powerpoint lectures while preparing to mobilize.  One perk of base indoc was the MWR led tour of Bahrain.  It used to be free but I think you have to pay $35 now, due to budget cuts.  It's still a good deal- anyone entitled to MWR benefits can buy a ticket.  (So if you're visiting a service member you can buy a ticket for this tour!)  Bring $10 for lunch and snacks along the way.

If your tour guide is smart, your first stop will be Bahrain Fort.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Apparently, Bahrain has been a major hub for trade in the Arabian Gulf since the beginning of civilization.  Anyway, it's basically a city built on a city, going back thousands of years- which is pretty cool when you live in a country that's only been a country for 237 years.  There is a sidewalk up the hill to the fort, but it is oppressively hot from about March through October (even in the shade), so make sure you have water and sunscreen.  If you have small children, be ready to carry them.  There is an air conditioned visitors' center adjacent to the parking lot.  You really don't want to be here later than 10am during the hot months.

After that, we went to the Al Fateh Grand Mosque.  It's the largest mosque in Bahrain (most mosques are quite small- men are expected to go to the mosque several times a day to pray, so there's one in every neighborhood).  This mosque is relatively young (built in the late 80's) but an interesting mix of traditional and modern architectural concepts from around the world.  This was my first trip into a mosque, as most do not allow visitors.  Since I am female, I was expected to cover my hair, as well as my body to my wrists and ankles.  At this mosque, women are expected to wear an abaya (the loose fitting dress).  Men are not required to cover their hair or arms, but must wear long pants.

 

The next stop was the King's camel farm.  If you're not used to livestock, brace yourself for the smell.  There are a lot of camels.  You can feed and pet them, and if you luck out, sometimes you can find someone willing to let you (and your family) sit on one long enough to pose for a picture.

The first time I went, I didn't know about sitting on the camels... so I had to brave the smell and go back a second time.   

  

The next stop for us was the causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  This is as close as I'll ever be to Saudi Arabia.  (I hope.)

We got a break for lunch, and then it was off to the National Museum.  What can I say, it's a museum!  Tons of history about the Dilmun era through modern Bahrain.

There is a big to-do in the museum about finding oil in Bahrain.  What they neglect to mention is that Bahrain used to have lush vegetation until they salted the water table while drilling for oil.  Anyway, here's the Buick the King drove out to see the first oil well.  

The gift shop is definitely a tourist trap- you can buy most of what you see there out in the souk for much less.  However, the little cafe is quite reasonably priced, with excellent pastries and coffee.  Don't forget to take a peek at the sculptures outside.  (You can usually get in and out through the cafe veranda.)  During the cooler months, they host swank events outside the museum, by the water.  Gorgeous view, isn't it?

Of course, there are other things you should do if you're spending any amount of time in Bahrain, but it's pretty good to hit these highlights all in one day and to have reliable transportation for only $35.

Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Replacing the belt on the Lortone 3A

Ok, it's been a while.  Long enough for me to return from Bahrain, but we'll catch up on that later.  It's craft fair season and I rely on my trusty ole Lortone 3A to polish my creations.  It hasn't been working very well for a while, but I've been making do until I got back Stateside.  Come to find out, I didn't need to, because I was able to snag this 2 pack of Replacement Drive Belts for my Lortone 3A Tumbler on Amazon.  It arrived in 2 days (yay, Amazon Prime) and works like a champ.  But anyway, I digress.  If you use a Lortone 3A, at some point you will need to adjust the belt.  It's pretty simple, just loosen those nuts and push them from left to right, and tighten them back down.  This works because it adds tension to the belt that drives the rods that turn and spin your tumbler barrel.  (Personally, I think this is pretty ingenious- especially since replacement belts are not cheap!)

But, eventually, your belt will wear out and you'll have to replace it.  It's very simple.  How simple, you ask?  So simple even a political science major can do it!  As long as you have a phillips head screwdriver.

First step, slide those 3 nuts (photos above) back over to the left.  You want to reduce tension on the belt so you can remove it.

Next, remove the 4 screws that anchor the blue cover to the rest of the tumbler and lift off the cover.

Don't forget this one!

Then, remove the belt.  In my opinion, it works better if you unhook it from the smooth wheel, then over the fan blades.  Be careful not to catch or bend the blades with the belt.

Replace the old belt with the new one by gently looping it over the fan, setting it into the groove, and gently placing around the wheel- essentially the reverse motion of how you removed it.  Just make sure the belt is laying in the grooves.

As you can see below, the old belt is a bit stretched out.  The newer one works much better.

Replace the cover and screws, and voila!  Off you go!


Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!

Marhaba!

It's been 2 and a half months, but the shop is open for business!  I didn't expect it to take this long.  I packed up and shipped almost all of my inventory plus a lot of supplies and it took less than a week to arrive.  I found a few places that supply butane and ordered new (read: empty) torches.  I've also managed to successfully source silver and gold supplies, so I'm confident that I have everything I need.

However, it took five weeks for me to move out of the hotel and in that time, I've more or less become inundated at work.  Plus, with the internet connection speed out here being subpar, it's been interesting trying to keep up with friends, classwork (yes, I'm crazy- signed up for a 6 month Project Management Certification program AND another elective toward my Masters')  Interestingly, it takes almost twice as long for stuff to get shipped back Stateside as it does to arrive.  Not really sure why that is.

But anyway, I have a workspace set up, my inventory unpacked, and am looking forward to the stress relief that is soldering!  My production line will be somewhat limited, mostly due to time constraints... so right now it'll be limited to ready to ship items and double infinity in a variety of sizes and finishes.

Shipping times will be a LOT longer and my fancy dancy branded packaging will be minimal, but I hope that people won't mind too much.   Thanks for sticking with me through this move!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of Hawaiian beach glass, upcycled accessories and double infinity jewelry!

Aloha a hui hou!

Pretty much everyone knows what "aloha" means so I won't explain that, but "a hui hou" means "until we meet again."  The time has come to close up shop and finish up my final preparations to mobilize.  Part of that means putting the shop in "vacation mode" indefinitely.  Fortunately, the job I will be performing is not particularly hazardous, although I do expect to work very hard... Therefore, I am bringing along as much as possible so I can continue to make jewelry as a creative outlet in whatever spare time I manage to find.  Once I get settled where I'm going, I will make a determination on whether or not to reopen... and which items to offer, based on whatever equipment/tools survive the trip and what supplies I'm able to procure.  Hopefully it won't take too long.  But until then, take care!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and double infinity jewelry!

Interesting Blog: 100 Days of Rejection

A major aspect of being a military spouse is having to change jobs whenever your active duty spouse gets Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Orders.  I'll be perfectly blunt - this summer, I had to quit a 6 figure job that I enjoyed in order to keep the family together.  It really sucked because I knew there were no comparable jobs for the highly specialized type of work that I (used to) do in the area we now live and I'm essentially unemployable thanks to my Reserve obligation.  (Even seasonal retail jobs were out of the question with my departure date being prior to Christmas!)  I could have pitched a fit and insisted my husband take a crappy set of orders in Hawaii or stayed behind in Hawaii with the kids until I either mobilized or found something in Virginia Beach (we also own a small house here), but if you've ever prayed for an answer and come away with a response that wasn't the one you were hoping to hear, then you'll understand why it wasn't a difficult for me to accept that it was time to leave that job even though I didn't want to.

They are interviewing candidates for my old job this week, and since it was such a unique job, anyone who knows me professionally could guess it was my job and some folks who were interested in the job gave me a call or email.  Needless to say, I did my best to help anyone who asked without compromising the integrity of the interview process.  (IE I did not contact the hiring panel with any recommendations, but I did let them know who I was speaking with.  I also did not disclose interview questions or discuss other candidates that I knew were applying.)  In the end, I have nothing to do with the experience or qualifications of the candidates anyway, and I would be doing the same type of "homework" if I could even get an interview around here.

The interesting thing is that while everyone asked me what the worst part of the job was, only one person asked me what I liked most about it.  Explaining the worst part of the job was easy- I often got tagged with all the random stuff other people in the office didn't want to deal with.  (You know, the "other duties as assigned" clause.)  It made me feel like the boss didn't think I had enough work to do and that what I did wasn't as important as what everyone else was doing.  Explaining the best part was harder- my job was essentially to figure out unique, common sense, no-cost solutions to cover our capability gaps by trading favors with other organizations.  It's really rewarding to get a crazy request and figure out how to make it work.  (In retrospect, I guess that's why I got all the crap jobs, but hey- whatever.  Just because I like independent problem solving does NOT mean I should have to deal with the pain in the ass work that other people don't want to deal with.)  And that's why I "get" the lady in this video.  It's fun to get those unique requests and make them happen.  I loved my job the most when I was free to actually do my job.

Just as interesting as the Krispy Kreme lady who wouldn't say no to the crazy customer, is the guy making the video.  He decided to film himself doing "100 Days of Rejection Therapy" and blog about it.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I have been turned down for at least that many jobs since leaving active duty in 2008.  (I've been offered and accepted 2, and been offered/low balled/turned down maybe about 3-4.)  Most of the time I don't get a response at all, and if I do get something, it's rarely more specific other than, "You are qualified but not the best qualified," or some non-committal BS.  I used to take it personally but not so much anymore.  (I actually just got one of the automated rejection letters this week for a job with duties I had previously held and gotten an award for doing!)  It's not that I'm applying to jobs I'm not qualified to do.  I just don't have any friends who are in a position to help me professionally here because of the specialized nature of my experience and other people do.  Fortunately, I have some savings and I've been able to replace a portion of my income through part time hours via Etsy.

What's interesting about the videos is that while on the first couple of days he's really shy about asking for stuff and getting turned down, now that he's in week 2, he's starting to kind of wheel and deal/bargain a little bit, trying to turn "no" into "yes."  Lately, I've been resentful of having to leave the career field that I enjoyed, but maybe it's time to stop taking the job hunt so seriously/personally and start looking for the hidden opportunities.

Please visit our Etsy store for double infinity jewelry and all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Counting Blessings

Castaway Cay, Bahamas

Sunset in Port Canaveral

As you may have guessed from the pictures and some of my other posts, we recently returned from a Disney cruise to the Bahamas.  We had no internet for 4 whole days and survived!

Yes, it got a little rough in parts and I got sea sick (as did one of the kids)... but only a little bit, and had a great time overall.  We got to spend some time with my husband's family, the trip went smoothly, and there were plenty of activities for the entire family... which is sometimes a challenge for us since there's a huge age gap between kids.  I am not a huge Disney fan (I find all the music and colors, etc very in my face and overwhelming) but the cruise had a very good range of activities- from the standard Disney "over the top" entertainment to low key & unplugged.  The crew was very hard working and customer service oriented, and I was really impressed with the overall experience.  Before we went on cruise, I didn't really get it.  (I should probably add that I get motion sickness on everything- can't read in the car, can't ride swings for more than a few minutes, can't ride carnival rides that rotate on more than one axis.)

Family Beach on Disney's Castaway Cay

My father in law's first question was, "Would you do this again anytime soon?"  Was it a great vacation?  Absolutely.  One of the things about vacationing when you live in Hawaii is that you have these crazy airfares and a long plane ride anywhere you go, so this was a pretty "easy" trip (short plane rides, gone long enough to relax, not gone long enough to be homesick).  I'm glad we went.  I'm sure we could find other things to do on a repeat cruise to make it a different experience.  But would I do this again anytime soon?  My response was, "I haven't seen the total bill."  :)  I think our cruise was less expensive and more enjoyable than our trip to DisneyWorld (we were living in Hawaii at the time and airfare is so expensive these days), so I'm inclined to say yes, but I kind of feel guilty spending money on extra things like vacations.  (Don't get me wrong- we watch our pennies, our bills are paid, we don't carry debt other than our mortgages, and have a small next egg, but in this economy I feel very lucky about that.)

One of the nice surprises when we got back to civilization was a whole bunch of orders!!  So I am back to work... and starting on a week's worth of laundry.  :)  Just so you guys are aware, I am deploying as a Reservist and leaving in December, so I won't be able to take custom work after December 1st, and will stop taking new orders after December 10th to ensure everything is shipped prior to my departure.  The plan is to reopen once I get where I'm going.  I am not sure whether or not I'll be allowed to set up a full-fledged workshop in my "new" digs, but if I'm allowed to keep working with my torches, I will!

Please visit our Etsy store for double infinity jewelry and all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday Sale!

It's been a really interesting year.  I think everyone knows by now that I'm a Reservist and getting ready to mobilize for a year- leaving at the end of December.  Although I hope to be able to continue running the shop from abroad, I really need to liquidate as much inventory as possible.  Therefore, I've set up a 30% off sale for EVERYTHING in the store, including my double infinity jewelry no coupon code necessary.  You don't have to buy something from me to support my business- a comment, like, or share is also helpful!

This is pretty much the best deal you're going to get, and your last chance to grab some great Simply Leilani pieces in 2012.  (I'm going to have to put the shop in vacation mode after December 10th to ensure all orders are filled prior to my departure.)  Thanks for all your support and hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Please visit our Etsy store for double infinity jewelry and all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

The original hand forged double infinity on Etsy

They say copying is the highest form of flattery.  Well, it's been a good run, but I discovered that someone else is selling a necklace with a double infinity that looks just like my double infinity.  There's really not much I can do about it because it's not like I'm the first person to come up with that symbol and I don't hold a copyright to the design.  Several customers contacted me with a request, I did some research, burned through a lot of wire, and this was the end result.

The one on the left is hers.  The one on the right is mine.  They are roughly the same size (within a quarter of an inch) with the same proportion and same finish.  I looked through her sold items, and the first one was sold on October 29th.  I've been selling these bracelets since March.  You tell me they don't look alike.  Sure, there are minor differences, but she is claiming her design to be exclusive and only available through her and stores that sell her jewelry... which is not exactly true.  But, since she's got thousands of sales compared to my paltry hundred or so, who looks like the copycat?  I think more than anything else, that is what upsets me.

If you do a search for double infinity jewelry on Etsy, there is actually quite a variety.  Some people are casting, others are cut out, some are brushed, some are metal clay, and many are soldering or fusing wire in different sizes/proportions, all of which is pretty cool.  Again, hers on the left, mine are in the center and on the right.  They all come up next to each other (just like these photos) in the Etsy search engine, so you can't tell me she doesn't know I am also selling these.

Speaking of engine searches, 6 months ago, my listings were just about the only option for a double infinity charm under $50.  Now, I'm seeing tons and tons of these things being made commercially at lower price points.  Granted, I've improved my techniques and I'd like to think mine are stronger/better than the other handmade versions and have more character than the commercial ones, but I digress.

There's a lot of money to be made through mimicry, but that doesn't really scratch my artistic itch.    Fortunately, I can afford to make what I feel like making and not try to guess at what people feel like buying.  I spent a lot of time working on resin over the past few months because I had 48 ounces of resin that would've gone bad before I return from deployment.  It's not my favorite media but it sells really well at craft fairs since it's a lower price point.  Precious metals are so expensive that it's really hard to keep enough inventory on hand to stock an entire 10x10 ft booth.

Anyway, it looks like it's time for me to stop being complacent and start making something different.  I do feel like it's time to take the shop in a different direction- more intricate soldering and metalwork, less "assembly" type stuff.

Please visit our Etsy store for double infinity jewelry and all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Meet & Greet Blog Hop Link Up

Hey folks, I'm participating in a blog hop!  Sometimes those can be a little lame, I know, but so far there are twenty other crafty bloggers from all over the world who have joined up and it's really interesting to see what other folks are doing.  (Or maybe it's just me being nosy.)  Anyway, if you happen to have a crafty blog and want to link up, click on the button.

Please visit our Etsy store for handmade double infinity jewelry  and all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!