Can Can. Or CAN I?

Sometimes I think I'm a baaaad person! I throw away soda cans! For shame! I need to live a "greener" life. So...I was wondering what I could do with those cans. I figured there had to be SOMETHING I could make from them. Research, research!

So, I have cans, bottle caps (well, ok, BEER bottle caps), and pop-tabs from the can.

I found a pretty cool project on the Instructables website.  See below for the steps(without written instructions-I have faith that you'll be able to figure it out) I took to create....well, you'll see my creation at the end.

I call this creation CANNY Squares to Go!

 

 

 

It's a Canny Square Purse!!!

So...............four "Canny"(Granny) Squares, crocheted together made this great purse! I used the plain (silver) side of the cut-out squares to show on the outside of the purse. It could be done the other way around, too. The third pic shows the inside of the purse (I made a lining which attaches with velcro). Looks a little like a WIDE MOUTH frog, don't ya think? The second pic shows the lining pulled out a bit to show the printed sides of the cut-out squares-on the inside, so not seen by anybody but the purse owner-maybe a "secret" compartment??

If it can hold all of my junque(a fancy word for JUNK), it's a GO!!

If you don't know how to crochet, perhaps there's a way to knot the squares of tin together with yarn or jute. Give it a try. 

There may be other things to make...trivets, anyone?

How about an idea for using all of those bottle caps (beer or otherwise!). 

Check out this talented seller on Etsy, who made the magnets below. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JEllieCaps

Bottle Cap Magnets:

                                             How about those pop tabs from cans?

           Check out this creative person on Instructables.com(who made the item below)

             http://www.instructables.com/id/Pop-Tab-Bracelets/

                      A cool bracelet made from pop-tabs and elastic!

I've got some work to do!! Imagine how many cans I can save from the landfill if I make all of these?!

I'm curious how many of you (my visitors) have tried any of the above projects. Please leave a comment and let me know. I'd love to hear of any other ideas you have for re- or up-cycling tin cans, bottle caps or pop tabs.

I' M NO LONGER WONDERING WHAT TO DO WITH CANS IN LIEU OF TOSSING THEM! (Although...I AM wondering how many more ideas are out there)

I'm tired of eating crushed chips!

I've always wondered why about
1/4 of the chips in a big bag are

"Crushed"!

In my quest to see if there is a

scientific reason for this I've

searched many different ways...

crushed potato chips just got me

pictures and recipe's using

crushed chips.  I'll include

one below. I found many humorous quips about crushed chips,

but no one talked about WHY!!

I did  learn (as we probably ALL know) that chips have a lot

of air put into the bags before sealing them. This is to provide

a cushion for them so they won't break before the end-user

(ME, or you...) opens them. SO.....how come there's always

a layer of crushed, broken up chips at the bottom of EVERY

bag I've ever opened?

HEY, maybe that forced-in air is actually pushing the chips

down! The top half to 2/3 of the chips retain their "wholeness",

while those at the bottom get....well...crushed.

Brilliant conclusion, huh?

My wonderings thus far have really not netted me any real

scientific, factual results.

Maybe that's why I'm still wondering...haven't seen any rational

explanations for the wonderings.

SO....here's a yummy recipe for all those crushed chips

we always seem to end up with.

Potato Chip Cookies

 Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups crushed potato chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay parchment on cookie
sheets to keep the cookies from sticking.

In a freezer bag, crush the potato chips with your hands, followed by a
rolling pin.(WELL...I hardly see the NECESSITY of doing this, since
we're STARTING with crushed chips!) Measure out 1-1/2 cups of
crushed chips and set aside. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars.
Add the vanilla and the egg until combined.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add
to the butter mixture until combined. Mix in the crushed potato chips
by hand. ( by HAND? Yuk!!)

Drop by teaspoonfulls on a prepped cookie sheet.
You should get about three dozen out of this
mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.

Take them out of the oven and let them set slightly
for a few minutes. Then carefully lift them to a wire rack to cool. They will crisp up quickly.
If you want, drizzle with some melted chocolate.

DON'T THEY LOOK YUMMY?? I think drizzled
chocolate would really do wonders for them!

By the way....I found this recipe at:
www.justjennrecipes.com
...and there are many more great recipe's there!

SO....another "wondering" not fully satisfied. BUT...I did come across
MANY recipes that use crushed chips!

WHO KNEW???

I'm constantly wondering about....

Adj. l. wondering - showing curiosity; inquisitive, questioning, speculative curious Every day I hear, see, or read something that makes me wonder... Why do/did they do that? HOW do you do that? Who said that was RIGHT? Where is THAT? How come I never heard of that? Why is that funny sound coming from under my car? Why are they looking at ME that way when THEY 'RE the one who cut me off? Why do really bad things happen? You get my gist. So...I've decided to keep a "journal" of these thoughts and any information I find out to satisfy my(and maybe YOUR) curiosity. That "journal" is this blog. A little about me.... I'm already half way through my life. Wow, that doesn't sound good! I have 25 yr. old boy/girl twins, a husband, and a brick and mortar Mailing business. I also am involved in selling handcrafted and other types of items on the web. I used to sell on eBay but they bounced me! Never really found out why, and was really ticked at them. I sent them a real "nastygram" but I doubt anyone ever read it or even cared. I was a VERY little fish in a GIGANTIC pond! But...that forced me to look around and I found Etsy(for selling only handcrafted items, supplies, or vintage stuff). Been selling there since late 2008, I believe. Just about a year ago I found Bonanzle - who? what? - I know lots of people have never heard of it, but lately eBay has had many evacuees who've gone over to Bonanzle, so it won't be long before it becomes a household name. Best move I ever made! I'm a dreamer, a planner, an Italian with a fiery temper (on occasion)! Somehow I've managed to make some of my dreams come true, but NOT with PLANNING. I don't do the "carrying out plans" thing too well. But...there's always tomorrow, eh? What am I wondering about today? Just how MANY commercials are there in a one hour show? Geesus - it seems like every few minutes there's another commercial! Of course there's never just ONE commercial.... usually at least 3 at a whack. I wonder how many people buy something, or from a business that advertises incessantly. I know I WON'T! There must be some statistics on commercials and success of same. Gotta go check it out and report back..... Well....based on some research, I've found that a one hour t.v. show has between 18 and 20 minutes of commercials. So (math whiz here) we get between 40 and 42 minutes of the show. So, if each commercial is 30 seconds (which I think most of them are) would that then mean that we are seeing between 36 and 40 commercials??? Holy freakin sh...oot! We're getting bombarded with commercials! Enough is enough, don't you think? As far as success of t.v. commercials...they are considered the most effective mass-market advertising format. But....HOW effective? Couldn't seem to find THAT information. Oh well, who really cares? Do you? Be back tomorrow with another "I Was  Wondering" post.   (and now I'm wondering if I should go to bed or eat some chips... and THEN go to bed...)