Turkey Burger Sliders

Following Martha Steward's Mini Turkey Burgers recipes I made these cute little Turkey Burger Sliders. And, yes little tiny, cutey burgers taste better than the big ones.

I followed the recipe for the actual making of the patties.

However I did not have cute little buns at home, so I toasted some bread and cut each slice into fourths. Each fourth served as a top or bottom "bun." I also could not resist putting cheese on the burgers, even though there is cheese mixed in the patties. Too much cheese? Never!

We topped the burgers with spinach and a grape tomato slice. Of course there was also ketchup, mustard, and relish.

Luckily it was farmer's market day, so some yummy veggies topped off this delicious summer meal.

Fabric Circles

These fabric circles join a few other projects, the Joy banner, 

the bird garland, and the hanging "plants," above the closet door.

I had a few insides of embroidery hoops sitting in the closet, left over from the embroidery hoops mirror display. Inspired by a few photos of shoe box lids covered in fabric from Pinterest, I decided to put fabric around the circle frames. They add a lot of color to a plain white wall. Here are a few pics to show the process, but the short of it is, cut, wrap and glue, hang.

Cut circle of fabric slightly larger than the circle.

Using hot glue, glue fabric to the circle frame, at four spots, equally spaced around the circle.

Glue the rest of the fabric to the circle frame.

If you still have extra fabric, keep wrapping and gluing.

Hang on the wall and enjoy.

Hanging "Plants"

This is a re-do of a previous project. I think this time it will last a little longer.

You may remember the post on making these hanging planters.
Well, they lasted a few months, looking beautiful, adding green to the bed room, and generally just being plants (that were alive).

But, for the past several months, they have looked like this. Daily reminding me of the lack of direct sun in that window and of my bad plant tending skills. They looked like death; they were dead.

A re-do was well past due. I kept the hanging ropes and the glasses but decided to go a totally different route for the "plants." Paper and yarn!

Check out the postings on paper flowers and the one on pom-pom- flowers for instructions on making the flowers.

Luckily, I don't see these dying any time soon.

Fabric Wrapped Frames

Using an idea I saw on Pinterest, I decided to wrap some boring frames in fabric. You may remember these frames from my Framed Love Notes post; they were boring Dollar Store brown in color. Now, they are cheery and patterned and more lovely than ever. However, the pics are not all that great.

I started by tearing off several long strips to fabric. I tore them, so they have a frayed edge to them. You could also cut them with a straight or pinking sheers for a different look. I took the glass and paper out of the frame, glued  (I used hot glue) the end of one strip to the frame and started wrapping. Then I just kept wrapping; when one strip ended, I started another until I got around the frame. Glue the final end down, replace the glass and papers, and you are all set to hang your "new" frame on the wall. 

Periodic Table Teacher Card

Our church is collecting supplies and gifts and making goody bags for each teacher at the local middle school as a surprise thank you for the first day of school. I picked out two teacher names to make bags for.

Having taught in a middle school classroom myself, I respect these men and women greatly and am thankful for their service to our youth. I can't wait to go out tonight and buy some goodies for the bags. I hope these teachers feel spoiled.

Of course I thought the bags needed a little homemade touch and a note of thanks, so I made these periodic table teacher thank you cards.

Joy Banner

Scrap fabric, old book pages, and my trusty sewing machine 

was all it took to whip up this fun banner.

I drew the letters on my fabric using a marker and then cut out the letters making sure to cut just inside the marker drawing so it didn't show on the cut out letters. Next I tore a few pages out of a book I have sacrificed for crafting. Using a little glue, I placed the letters on the book pages. Then I sewed around the letters using a zig-zag stitch. Lastly I stitched a long piece of ripped fabric to the top to use for hanging. I ripped, instead of cutting, so that the fabric had raw edges and some frays.

A few little nails later and it is hanging nicely above my closet with the bird garland.

Dinner on my $80 Plates

Good Will Super Find!

I found these plates at Good Will, snagged them for $3 a piece. I Googled (it may not be proper but who doesn't use Google as a verb?) them on Ebay and Etsy and found them selling for $75 and $80 a piece. Super Score!!!

We celebrated by... eating dinner on them. I lit a candle and broke out the paper flowers to make it super fancy.

Happy Bargain Hunting!

Therapeutic Neck Wraps (from a sock!)

I can't claim this idea as my own (well actually for most projects I can't, oh well); a friend had this wonderful idea to make therapeutic neck wraps from a sock. So easy, and fast, and fun.

Materials:

• long sock
• rice
• lavender essential oil
• zip lock bag
• sewing machine or needle and thread (optional)

Steps:

• fill sock 3/4 of the way with rice (we used an embroidery hoop to hold the top of the sock open and a measuring cup to dump the rice in)
• empty that rice into the zip lock bag
• add a few drops of the lavender essential oil to the rice in the zip lock bag
• close the bag and shake bag, turn rice around to spread the oil throughout
• put rice back into sock
• to close the end of the sock either sew it or tie a not in the sock (both worked well)

The neck wrap can be warmed in the microwave or cooled in the freezer to ease pains with heat or cold, and the lavender adds a great scent. Here I am enjoying mine.

Happy Bird-day to You! Who?

This week some wonderfully, 

wonderful people celebrated birthdays.

My mom, 

sister, and 

grandfather 

all turned a year older. 

Wishing them each a year of 

love, 

grace,

joy!

Owl Birthday Card

Sharpie Decorated Mugs

Mugs decorated with Sharpie markers that are dishwater safe? Sounds crazy but worth a try, right? Well, I thought so. Check out this tutorial, Dishwasher-Safe Sharpie Mugs. A few friends, a few thrift store and dollar store mugs, and a few hours of planning, eating, and decorating produced these lovely pieces.

I baked them but have yet to run the dishwasher. I will let you know the outcome. I have my fingers crossed.  Here is my new TEArrific mug; I can't wait to show it off at the coffee shop.

Check out the not so good update...after two dishwasher cycles

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies

I am on a roll with baking. Recently I found this recipe and could not resist, Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies. The dough was kind of a funny consistency. I don't know if this is because I used homemade peanut butter which is a little less oily or it is just that way. Still, all turned out okay and delicious.

Breakfast Cookies

I love taking my time in the morning, enjoying a cup of tea and making a yummy fresh breakfast as I read or relax or watch the birds on the balcony. However, in reality this might, I stress might, happen once a week. On the other mornings I am up quick and usually rushing out the door, but still have time to make that cup of tea.

 Recently I have been seeing recipes for breakfast "cookies" on Pinterest and in Martha Steward Living. This week I gave them a try. I choose to follow this Blueberry Girl recipe because it has no sugar, or butter, or wheat flour. They turned out wonderfully. On a side note, they definitely have a banana flavor.  I love banana so not a problem for me. Another side note, the recipe says to set the oven at 175C; to save you the math, that is about 350F.

Before going in the oven

Floraly, Viney Embroidery

Wow, August came and is half way gone already, and this is my first post of the month. What happened? Well first, I got a new job (partly anyway), and my days have been a little busier. Second, the Olympics! However, I have been embroidering while watching those Olympians swim, volley, balance, run, and row.

I finished this floraly, viney design and started a new embroidery project that should be complete soon. Maybe I will finish it up while watching the games wrap up on Sunday.